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This easy hamburger soup with potatoes is a hearty and wholesome soup that is family-friendly and chock full of veggies, ground beef, potatoes, and macaroni. Simmer all day in the slow cooker or cook it up in 35 minutes or less on the stove top.
There are a lot of names for hamburger soup—bachelor soup, hangover soup, ground beef vegetable soup – to name a few. But regardless of what you call it in your house, this is one delicious soup recipe make with ground beef on a chilly day.
This easy hamburger soup recipe is healthy and cost effective to make since it requires just a handful of inexpensive ingredients and will be a hit with the whole family. It’s also easy to double the recipe for a group or to freeze for future meals.
Table of contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Olive Oil, Onion, Carrots, Celery: this combination of veggies is the classic base of many soup recipes and adds flavor to this hearty hamburger soup.
- Lean Ground Beef: use 95% extra lean ground beef so you don’t have to discard any fat while cooking. It also reduces the total fat in the final soup. You can use lean ground turkey instead of ground beef if you prefer.
- Tomato Sauce and Diced Tomatoes: this combination of sauce and diced tomatoes creates a rich tomato base for this hearty soup recipe.
- Beef Broth: use broth instead of water for extra flavor. Both homemade or store bought beef broth works for this recipe. Use a low sodium broth if you need to watch your salt intake.
- Italian Seasoning: add rich herby flavor to this soup with italian seasoning.
- Worcestershire Sauce: adds a hint of smokiness and rich flavor.
- Macaroni: we like to add some pasta to this soup. We used macaroni but any short pasta shape will work. You can also substitute the macaroni with cooked rice if you prefer.
Variations
- Make it Gluten Free: Use a gluten free worcestershire sauce and gluten free macaroni noodles to make this soup gluten free. Since there are also potatoes in this soup, you can just omit the pasta completely if you prefer or use rice instead.
- Add Different Veggies: feel free to swap out some of the veggies depending on what you have in the fridge/freezer. Instead of frozen peas, you can add frozen mixed vegetables. We also like adding a handful of fresh spinach or kale in the last few minutes of cooking for some greens.
Tools For This Recipe
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How to Make Hamburger Soup with Potatoes
- Saute: start by sauteing the onion, celery, and carrot together in a large pot over medium-high heat until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the hamburger meat and cook until browned, using a wooden spoon to break the ground meat into small pieces. Add the garlic, potato, and Italian seasoning and saute 1 minute.
- Simmer: Stir in the bay leaf, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beef broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
- Season: Stir in the worcestershire sauce, peas, cooked macaroni, and navy beans. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve!
Crock Pot Hamburger Soup Directions
You can easily make this recipe in the crock pot too! You’ll start by sauteing the onion, celery, carrot, and ground beef together in a pot until the ground beef is browned. Transfer the browned beef and all the rest of the ingredients (except the macaroni) to a crock pot.
Stir to combine. Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 5 to 6 hours. Add the cooked macaroni to the pot just before serving.
Tips for Making this Soup
- Cook the Macaroni Separately: We typically cook the noodles separately and only add them before eating the soup, so they do not get mushy. If you plan to freeze this soup, leave out the macaroni and add it to the soup after reheating.
- Use Extra Lean Ground Beef: using 95% extra lean ground beef can save you the extra step of draining off the excess fat after cooking the beef. If using a higher fat beef, you’ll want to drain it off.
- The Best Potatoes: we like using russet potatoes for this soup but you can also use yukon gold potatoes or red potatoes. We leave the peel on but if you don’t like the texture, you can peel the potatoes before adding them to the soup. You can also use sweet potatoes if you’d like.
What to Serve with Hamburger Soup
Our favorite way to serve this hamburger vegetable soup is with some crusty bread for dipping but you could also serve it with some homemade rolls or biscuits. Salad and soup is also a classic combo. Here are a few green salad options that would be great paired with this soup: pear, walnut, and gorgonzola salad; crunchy detox kale salad, or this shredded Brussels sprouts & kale salad with apples, gorgonzola & candied pecans.
Love soups? Try our low-calorie southwestern chicken soup and our tuscan tomato soup!
Easy Hamburger Soup with Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 pound 95% extra lean ground beef
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large russet potato, cubed
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 5 cups low sodium beef broth
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 cups cooked macaroni elbows
- 1 15 oz can of white navy beans, drained and rinsed
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt, add more if needed
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a dutch oven and saute the onion, celery and carrot until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the ground beef and cook until browned, using a wooden spoon to break into small pieces.
- Add the garlic, potato, and Italian seasoning and saute 1 minute.
- Stir in the bay leaf, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beef broth. Cover and bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
- Stir in the worcestershire sauce, peas, cooked macaroni, and navy beans. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve!
Do you brown the meat first?
Hi there – if you click on the green circle in the top right corner that says “Want to make this? Click here for the recipe?”, it will bring you to the full directions and further information.
I made this and loved it.