Hamburger Soup

Hamburger Soup is what I make when there’s a pound of ground beef in the fridge and a bag of vegetables in the freezer that need to be used up. It’s my honest answer to what to make with hamburger meat on a night when I don’t want to think hard about dinner. One pound of beef, a single potato, and a couple of cups of frozen vegetables stretch into six bowls, which is mostly why it stays in our rotation.

The part that makes or breaks it is the tomato paste. I stir a quarter cup into the broth instead of using tomato sauce, because the paste gives the soup real body without thinning it out, and I hold the salt until the very end since the broth concentrates as it simmers.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• One pound of ground beef feeds six, because the potato, broth, and frozen vegetables carry most of the volume.
• It comes together in one pot in about 50 minutes, so the only things to wash up afterward are the pot and your bowls.
• Everything comes from the freezer and pantry, a bag of mixed vegetables, canned tomato paste, beef broth, and dried Italian seasoning, with no special shopping trip.
• Each bowl lands at about 22 grams of protein, so it eats like a full dinner rather than a starter.
• It’s one of the best ways to use up a lonely potato and the odds and ends in the freezer before they get freezer burned.
• I think it tastes even better the next day, so the leftovers make an easy lunch.

Ingredients You’ll Need

You’ll find the full measurements in the recipe card below. These are the ones worth a word before you start.

• Ground beef. One pound of lean ground beef is all it takes, and leaner meat means less grease to skim and a cleaner-tasting broth. Ground turkey works in its place and often costs a little less.
• Tomato paste. A quarter cup is what gives the broth its body and deep color. Use the paste rather than tomato sauce here, since sauce is mostly liquid and will leave the soup thin.
• Beef broth. Four cups is the base of the whole soup, so a broth you’d happily sip on its own makes a real difference. A low-sodium broth lets you control the salt yourself.
• Frozen mixed vegetables. Two cups go in straight from the freezer, with no thawing needed. A single bag costs less and wastes less than buying each vegetable fresh.
• Potato. One medium potato, cut into even half-inch cubes so it cooks through in the ten to fifteen minutes the recipe gives it. A waxy red or Yukon Gold holds its shape better than a russet, which can break down and cloud the broth.
• Worcestershire, Italian seasoning, and a pinch of sugar. These are the flavor base. The half teaspoon of sugar is there to balance the acidity of the tomato paste, not to make the soup sweet.

How to Make Hamburger Soup

Scroll down for the full recipe card containing a full printable recipe and measurements in both US customary and metric units.

Here’s how it goes from raw beef to dinner, in the same order as the recipe card.

Brown the beef

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook for 8 to 9 minutes, breaking it up as it browns, until you have some caramelized bits in the bottom of the pot. If you’re using a fattier beef, spoon off the excess grease before moving on.

Cook the onion and garlic

Add the diced onion and minced garlic to the browned beef. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion softens and the garlic smells fragrant but hasn’t started to brown.

Build the broth

Stir in the tomato paste, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, and sugar. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes so the flavors have time to come together.

Add the potato and vegetables

Add the cubed potato and the frozen mixed vegetables straight from the freezer. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potato is fork-tender.

Season and serve

Taste the soup first, then season with salt and pepper, starting small and adjusting as you go, since the broth has concentrated as it cooked. Ladle it into bowls and serve hot.

Recipe Notes and Expert Tips

• Brown the beef properly before any liquid goes in. Those caramelized bits are where a lot of the flavor starts, and lean beef keeps the pot from turning greasy.
• If the broth tastes flat, the fix is usually seasoning, not more salt. The Worcestershire, Italian seasoning, and that half teaspoon of sugar are what give the broth its depth, so check those before you keep salting.
• Season at the end, not the start. The broth reduces as it simmers and concentrates the salt already in it, so a soup salted early can turn out too salty by the time it’s done.
• Cut the potato into even half-inch cubes. Larger chunks can still be firm in the middle by the time the rest of the soup is ready.
• For a thicker soup, mash a few of the cooked potato cubes against the side of the pot and stir them back in before serving.

Recipe Variations

• Ground turkey stands in for the beef one for one, a supported swap Mandy lists in her notes. The method doesn’t change, and it usually trims a little off the cost.
• Stir in a handful of pasta or rice in the last few minutes for a heartier pot. It’s one of the supported add-ins in her notes, and the grains drink up broth as they cook, so add a splash more liquid if you like it soupy.
• Add chopped cabbage, a drained can of beans, or extra corn with the frozen vegetables. All three are supported in Mandy’s notes as ways to bulk the pot up from what’s already in the kitchen.
• Make it in the slow cooker instead, another supported option she gives in her notes: brown the beef first for flavor, then cook everything on low for 6 to 8 hours.

How to Store Leftovers

Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Don’t leave the pot out to cool completely on the counter first; get it into the fridge within two hours, or one hour if the kitchen is above 90°F, and ladling it into shallow containers helps it cool down safely and faster. To reheat, warm individual bowls in the microwave or the whole batch on the stovetop until it’s steaming hot all the way through, 165°F on a thermometer. For longer storage, cool the soup and pack it into freezer-safe containers or bags with about an inch of headspace, then freeze for up to 3 months and thaw it overnight in the fridge before reheating. The potato softens a little once frozen and thawed, so if you know you’ll freeze a batch, cook it until just fork-tender rather than soft.

What to Serve With Hamburger Soup

Hamburger soup is filling on its own, but a good side turns it into a full dinner. A slice of warm garlic bread is made for dipping into the tomato broth, and a simple green salad with a sharp vinaigrette cuts through the richness. For something with crunch, cornbread or a handful of oyster crackers do the job, and a grilled cheese alongside makes it a proper cold-weather supper.

FAQs

More Easy Soups for Busy Weeknights

If this one earns a place in your dinner rotation, these soups pull the same trick of turning a few simple ingredients into a full pot:

• Cheeseburger Soup – the same ground-beef base, made creamy and cheesy instead of brothy.
• Gnocchi Soup – a chicken-and-spinach bowl with pillowy gnocchi for a night you want something more filling.
• Ham and Potato Soup – another use-what-you-have soup, this one built on leftover ham and potatoes.
• Potato Soup – a smooth, bacon-topped potato bowl for when you want the soup without the beef.
• Chicken Tortilla Soup – a lighter, Mexican-spiced tomato soup for a change of pace.