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Get It NowWhen you crave cozy comfort food, this cheeseburger soup recipe is the perfect choice! With a rich, cheesy broth and big burger flavor, this soup is far better than anything from the drive-through on a cold day. It’s a lot like my traditional hamburger soup, but with an added creamy, cheesy element, crispy bacon, and extra comfort food factor.
Why You’ll Love This Cheeseburger Soup Recipe
- Rich bacon, burger, and cheese flavor
- Creamy, cheesy texture
- Simple, common ingredients
- Only 20 minutes cook time
- No slow cooker needed
- Includes hidden veggies
- Satisfies cheeseburger cravings fast!

Ingredients & Substitutions
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for cheeseburger soup, what each one does in the recipe, and some substitution options (with more in the Variations section below). For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Ground Beef – Any ground meat will work here, but I typically use 85/15 ground beef, which has just the right amount of flavor without being too greasy.
- Bacon – I love a good bacon cheeseburger soup, but you could omit this to make one without bacon if you prefer. Using pre-cooked bacon bits saves a lot of time with this recipe, so that’s what I often do. If you do have extra time, you can prepare bacon in the oven or a skillet and crumble it yourself.
- Cauliflower – Many cheeseburger soup recipes use potatoes for the bulk of the soup, but this lightened up (but still hearty) version uses cauliflower instead. Chop it into bite-sized florets. If you prefer a more carb-y soup, you can substitute russet potatoes (or really any potato you like), but they will take longer to cook than cauliflower does.
- Chicken Broth – I used a reduced-sodium chicken broth because of the added salt from the bacon and cheese. You can also use reduced-sodium beef broth or make homemade bone broth instead.
- Milk – I used unsweetened almond milk, but if your lifestyle allows, you can also use conventional milk.
- Dried Parsley – You can also use a tablespoon of fresh parsley instead of a teaspoon of dried, or use other dried herbs, such as basil or Italian seasoning.
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese – Use pre-shredded or shred it yourself. Freshly shredded cheese melts more easily, but also clumps more easily. You can also toss the cheese with cornstarch (or a cornstarch substitute, like arrowroot powder) to help it thicken the broth.
- Heavy Cream – Helps to thicken the broth and provide richness, along with the cheese.

How To Make Cheeseburger Soup
This section shows how to make bacon cheeseburger soup, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Crisp up the bacon. In a large pot, large saucepan, or large Dutch oven, cook the bacon bits over medium heat, until crisp.
- Brown the beef. Raise stove to medium-high heat and add the ground beef. Cook, breaking apart with a spoon, until browned.


- Simmer the soup. Add in all remaining ingredients, except the cream and cheese. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until the cauliflower is tender.
- Melt and thicken. Lower heat. Stir in heavy cream and cheese, until the cheeseburger soup is smooth and the cheese is melted.



Tips For The Best Cheeseburger Soup
- No need to drain the bacon grease. Pre-cooked bacon bits do not render a lot of fat, but the small amount of fat they leave behind adds so much flavor. Leave it all in the pot! If you cook raw bacon instead, though, you may want to drain.
- Add the cheese slowly and stir constantly. To avoid clumping, add a small amount of cheese at a time and don’t stop stirring until fully melted before adding more.
- Or melt the cheese separately instead. Alternatively, ladle 2 cups of broth from the soup into a separate bowl and fully whisk in the cheese before returning to the pot.
Recipe Variations
- Swap the meats – Use ground turkey, ground chicken, or even ground pork instead of beef.
- Change cheeses – Try other hard melting cheeses such as Swiss for a whole new taste, or swap in pepper jack for a slightly spicy cheeseburger soup.
- Add more toppings – Garnish with chopped dill pickles, caramelized onions, sour cream, jalapeno slices, or even croutons if you miss the bun.
- Add other vegetables – As with any soup, almost any veggie you like can be added, but carrots are a particularly good pairing with the other flavors here. You can also saute onion and garlic in the bacon grease after cooking the bacon, or if you skip the bacon, saute them in butter or olive oil instead.
- Use potatoes – If this works for your needs and you want a more filling soup, swap the cauliflower for diced potatoes. The soup will take a little longer, so just simmer until the potatoes are soft.
- Make thicker, more creamy cheeseburger soup – Remove some of the liquid together with the cauliflower, puree in a blender, and return to the soup. You can also thicken it by adding cream cheese and letting it melt. (That’s one of the tricks I use in my easy broccoli cheddar soup without requiring a thickener.)
Storage Instructions
- Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Meal prep: Brown the bacon and beef, then cool and store until ready to cook. You can also chop the cauliflower ahead of time and store separately.
- Reheat: Warm on the stove, stirring frequently to avoid separation.
- Freeze: After cooling completely, you can freeze cheeseburger soup in a zip lock bag or container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.

