15 Ground Beef Soup Recipes for Easy Weeknight Dinners (2024)

Ground beef is an essential staple for most home cooks. After all, the perennially popular cut is inexpensive, easy to work with, incredibly versatile, and a little goes a long way. Since it breaks down into bite-sized crumbles, it can be stretched into all manner of big batch recipes. One of those just happens to be soup.

As opposed to stew meat, which requires hours to slowly cook down and tenderize, ground beef is ready in minutes. On the other hand, it can simmer as long as needed — giving flavors time to meld, and the other ingredients an opportunity to catch up — without getting dry and tough. That's why we're saying "Soup, there it is!" by taking ground beef beyond hamburgers and chili in these fast and flavorful ground beef soup recipes.

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Hamburger Soup

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15 Ground Beef Soup Recipes for Easy Weeknight Dinners (1)

Why bother with buns? Everyone's favorite sandwich gets deliciously (and wholesomely) transformed into a spoonable ground beef soup, flecked with bits of chopped onion, carrots, and celery. And yes, you better believe that there's ketchup in the broth.

  • 22 Deliciously Different Things to Do with 1 Pound of Ground Beef

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Mama's Italian Wedding Soup

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We'd gladly pledge a lifetime of loyalty to this celebratory Italian American soup, brimming with bouncy miniature meatballs, lovingly intertwined with toothsome pasta and spinach.

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Instant Pot Keto Hamburger Soup

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So many magic words in a single recipe title! Instant Pot enthusiasts will love the automated ease of simmering up a pot of ground beef and pork sausage-rich soup. And keto adherents will appreciate that it's totally diet approved — and boy, do we love diets that allow for a broth made from whipping cream, cheddar cheese and cream cheese.

  • Browse more Instant Pot Recipes.

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Venus de Milo Soup

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"This is my version of a popular soup served at a well-known banquet facility in southeastern Massachusetts," explains contributor Elizabeth Cornell Chedid. "It is simple to prepare using common ingredients you may already have on hand in your pantry and freezer. Feel free to vary the basic recipe with in-season fresh veggies and low-fat turkey or veggie-soy burger for the ground beef."

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Albondigas

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Italian recipes don't get exclusive bragging rights to meatballs — nor even meatballs swimming in soup. The winning combination is equally beloved in Mexico, as delightfully referenced by this delectable ground beef soup recipe, boasting a salsa broth brightened with fronds of verdant cilantro.

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Black-Eyed Pea Soup

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Did you know that black eyed peas are considered lucky? Resembling coins, they're believed to bring prosperity to the consumer. That's why they're so often served on New Year's Day. That said, there's no reason you can't court a bit of luck year-round with this hearty soup of black eyed peas, ground beef, and pork sausage sweetened with molasses, spiced with cumin, and simmered in bouillon, diced tomatoes, and green chili peppers.

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Instant Pot Lasagna Soup

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"Ever wondered what to do with that last little bit of marinara sauce or those broken lasagna noodles?" asked recipe contributor Bren. "Well, I've got you covered! This soup has all of the flavors of lasagna without all of the hours in the kitchen. I've made it with fairly simple ingredients but feel free to add ground fennel seeds or herbs."

  • 16 Hearty and Healthy Fall Soups for the Instant Pot

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Alphabet Soup

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Instead of being condensed in a can, this childhood favorite gets a preservative-free upgrade. Think ground round, beef bouillon, spicy vegetable juice cocktail, frozen mixed vegetables, and dried alphabet pasta — no more, no less.

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Instant Pot Cabbage Roll Soup

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Love cabbage rolls, but not a fan of all the fussy work that goes into constructing them? This rib-sticking soup contains all of the traditional sweet and sour elements of the Eastern European staple, including ribbons of cabbage, crumbles of ground beef and rice, in a tomato-based broth seasoned with bay leaves, black pepper, apple cider vinegar, and black pepper. And since it's prepared in an Instant Pot, it requires just a fraction of the work.

  • Our Most Popular Cabbage Recipes

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Hamburger Corn Soup

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"This is my grandmother's recipe by way of my mother," shares contributor Meemps of this creamed corn-enriched soup. "It's easy and tastes great. Origins of this recipe come from the Pennsylvania Dutch of Central PA."

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Italian Vegetable Soup

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One of the things we adore about ground beef is that it plays so well with other ingredients. In fact, it's not afraid to let vegetables share the stage, by creating a delicious duet with carrots, diced tomatoes, cabbage, corn, and green beans.

