I’m addicted to my iPad. I occasionally call it my “Angry Bird Machine” because I bought it to play Angry Birds, but there are so many reasons to be addicted to this thing. And the newest is I can browse recipes (with pictures – all cookbooks should have professional pictures!) with it. (The only problem is finding a quality application that’s free. I’m cheap.)
Anyway, I was using the “Inspire Me!” feature on allrecipes.com‘s app, and came across something called “cheeseburger soup.” Um, what the hell? I look at soup recipes all the time. How have I NEVER heard of such a soup? I’m so in!
I had an awful time getting a good final product picture of this soup.
Like many recipes, I altered this recipe a little. Partially so it was a little more healthy. Partially so it was less calories per serving. And most importantly, because I wanted to get the best flavor possible. So you can refer to the original recipe, use mine as the basis for your own recipe, or stick to mine specifically.
- 4 cups (one box) beef broth
- 2 cups water
- 3 medium/1 pound cubed potatoes (I left the peel on)
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 onion, chopped (divided – half to cook with the meat, the other half goes straight in)
- 1 diced green bell pepper
- 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1/2 head of cauliflower, only the very tops (no stems), diced finely
- 2 cayenne peppers (I used the seeds), diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 clove garlic, smashed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cubes beef bouillon, crumbled
- 1 pound ground beef or turkey
- 2 1/2 cups milk, divided
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (or 5 ounces low-fat)
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 drops Dave’s Insanity Sauce
Cut all of the vegetables and add them along with the beef broth, bay leaves, one clove of garlic, water and bouillon cubes to a pot, and bring to a boil.
In another pan, cook the hamburger/turkey with the remaining half of an onion and and clove of garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. Add to the pot of boiling vegetables.
When the vegetables are tender, add the cayenne pepper and Dave’s Insanity Sauce. Add 2 cups of milk and warm through.
At this points, since I’ve more than doubled the broth you can choose to leave out the flour all together, or you can add much more flour (probably about 1/4 a cup rather than 3 Tbs) to the remaining 1/2 cup of milk. The purpose of the flour is to thicken the broth. I always have a horrible time getting my soups to thicken because I don’t like the extra calories of the flour. So I generally end up leaving the flour out all together. This will be a matter of taste/preference. I personally don’t mind my soup thin. But if you like it thick, you will have to experiment with flour (or starch) until it’s the appropriate thickness. If you don’t want to add more milk and it doesn’t thicken right the first time you can also make a paste with just water and flour. Or strain out some broth from the soup itself and make it that way. Your call.
At this point, taste for appropriate saltiness/spiciness. Add more salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, etc. And of course, remember to take out the bay leaves before serving.
Enjoy!
I think this soup is a combination of potato soup (one of my favorites), cheese soup (also a favorite that I very rarely make because of the calorie count), and hamburger vegetable soup (also a favorite). I think it would have also been good to add just the tops of some broccoli, also diced finely. And some spinach, cut into strips).
Starting ingredients. Don’t you feel very earthy right now?
I always cut my potatoes about half the size I would naturally want to cut them. I think it makes your soup feel more potato-y without adding a ton of potatoes.
Some of the other vegetables, all hanging out in the broth, water and bouillon before the first big stir. You could do this first step in a crockpot, but you’ll want at least four or five hours for the vegetables to cook. If you want the soup faster, make it on the stove.
Here’s everything boiling away. I like my veggies to be soft but still firm. But use your own taste preference.
The final product! Note: I used significantly less cheese than the original recipe called for. It called for half a pound. I used a quarter. And I used cheddar instead of American. So alter it to your taste preference.
Stuffed and Schwasted 
