The recipe I followed (mostly)
INGREDIENTS
- 4 small potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 small white or yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk ( I use 2%)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (16 oz.) package Velveeta processed cheese, cubed OR 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, dried basil and parsley in a large crock pot. Pour chicken broth over vegetables. Cover with lid. Cook on low heat 6 to 8 hours OR on high heat 4 to 5 hours or until potatoes are tender.
- About 20 minutes before serving, cook and crumble ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain any grease. Pour cooked ground beef into crock pot. Carefully wipe out hot skillet with a paper towel then add butter. When butter is melted whisk in flour and cook until golden brown and bubbly (about 1 minute.) Whisk in the milk, salt and pepper. Pour mixture into the crock pot and stir to combine everything.
- Add the cubed velveeta cheese or shredded cheese to crock pot. Stir again. Cover with lid and cook another 30 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Serve and enjoy!
NOTES
- Cook Time: 6 to 8 hours (because all crock pots heat differently)
Adapted from Taste of Home
OK so 4 small potatoes didn't even cover the bottom of my slow cooker so I used 6 potatoes. I definitely could have cut them smaller (My bad, I am used to mashing potatoes in my soups!) I think because of using more potatoes I needed more liquid so I ended up using 5 cups of chicken broth (I use the stock powder added to boiling water because it's cheaper and still very tasty just not clear). I used 1% milk because that's all I buy.
I prepared my vegetables the night before and added a chopped clove of garlic, cause well...GARLIC people! If it's a savory recipe and doesn't have garlic chances are pretty damn good I'll add some or a LOT! I put everything up to the chicken broth in the crock and let it sit on the counter over night. I browned my ground beef with garlic powder of course and added it with 2 hours and 40 minutes left of the 8 hours. This was done at this time because my daycare boys were quietly reading and they let me sneak into the kitchen for a few minutes!
I don't buy processed cheese...EVER! OK maybe not never but very, very rarely! So we used the two cups of shredded cheddar. What I find a little confusing is that in step 2 it says about 20 minutes before serving etc but then step 3 says to cook for another 30 minutes after adding the beef and milk/flour mixture! So I added the milk/flour mix and cheese and just cooked it on low for another 30 minutes.
Overall this is a good recipe! It's very tasty, especially with the addition of garlic! (I did mention I love garlic right?!) To call it cheeseburger soup is a bit of a stretch to me as I don't know anyone who has potatoes, celery or carrots on a cheeseburger! This was enough for the kid and I for dinner, lunch the next day and one more dinner tucked into the freezer. I am sure it yielded more due to my potato and broth additions.
When I make this again, and I will, I will definitely cut my potatoes smaller and I will very likely cut back the addition of salt and add a good bit of bacon instead!!! Being that the recipe I copied and pasted is already an adaptation on the original recipe (also linked at the very top of this post) I think it's safe to say that one could make many variations on this recipe and still have it come out tasting good!
I served this soup with a quick yeast roll because we love bread almost as much as garlic ;)
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