Cheeseburger Soup in the Crockpot or Not

It's about time for me to forget to take a picture of an amazing dish!  It's soup, so it's not like it would have looked different from any other soup I've made in the past.  I even thought about swiping a picture from an old post, but then I felt guilty.  Ah, that stupid guilt.  It sticks to you like doggie doo doo on the bottom of your tennis shoe.



Anyhow...Cheeseburger soup.  This recipe hails from the blog Kitchen Meets Girl.  Blockette has declared it to be her FAVORITE SOUP of ALL TIME.  She's been talking about it weeks later about how great it is, and when am I going to make it again because it's her FAVORITE! 

The soup is pretty amazing.  It's rich and creamy, cheesy and meaty, just like a cheeseburger in soup form should taste.  The seasonings really do remind you of a grilled burger, another one of Blockette's favorite dishes.  We eat burgers at least once a week in the summer.  The winter is too cold and windy for our grill to heat up properly so I'm sure a lot of the love for this dish is wishful thinking for warmer days. 



The recipe calls for the soup to be baked in a crockpot.  I'm sure it would be faster if you just made it on the stove.  However, if it's one of those nights were you have time to prepare dinner before you do the mad crazy dash of after school activities, the crockpot would be your friend when you come home with a starving family.

I added a few diced carrots and a few handfuls of corn to amp up the veggies.  The original recipe also calls for Velveeta.  I detest Velveeta, so I used a bag of shredded cheddar cheese.  It was the kind from Kraft with the cream cheese in it.  I think it made the soup extra creamy without a ton of actual milk.  I also increased the chicken stock from 3 to 4 cups, only because I store my chicken stock in 4 cup containers and I didn't want to re-freeze a cup of stock.




Cheeseburger Soup adapted from Kitchen Meets Girl
1 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 medium onion, diced
3-5 medium celery ribs, diced
1-2 c diced carrots
1-2 c frozen corn
1 lb ground beef
2 T flour
4 c chicken broth
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk ( low-fat is fine)
heaping 1/2 t paprika
1/2 t garlic powder
2 T Worchestershire sauce
1 T yellow mustard
1/4 t kosher salt
1/2 t black pepper
8 ounces cubed or shredded cheddar cheese (I used shredded with cream cheese)
additional cheese for topping, if desired

Preheat olive oil in large skillet over med-high heat. Add garlic, carrot, onion and celery to skillet and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from skillet and place in bottom of your slow cooker.
In same pan, brown hamburger. Drain, and add meat to slow cooker. Leave a few T of the fat in the skillet. Sprinkle flour over fat and cook for 1 min.  Slowly add broth about a 1/2 c at a time. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and allow to cook until just thickened. Pour over meat in slow-cooker.
Stir in your remaining ingredients, through the black pepper, including corn. Cook on low for 2-4 hours. Just before serving, add cheese and stir until it is melted. Top with additional shredded cheese, if desired.