A rich, hearty slow cooker soup made with ground meat (I used turkey to lighten it up, though you can certainly stick with tradition and use lean ground beef instead), kid-friendly vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and peas, and a few subtle but substantial flavor-boosters, this recipe is a happy meeting ground where both little ones and grownups will find solace and satisfaction.
Crock Pot Hamburger Soup: Kid Appeal
The flavor is mild without being bland. The opportunity to top with cheese is readily available and encouraged. Let’s be honest—we adults love this too. The very name of the soup itself. Hamburger soup! That just sounds fun to eat.
Crock Pot Hamburger Soup: Grown-Up Practicality
Hands-free slow cooking. Once the meat is browned (a step you can complete a day ahead if you like), the crock pot does the rest of the work. Even novice chefs can make this simple Crock Pot Hamburger Soup with confidence. Feeds a crowd. Just like my Homemade Hamburger Helper, this hamburger soup yields a generous quantity and is ultra freezer friendly. What you don’t eat tonight, you can stow away for leftovers later in the week or portion and freeze for fast future dinners. Bang for your buck. Serving for serving, this is an incredibly affordable meal. All-in-one. Because this hamburger soup leans heavy on the vegetables and offers lean protein too, you can serve it without any sides—though I can say from experience that a nice hunk of bread is not remiss. Feel free to swap the vegetables I have suggested here for ones you have on hand. Similar to this Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup, you can make this hamburger soup with cabbage or do a hamburger potato soup in place of the sweet potatoes. Speed options. In a hurry? Omit a few of the fresh veggies and supplement this hamburger soup with frozen vegetables stirred in right at the end.
How to Make the BEST Crock Pot Hamburger Soup—Recipe Secrets
A few small changes that demand little of your time contribute to a more satisfying final result.
To give this hamburger soup excellent base flavor, the recipe starts by browning the meat with the onion, celery, and garlic. Browning the beef (or turkey) as a first step is essential, as it won’t brown in the slow cooker. The simple step of adding the onion along with the meat gives it a chance to mellow and caramelize, and your soup will taste the better for it. Tomato paste. You simply cannot beat the intensity of this inexpensive, workhorse ingredient. Diced tomatoes and green chiles. Why use plain diced tomatoes when you can use this more flavorful option instead? Worcestershire sauce. Big-time savory flavor packed into a small bottle, it adds complexity and depth.
Stretching the Recipe Further
In addition to being easy to vary with a variety of different vegetables, you can add servings of whole grains directly to the soup.
Hamburger Soup with Rice. Separately cook 1 cup of long grain brown rice. Stir it in with the peas at the end. (Unlike this Crock Pot Chicken and Rice Soup, I do not recommend adding the uncooked rice to the soup at the beginning, as the liquid ratios will be off.) Hamburger Soup with Pasta. Separately cook 1 cup of any “small” pasta, such as macaroni, then stir it in at the end.
For even more veggies, try making this Crock Pot Hamburger Soup with V8 juice. This was our friend Mary’s idea, and I think it’s pretty genius, especially if you struggle to get your family to eat veggies.
If you’d like to make the hamburger soup with V8, in the final step, instead of using the remaining 1 cup of broth to thin the soup further, use V8.
Serving Crock Pot Hamburger Soup
Because this recipe leans heavy on the veggies, I found it plenty satisfying to enjoy on its own (with the aforementioned hunk of bread). If you are adding rice or pasta, you have your whole grains covered, so you can skip the bread if you like (or not). I highly recommend topping the soup with shredded cheese. Because this soup is healthy and lean, the cheese provides nice richness. Shredded cheddar, colby jack, pepper jack, or Parm would all be delish.
