My hamburger soup recipe is a homestyle, hearty meal that satisfies while stirring up happy memories of grandma’s house! My grandma always had delicious beef soup recipes bubbling away in her kitchen. Her cooking has definitely inspired my recipes, none more so than this hamburger soup. Filling, flavorful, and oh so simple to make, this is the kind of meal that makes everything better!
If you beefy soups as much as we do, I hope you’ll try my cheeseburger soup, old-fashioned vegetable beef soup, beef barley soup, and my huge fan favorite, beef and tomato macaroni soup!
Let’s make this soup!!!
What I Love About This Recipe
- Less than an hour to make!
- One-pot wonder
- Clean up is a snap!
- Crowd-pleasing favorite
- It’s frugal – you can stretch a pound or two of ground beef to feed a crowd!
Hamburger Soup Ingredients
- Beef: Choosing a flavorful ground beef or chuck is important in this recipe, even though you’ll drain off the excess fat after browning. Leaner combinations work in recipes with more dominant flavors, but we want to maximize the beefy goodness in this soup by using a rich, fatty cut.
- Salt + Pepper
- Vegetable Oil: Any neutral flavor oil will work.
- Onion: I use a yellow onion but a white onion will work too!
- Garlic: I always use fresh garlic. The stuff that comes minced is a jar has a horribly off taste because of what’s used to preserve it in the jar. Nothing beats fresh minced garlic!
- All-Purpose Flour: This is used along with the vegetable oil to make a roux that gives this soup the perfect thickness.
- Beef Broth: I prefer low sodium so I can control the total amount of salt in the soup.
- Canned Tomatoes: I like to use the petite diced version. They fit perfectly nestled with other ingredients on a spoon.
- Better Than Bouillon: I use the beef flavored variety of this amazing product! This fortifies and bolsters the beefy flavor of the soup!
- Dried Italian Seasoning: The perfect mix of dried herbs.
- Tomato Paste: This pantry stable will bring a subtle sweetness and Earthiness!
- Potatoes – I’m a russet fan. It’s the potato I use whenever I can because I really love the starch content and texture. In this recipe, the potatoes get slightly crumbly and thicken the soup a bit more. You can substitute red potatoes, but they have a slightly sticky texture and won’t add body to the soup like the russets.
- Frozen Mixed Vegetables: The perfect convenience food that adds easy, great nutrition.
How To Make Hamburger Vegetable Soup Recipe
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Brown the ground beef, in a large pot, over medium heat. Add salt and pepper. Cook until there is no longer any pink. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside. Drain all fat from the pot and discard it.
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In the same pot, add the oil and sautee the onion and garlic until they are soft, about 6-7 minutes. Sprinkle the onions with flour, stirring to evenly coat the onions and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes until the flour begins to brown.
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Add the cooked beef, 6 cups of beef broth, tomatoes, Better than Bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, tomato paste, potatoes, and frozen veggies. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes. Adjust seasoning. Add more beef broth if the soup gets too thick. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Tips
Season The Beef – I like to add the salt and pepper while I’m browning the beef so it can absorb the seasoning while it’s hot.
Adding Flour – One of Grandma’s secrets (shhh, don’t tell anyone) is mixing in a little flour with the onions and garlic before adding the broth. This changes the mouthfeel of the soup to something a little thicker – not as thick as a stew but not brothy like so many other recipes for this type of soup.
It’s a simple addition, making a little roux, but it creates a complex texture and a real “stick-to-your-ribs” meal.
To Sauté or not to Sauté : Why can’t you just dump everything into the soup pot instead of doing all the browning and pre-cooking? Well, I suspect you’ve seen very few (good) recipes for soups and stews and sauces that don’t pre-cook aromatics.
- That’s because aromatics – things like onions, celery, garlic, and herbs – release their “aroma” when they interact with hot oil (hotter than boiling water). Without this step, you miss out on balanced flavors and smells that make the dish a flavorful, complex masterpiece.
