Creamy Cheeseburger Soup- (THM ~ S)

Oh, my, yumminess! You know those days when you have a few ingredients in the house and you think, “That would make a great soup”? Well, yesterday was one of those days. I asked around for a favorite cheeseburger soup recipe, but ended up just doing it myself. And as I cooked and tasted, I KNEW it was going to be a blog-worthy recipe, so I wrote down ingredients as I went. And MAN! It was a big hit! Everyone loved it! My 10 year old son said that it needed less cauliflower, but my 5 year old daughter piped up and said, “No! That’s my favorite part!” So I guess the amount of cauliflower is just right.

So, what makes this recipe great? Lots of heavy cream? Nope! Lots of cheese? Nope! I could have put lots of cream and lots of cheese in and it would still be a THM-S (full of healthy fats and low in carbs, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the THM labels for foods), but it would have added a LOT more calories. And really, truly, as I cooked and tasted, it just didn’t need the cream and extra cheese! Plus, there are no special ingredients (unless you count the nutritional yeast in the trim bouillon mix as a special ingredient, and it’s optional anyway). Read on for the recipe! (And you can pin it here.)

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Cheeseburger Soup- THM “S”

 

2 lb ground beef (doesn’t matter if it’s lean- I used 81/19 and drained and rinsed)

1 onion, diced

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

1 8-oz block of cream cheese

6 cups of chicken broth (OR- I was out of chicken broth, so I made my own! How? I used 6 cups of water and added in 1/4 cup of the Trim Bouillon Seasoning mix found on p. 491 of the Trim Healthy Mama cookbook. That’s what gave this a nice yellow color!)

2 pounds of cauliflower, divided

2 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp liquid smoke

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

8 ounces of grated cheese (for topping)

other desired cheeseburger toppings, such as pickles, diced tomatoes, sliced raw onions, or bacon crumbles

 

In one pan, brown the ground beef and diced onions, then drain off the fat and rinse. In your soup pot (I used an 8-quart pot) melt the butter and cream cheese and mix until smooth. Add broth or water/bouillon mix and mix with an immersion blender (or just heat the mixture a bit and blend it in your blender pitcher). Add 1 pound of cauliflower and cook until it’s soft, then blend again until smooth. (Again, I used my immersion blender, but you could scoop out the cauliflower and a bit of broth and blend it in your blender pitcher. It’s just more steps and more dishes that way.) Return to heat, and add ground beef crumbles and onions and your spices and liquid smoke seasoning. Simmer for 15-30 minutes, then add the other pound of cauliflower. Cook long enough for the cauliflower to get tender.

Serve with grated cheese on top. (I actually looked on Pinterest later and there are other cheeseburger soup recipes that top theirs with things like onion slices, diced fresh tomatoes, and even pickles! I’m not a fan of either pickles or raw onions, but I can see how that would make it taste even more like a cheeseburger! You could even add some bacon to it, too, if you wanted to!)

 

 

 

*Affiliate note: If you are interested in checking out the Trim Healthy Mama Plan book or the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook, consider purchasing through my affiliate links! You can also shop the Trim Healthy Mama store for the original book and lots of other specialty ingredients using my affiliate link, too. It won’t cost you any extra, but it does give this homeschooling mama a bit of extra income. Thanks!