Easy Cheeseburger Soup – Organize Yourself Skinny

Published: Sep 27, 2022 · Modified: Sep 27, 2022 by Tammy Overhoff

This easy cheeseburger soup recipe is filled with lean ground turkey, potatoes, carrots, and celery and finished with sharp cheddar cheese and sour cream to create one of the most deliciously creamy, comforting, healthy soups you’ll make this fall season! This healthy cheeseburger soup gets better by the day, making it perfect for meal prep and freezing.

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This healthy cheeseburger soup recipe is a hearty, creamy, and complete healthy meal. It’s perfect for making during the weekend to enjoy all week for lunch or dinner. Or, if you’re looking for a soup to make for a football party, then this easy cheeseburger soup is a real crowd-pleaser.

Most cheeseburger soup recipes are made with ground beef and Velveeta cheese, but we try to be healthy here at Organize Yourself Skinny. So, I decided to lighten this cheeseburger soup by swapping the ground beef for ground turkey and using freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese instead of Velveeta. 

But, let me tell you, this easy cheeseburger soup does not skimp on flavor. Trust me; you’ll never miss the processed cheese and beef!

Other delicious soup recipes we love are this Buffalo Chicken Soup, Italian Chicken Soup, Healthy Potato Soup, Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup, Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup, Zuppa Toscana, Healthy Broccoli Cheddar Soup, and Chicken Enchilada Soup. See all of my healthy soup recipes.

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Ingredients

Here is a list of ingredients you will need to make cheeseburger soup.

• White onion, carrots, celery. Like many soups, this trio of vegetables starts the base for this easy cheeseburger soup. I like to dice the veggies into small pieces to help them cook faster in the soup.
• Ground turkey. I use ground turkey instead of ground beef to lower the saturated fat, and I recommend purchasing organic, high-quality ground turkey for the best flavor and results.
• Worcestershire sauce. This is my “secret sauce” to delicious ground turkey recipes, giving the ground turkey a rich meaty flavor. If you don’t have Worcestershire, you can also use soy sauce or tamari.
• Hamburger seasoning. I recommend hamburger seasoning for another layer of burger flavor to the ground turkey. I love using McCormick Hamburger seasoning; you can find it in the seasoning aisle next to the other spices. I think hamburger seasoning adds excellent flavor, but if you don’t have it, you can leave it out.
• Onion powder and garlic powder. This seasoning combo adds more flavor to the ground turkey cheeseburger soup.
• Chicken broth. I recommend high-quality chicken broth for the best flavor.
• Butter potatoes. These are also called Yukon gold or yellow potatoes; they have a creamier buttery flavor that works amazingly well in soup recipes. I like to purchase small “baby” potatoes and cut into quarters, but you can buy regular size and cut them into small chunks.
• Shredded sharp cheddar cheese. For that fantastic creamy, cheesy flavor, I recommend the sharp cheddar cheese fresh.
• Grated parmesan cheese. Again, for the best flavor, grate the parmesan cheese fresh. 
• Sour cream. I love using full-fat sour cream for a super creamy cheeseburger soup, and I try to avoid light or low-fat because it’s filled with all kinds of fillers and additives that don’t work well in soup recipes. 
• Cheeseburger toppings. We love shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and dill pickels.

How to Make Easy Cheeseburger Soup

• In a large dutch oven, start by sautéing the chopped celery, carrots, and onions in olive oil over medium high heat. You don’t need them to be cooked completely but cooked enough so the onions are translucent and the vegetables are fragrant. This takes about 3-5 minutes.
• Add the ground turkey to the vegetables and cook until the turkey is almost cooked through and there is only a tiny amount of pink left. This takes 5-6 minutes.
• Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, hamburger seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to the ground turkey and veggie mix.
• Continue cooking until the ground turkey is no longer pink.
• Stir in the chicken stock and potatoes, and then bring to a boil.
• Reduce to a simmer and let it cook for about 10-12 minutes over medium heat or until the potatoes are tender. 
• Turn the heat to low and slowly stir in the sour cream, shredded cheddar, and parmesan cheese.
• Stir everything until it is melted, blended, and smooth. Cook for another 3-5 minutes or until the soup is hot.
• Ladle the soup into a bowl and add your favorite cheeseburger toppings to this soup.