Time-Saver – buy pre-chopped, frozen veggies. I like a combination of carrots, corn, peas, and green beans, but you can use your favorite blend. There’s no need to thaw them, either. You can dump them into the pot straight from the freezer.
Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? This soup will last 3 or 4 days in the fridge.
- Can You Freeze This? Leftovers actually freeze fairly well. The potatoes will, however, get fairly soft.
- Let it thaw the soup thaw overnight in the fridge. Slowly reheat on the stovetop
- Make-Ahead Tips: If making this ahead of time, for best results, cook this without the potatoes. Store it in the freezer for 4-6 months. Simply thaw, reheat and add the potatoes the day you want to serve it.
Serving Recommendations
Homemade bread products are the perfect thing to serve along side this to dip and sop up the delicious soup! My quick and easy Bisquick biscuits, copycat Olive Garden bread sticks, buttery crescent rolls, or easy beer bread will serve you deliciously!!
More Yummy Beef Soup And StewRecipes
- Crock Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Beef Noodle Soup
- Slow Cooker Beef Stew
- Busy Day Soup
- Hamburger Stew
- Classic Beef Stew
- Shipwreck Stew
Easy Hamburger Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef 80/20
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 6-8 cups beef broth divided
- 1 (14.5 -ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 tablespoons Better than Bouillon - beef flavor
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 6 cups (about 2 large) russet potato diced
- 1 (16-ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef, in a large pot, over medium heat. Add salt and pepper. Cook until there is no longer any pink. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside. Drain all fat from the pot and discard it.
- In the same pot, add the oil and sautee the onion and garlic until they are soft, about 6-7 minutes. Sprinkle the onions with flour, stirring to evenly coat the onions and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes until the flour begins to brown.
- Add the cooked beef, 6 cups of beef broth, tomatoes, Better than Bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, tomato paste, potatoes, and frozen veggies. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes. Adjust seasoning. Add more beef broth if the soup gets too thick. Garnish with parsley and serve.
This recipe looks delish !. Eat half and freeze half. Question, are the nutrition items for the whole recipe or for just one serving which is 1/4 of the recipe. Thanks
Hi, Judy. Yes, 1/4 of the recipe. Nutrition fact for 1 serving. 🙂
Hi, Marg. You can leave that out.
I love this so much, ate it as a kid, and make it for mine…. One of my secrets is use half beef stock, and half V8 juice as my base … Everything else is the same as yours….
Nice! Thank you so much for sharing, Joseph! 😀
I ate LOTS of hamburger soup as a kid. It was one of my moms favorite go-to recipes. She used white potatoes.
I haven’t had it in years…When I saw your recipe, the memories came flooding back… Thanks
You’re very welcome, Phil! ?
Great with homemade biscuits too!!!
Yes! I couldn’t agree more!?
I know this has to be good as I make mine pretty much the same way only with the addition of sausage. love soups! have copied down most of your soup recipes thanks!
Hi Linda! I’m so happy your liking my soup recipes. I LOVE soup. My favorite comfort food. I have a lot more coming so stay tuned <3
My family loves hamburger soup and I’ve been making it for years. I decided to try this recipe for something a little different (I do that occasionally). It is hands-down the best one I’ve tried. The broth is to die for. I used Rotel instead of diced tomatoes because it is what I already had, still wonderful. Thank you for sharing – this will be my go-to hamburger soup recipe from now on.
Thank you so much! I’m so happy you like the recipe! I’m so flattered its going to be your new go-to! You made my day <3
What is better than bouillon and where can you find it. Which store
Hi Jane. It is similar to the cubes of bouillon however, it is amazingly better in flavor. It is sold in most regular supermarkets, in a little jar, in the soup aisle. I use it to boost flavor in a lot of recipes. I LOVE it. <3
I recently purchased an Instant Pot. Was wondering if this recipe could be made in the Instant Pot. Recipe sounds delicious. Thanks in advance.
Hey Charles, I just bought one too! I still need to figure out how to convert our recipes. I’m sorry but I haven’t yet don that!
This soup was very good! Tasted like beef stew
Hello Jacqueline, I am glad you liked this Hamburger soup recipe and thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!