What To Serve With Cheeseburger Soup
This is easily my favorite cheeseburger soup recipe because it satisfies all on its own, but you can include these sides to make it a big meal:
- Salads – Spinach bacon salad, cucumber tomato avocado salad, or 7 layer salad would all pair nicely with this recipe for cheeseburger soup.
- Chips Or Crackers – Add crunch with 3-ingredient almond flour crackers, light and crispy zucchini chips in the air fryer, or homemade flax seed crackers. Of course, feel free to use any store-bought crackers or chips you like, too.
- Fries – For a burger and fries experience with a healthy spin, serve this soup with rutabaga fries, jicama fries, or baked zucchini fries. It also goes well with regular potato garlic parmesan fries.
More Creamy Soup Recipes
If you liked this dish, try these delicious soup recipes next — full of rich, creamy taste and hearty meats:
Tools For This Recipe
- Large Soup Pot – This 4 qt soup pot has extra tall sides, so no soup splashes on the stove!
- Cooking Utensils – From stirring to browning, this set does it all.
- Storage Containers – Make a double batch of soup and freeze in these glass containers.
Bacon Cheeseburger Soup Recipe
Cheeseburger Soup Recipe (20 Minutes!)
This easy cheeseburger soup recipe is comfort in a bowl. It's cheesy, filling, surprisingly healthy, and ready in just 20 minutes!
Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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In a large pot, cook bacon bits for a couple of minutes over medium heat, until crispy.
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Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the ground beef. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking apart with a spoon or spatula, until browned.
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Add the cauliflower, chicken broth, almond milk, dried parsley, sea salt, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until cauliflower is tender.
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Remove pot from heat. Stir in the cheddar cheese and heavy cream, until the soup is smooth and the cheese is melted.
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Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 cup
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
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115 Comments
Betty Taylor
2I added the following to take this recipe over the top:
1 tsp Cumin
1Tbs Chili powder
1tsp Oregano
2Tbs dry Ranch seasoning
Karen
1I made this but added a few things. I cooked and drained the bacon fat and then added onion and garlic before adding the hamburger and a little chili powder and garlic salt. I made rhe cheese sauce with heavy cream in a separate pan and then added it to the soup. It was amazing! For me the chili powder and garlic salt really made it eat like a bacon cheeseburger. It was great!!!
Robert Dillon
0EXCELLENT!! However for fun I added liquid smoke, chili powder, oregano, garlic and onions. Smokehouse burger flavor!
Barbie
0This is easy and wonderful. Be sure to add the cheese slowly like she say, it melts in really well. I’m allergic to almonds, and used all chicken broth for liquid with a tiny bit more cream. This sub worked really well. Thanks for this!!
Tami
0Can’t wait to try this recipe, I have used a similar one, but added broccoli as well. It was a fam fav!
Daniel Ray
0This soup is so good. Easy to make even for a beginner like me. Made it in my instant pot
Hibber
0I eat a high fat diet, but found this unnecessarily fatty, even with half the cream and cheese. Next time I would omit the cream and halve the cheese. I added carrot, onion and celery, as well as mashed squash, and 1 t chili powder.
Julia
0This soup is actually very tasty and very easy to make. My kids enjoyed it very much!
Jamie
0The flavors in this soup are SO good! Love that is uses cauliflower as the base!
Sarah Skaggs
0My husband loved this so much! His favorite food made into soup!
Amy
0I would like to cook this in our instant pot.
