Bacon Cheeseburger Soup (Easy Crockpot Recipe!)

Easy cheesy slow cooker bacon cheeseburger soup is a hearty bowl full of tender chunky potatoes, flavorful ground beef, and delicious bacon all in a creamy cheesy broth. Bacon cheeseburger soup recipe is perfect for a busy day as the slow cooker does most of the work, and is great for the entire family.

 

Why We Love Slow Cooker Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

• Easy To Make – This decadent soup is pretty easy to make, and the slow cooker does most of the work. Plus if you have a picky eater they will love bacon cheeseburgers in soup form.
• Packed Full Of Flavor – The bacon combined with the ground beef and seasoning gives this cheesy creamy soup a lot of tasty flavor in every bite.
• Hearty Lunch Or Cozy Dinner – A bowl of this comforting soup is definitely hearty enough for dinner, but can also be served for lunch. It’s cozy for colder months, creamy and great comfort food.

Ingredients For Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

• ground beef – I prefer a lean ground beef like 90/10, but 80/20 or 85/15 also works.
• onion chopped small, yellow onion or white onion
• carrots shredded
• russet potatoes peel and chop into about one-inch chunks
• bacon cooked and chopped. Turkey bacon can also be used.
• garlic minced, you can use fresh garlic, minced garlic or garlic powder
• chicken broth
• steak seasoning
• onion powder
• salt
• pepper
• Velveeta cheese cubed into about one inch cubes
• 1 cup milk
• cheddar cheese shredded, optional
• green onion – optional

How To Make Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

1. Warm a large skillet to medium-high heat. Place the ground beef in the pan and begin browning it. After a minute or two and the ground beef has started to brown, break up the ground beef and continue stirring until it is no longer pink, about 4-5 minutes. Drain any excess grease from the meat, using paper towels if needed.
2. Place the ground beef in the slow cooker. Add the potatoes, carrots, bacon, onion, garlic and chicken broth to the slow cooker. Measure and add the steak seasoning, onion powder, salt and pepper. Stir the slow cooker well.

3. Set the slow cooker to low heat and cook for 6 hours or set the slow cooker to high heat for 4 hours. Potatoes should be soft and tender at the end of the cooking time when pierced with a fork.
4. About 30 minutes before serving add the milk slowly to the slow cooker while stirring. Add the Velveeta cheese and stir well. Cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes or until the cheese has completely melted.

5. Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheddar cheese and green onions if desired. Enjoy!

Variation Ideas

Use Shredded Cheese Instead of Velveeta – Velveeta makes this soup really creamy, but you can also make this soup with regular shredded cheese like a sharp cheddar cheese. You’ll need to add a little bit of cornstarch mixed with water to the slow cooker also so that the soup thickens enough. See the notes in the recipe card at the bottom of the page for how to add shredded cheese. You could also add a mixture of shredded cheese and cream cheese at the end like we do in the crockpot broccoli cheese soup.

Add Celery – I didn’t add celery to this recipe, but you totally can add some. Diced celery gives a lot of great flavor in soup, but for me I found for this soup it pulled away from the cheeseburger flavor. If adding celery I recommend only adding a single rib or two and dicing it small.

Try Ground Turkey – You can make this soup a little leaner by using ground turkey or even ground chicken in place of the ground beef. Make sure to fully cook any ground meat before adding it to the soup.

Swap Ham Instead Of Bacon – While it won’t give you quite the same bacon cheeseburger flavor, diced ham is also delicious in this recipe for extra flavor. You can also use some leftover ham deli meat (I like to brown it in the pan first,) ham steak diced or even holiday ham diced. It’s a great way to use up leftovers. 

Leave Out Or Swap The Bacon – The bacon could also be left out all together or you can decrease the number of slices if you prefer. The bacon does add a lot of flavor to the soup. You may want to add more steak seasoning to taste if you are decreasing or removing the bacon. Turkey bacon can also be used in place of bacon.

Give The Soup Some Kick –  A little sprinkle of red pepper flakes or a few dashes of hot sauce can give this creamy crock pot soup some kick! You can add it at the table in individual bowls or add it straight ot the big pot of soup if you prefer to taste.

How Long Will Bacon Cheeseburger Soup Last?

Expect this soup will last about three days. Store leftovers in a covered airtight container in the refrigerator.

Will Cheeseburger Soup Freeze Well?

Leftovers of this easy cheeseburger soup won’t freeze well unfortunately. Cheese and dairy based soups tend to separate when you freeze them, often causing the cheesy broth to separate and split. This soup is best when eaten fresh or within a few days of making.

If you need a soup you can freeze you’re better off trying a broth or tomato based soup like hamburger soup, Italian wedding soup, lemon chicken orzo soup or the chili with ground turkey.