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Serving suggestions

Honestly, this soup is hearty and a meal on its own. My only suggestion would be a nice slice of bread or make some garlic toast croutons to put on top. You can even toast up a hamburger bun with butter and garlic. Or serve with a side salad or roasted vegetables.

Cooking tips

Here are a few tips for cooking this easy cheeseburger soup.

• Grate the cheese fresh. Most cheeseburger soup recipes use Velveeta because it melts easily. But it doesn’t get more processed and unclean than Velveeta cheese, so I never use it. Shredding the cheddar cheese fresh will add a ton of extra flavor and help the cheese melt more smoothly.
• Make it thick and creamer by blending up some of the soup. If you have an immersion blender, you can blend up some of the soup, creating a thicker creamer soup by blending the creamy potatoes. You can also whisk 1-2 tablespoons of all purpose flour (or gluten free flour) into a cup of liquid and then stir back into the soup to thicken it. Personally, I think the consistency of this healthy cheeseburger soup is perfect. The potatoes give the soup a nice creamy base while still providing texture.
• Use butter potatoes. The best potatoes to use in this recipe are butter or Yukon gold potatoes. They turn out to be creamy and delicious. Russet potatoes or red potatoes are on the grainier side.
• For more burger flavor stir in ketchup or mustard to the ground turkey as it cooks with the vegetables.
• Add favorite cheeseburger toppings. The toppings on this soup make the recipe! I love adding fresh shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and onions. Don’t be scared to put fresh cold ingredients on top of a hot soup because it’s delicious. Also, if you want to get fancy, add some chopped cooked bacon to the top and a little dill pickles. Think about your favorite cheeseburger ingredients and add those over the top.

Substitutions

• Swap out 1 pound ground beef for turkey. I prefer using ground turkey in this recipe because it cuts the fat in half without losing the flavor. However, if you choose to use ground beef in this recipe, you certainly can. I recommend using lean 95/5 ground beef and drain the extra grease if needed.
• Use ground chicken instead of turkey.
• Use beef broth or even vegetable broth.
• Swap in different cheese. Pepper jack, Colby jack, or milder cheddar cheese works great. You can also stir in a variety of cheese so use what you have on hand.
• Add bacon to create a bacon cheeseburger soup recipe. Saute the bacon first and then drain the grease. Place the cooked bacon aside and then continue with the the recipe, cooking the veggies in some of the bacon grease before adding the ground turkey. Crumble the bacon and add it in with cheese at the end.
• Add a 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes. This gives the soup a delicious creamy tomato flavor.
• Substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream. If you want to lower the fat a little more, you can use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. I prefer sour cream because it does blend better into the soup and is creamier. 
• You can also add an 8-ounce block of soften cream cheese in place of the sour cream.

Make-ahead Tips

This soup recipe tastes wonderful days later, so it’s the perfect soup to make ahead of time. You can make it on Sunday to eat during the week for lunch or dinner. Store leftovers in a large airtight container or store it in smaller containers in the fridge.

You can also prep the onions, carrots, and celery ahead to make it easier to cook during the week. Store the prepped veggies in an airtight container and refrigerate. Continue with the recipe on cooking day.

You can also freeze this soup ahead of time. After the soup cools, spoon it into these silicone Souper Cube trays and freeze. Pop out the soup blocks after it’s frozen, and then put all of the blocks into a freezer bag and freeze. You can also freeze in plastic or glass mason jar containers, and I like to freeze in 16-ounce containers for a portioned-out lunch or dinner.

For thawing, place the soup into the refrigerator overnight and then slowly reheat on the stovetop. Add more both if needed.

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Did You Make This Recipe?

Have you tried this easy cheeseburger soup? I can’t wait to see it! If so, I’d love for you to rate this recipe and leave a comment below. We all learn from each other’s experiences. Also, it would be awesome if you could share a picture on Instagram and tag it #organizeyourselfskinny.