Do you put all ingredients except for cheese and heavy cream in it? Was meat uncooked and for how long do you cook it? Thank you so much for any help. I’m new at this and am overwhelmed. Thanks, A
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Amy, You would want to saute the meat in the IP and then add the other ingredients.
Michelle
0Can you make this without cauliflower?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Michelle, You can omit the cauliflower from the soup if you wish.
AMG
0Fast and delicious!
Lori Bauer
0Wonder if anyone has tried using Parmesan instead of Cheddar? Would that work?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Lori, I’m not sure parmesan would work in place of cheddar because it does not melt as well as cheddar.
Sarah
0This soup is very delicious.
D.Lienhard
0A perfect recipe to add to my rotation.
T
0Sorry if this is already somewhere in the comments.. I did search first before asking…
If I were to use frozen riced cauliflower instead of fresh how much would I use?
Just a suggestion- it would be great if there was a search box for your comments to make it easier to find a question or comment previously posted! Thanks!
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi T, I have never tested the recipe using cauliflower rice but my suggestion would be to use one 10oz bag. If you think it needs more you could add in a second bag.
T
0Thanks! Trying it tonight, I will let you know how it goes. I had planned to blend all the cauliflower anyway so I figured it would be fine.
Amy
0Hi, So was the 10oz frozen cauliflower enough for the soup or did you add more? Thanks.
Christen
0I have someone in my family that is allergic to nuts & can’t have almond milk. Would coconut milk work or all heavy cream?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Christen, You could use either coconut milk or heavy whipping cream as a substitute for almond milk.
Paula
0I made this yesterday and it was yummy. The only thing I changed is I used chicken breast instead of hamburger meat !!!! It was delicious!!!
Vicki
0I can’t find a link to print the recipe. Is there one? Love your recipes!
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Vicki, The print button for this recipe is right above the list of ingredients between the pin and review buttons.
Tina
0I made this today and it’s very tasty. A few adjustment, I did not have any almond milk so I just left it out, and only used half the amount of heavy cream. I also cooked in the Instant pot. Will definitely make this again. 🙂
Amy
0Hello, I saw you say you cooked this in the instant pot. I would like to also. Did you put all ingredients except for cheese and heavy cream in it? Was meat uncooked and for how long? Thank you so much for any help. I’m new at this and am overwhelmed. Thanks, A
Lex
0Another winner for Maya! OMG. This soup is so tasty. I always prepare something from Wholesome Yum by the recipe. From there I make modifications. This soup is such a terrific base, you can add whatever you like to it. Peppers, mushrooms, garlic, onions. They’ll all shine through and add more texture and variety.
It was snowing hard and cold today. This soup did what every good soup should do — warm ya right to the bone! Kudos, Maya!
Christine Chapman
0This was delicious. I substituted ground turkey and seasoned it with onions and garlic. I also roasted the cauliflower instead of just letting it soften in soup. This was so good and my picky boyfriend even loved it!
Linda Smith
0Very tasty soup! Will definitely make again!
bren037@yahoo.com
0I am not much of a soup fan. Never have been. But not only was this one super easy it was really tasty too! I added onion and a green bell pepper to it and that was amazing too. I love this recipe and I think it is now going to become one of my go to dishes for sure. Might try mixing it up and using chicken and broccoli in place of the cauliflower and ground beef. Even my picky eaters liked it.
Shirley
0Easy, quick and so yummy. Thank you for sharing. Stay safe.