Ingredients

1 lb. lean ground beef or venison
2 Tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, peeled & chopped
3 large stalks of celery, chopped (about 1 1/3 cups)
3 carrots, peeled & chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
3 – 4 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
2 Tablespoons flour
1 cup beef broth (or 1 cup water + 1 spoonful of Better than Bouillon, beef flavor)
4 oz. light cream cheese
2 cups milk
1 – 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used a triple cheddar blend)
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning (or to taste)
Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute (or your favorite no-salt seasoning), to taste
Better than Bouillon, beef flavor, to taste – I didn’t measure, but probably used about 2 Tablespoons total
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Optional stir-ins: A couple Tablespoons: pickle juice or dill pickle hot sauce (recipe here) and/or mustard (stone ground or yellow)

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Instructions

Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the ground meat and cook, chopping with a spatula, until browned. Remove from pan and set the meat aside. Strain off any excess fat. Add the butter to the pan.
When the butter is melted, add the onions. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion starts to brown and caramelize, about 10 – 15 minutes. (You don’t need them fully caramelized, just to the point where they are STARTING to brown). Add the celery, carrots and garlic. Stir and cook until the carrots and celery are tender.
Stir in the flour to coat the veggies, then add the broth. The mixture will thicken pretty quickly. Remove from heat.
Scoop up about 1 cup of the hot veggies and put them in a blender cup with the cold cream cheese and milk. Blend until smooth, then pour the blended milk mixture back into the pot.
With the heat on medium low, add the shredded cheese and cook until the cheese is melted. Stir in the cooked burger meat and seasonings. Now get your taste buds ready because you’re going to season this soup to your liking. Using the 2-spoon method, use one spoon to scoop up a bit of soup and pour into the 2nd spoon. Taste from the 2nd spoon and add whatever you think it needs: cheese, better than bouillon, pepper, pickle juice, mustard, seasonings. Add a bit at a time until it’s perfect for YOU. Each time you taste, use the first spoon to scoop into the tasting spoon. Once you think it’s good, then serve hot with whatever burger toppings you love. Enjoy!

Notes

Topping options: extra shredded cheese, cooked chopped bacon, chopped tomatoes, pickles, onions, jalapenos, mustard, ketchup — whatever you like on your burgers

Many cheeseburger soup recipes call for potatoes. I left them out to keep this soup lower in carbs, but you can definitely add a couple potatoes if you like. If you want a cheeseburger soup with potatoes, try my Green Chile Cheeseburger soup recipe (with or without the green chiles).

RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2026, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. This recipe was made by a REAL person with REAL ingredients. The photos are real photos taken by me personally. There is nothing AI here. This is real food made by real people for real people. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.