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Taco Soup with Green Chilies

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This is our one-pot answer to taco night — a beef-and-bean soup flavored with diced tomatoes and green chilies, thickened with corn, and made indulgently creamy with tangy and rich Velveeta cheese.

  • 16 Dinners That Start With a Packet of Taco Seasoning

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Saskatchawan City Steak Soup

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"I had a soup when I was on holidays this summer and loved it," said aptly named contributor, Souper_Sasker. "So, when I got home and the weather changed a little, I decided to try to re-create it. What I came up with is the delicious, thick soup that is really more like a stew. It's amazing with dumplings dropped on top."

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Spicy Potato Soup

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Enlivened with a healthy dash of hot pepper sauce, sweetened with tomato sauce, and bulked out with ground beef, this ground beef soup recipe is so much more than a bowl of mashed potatoes (not that there's anything wrong with that).

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MeMe's Pasta Fagioli

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"White cannellini beans, ditalini pasta with vegetables, lean hamburger, and herbs are simmered in vegetable juice and chicken broth," said contributor Karyn Osborne. "It is like an Italian chili like Olive Garden's Pasta Fagioli and even better the second day."

  • Browse more Soup Recipes.
15 Ground Beef Soup Recipes for Easy Weeknight Dinners (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to soup? ›

7 Tips for Successful Soup Making
  • Use a Sturdy Pot. It is worth investing in a heavy pot with a thick bottom to use for making soup. ...
  • Sauté the Aromatics. ...
  • Start with Good Broth. ...
  • Cut Vegetables to the Right Size. ...
  • Stagger the Addition of Vegetables. ...
  • Keep Liquid at a Simmer. ...
  • Season Just Before Serving.
Oct 9, 2022

Will raw ground beef cook in soup? ›

Can You Put Raw Ground Beef In Soup? If you cook it thoroughly in the liquid, yes you can. However I've found this beef takes better when it's cooked first and the broth and other ingredients are added after it's cooked.

How do you add richness to beef soup? ›

Beef stock on its own should be extremely rich; how did you make it? If the soup is already made and you just want to deepen the flavour, try a shake of a pre-made sauce such as Worcestershire, brown sauce, barbecue sauce, soy or even kecap manis etc. For next time, more or better beef stock.

How to cook a lot of ground beef fast? ›

The pre-crumbled steamer basket method was the one preferred in our Test Kitchen. Set pressure to high, and cook for about 6 minutes for one pound and about 10 minutes for two pounds. (To cook one pound of ground beef from frozen, set the timer to 30-40 minutes instead.)

What is the most important ingredient in soup? ›

For clear, brothy soups, stock is your most important ingredient. If you want to make a good soup, you need to use an excellently flavored stock — otherwise, the entire pot could be tasteless.

What not to do when making soup? ›

The 7 Biggest Mistakes You Make Cooking Soup
  1. Boiling instead of simmering. You want a small bubble or two to rise to the surface of the liquid every few seconds. ...
  2. Not using enough salt. ...
  3. Ignoring water. ...
  4. Overcooking the vegetables. ...
  5. Adding tomatoes at the beginning. ...
  6. Neglecting to garnish. ...
  7. Not trying a pressure cooker.
Nov 19, 2014

Should you brown beef before putting in soup? ›

How to make Beef Soup. The key step here is to brown the beef well – aggressively is the term that I use. This adds a ton of flavour to the beef itself and the broth, from the brown bits on the bottom of the pot that dissolves into the broth.

Do you drain hamburger meat for soup? ›

And now it's time to make the soup! Throw the hamburger, onion, celery, and garlic in a large pot…. Then brown it over medium-high heat until the meat is totally cooked! Now, this step is important: Remove the pot from the heat and drain off as much fat as humanly possible.

Do you season meat before putting it in soup? ›

Salt and pepper are the foundation of any good seasoning. Generously season the beef with salt and pepper before browning it. This will help to bring out the natural flavors of the meat and create a delicious base for your soup.

What gives soup more flavor? ›

"If your broth is lacking in savory richness, try adding roasted onion, tomato paste, mushrooms, seaweed, soy sauce, or miso. These ingredients add umami flavor and depth to broth," she says. The choice of ingredient depends on the recipe, though.

What spices are good in soup? ›

To season it, we recommend starting with our Vegetable Soup Mix. It contains celery salt, parsley flakes, garlic powder, sea salt, summer savory, marjoram, thyme, black pepper, turmeric and sage, which are all excellent with root vegetables, so you can incorporate things like carrots or potatoes into the soup.

What gives beef stew the best flavor? ›

Add spices such as turmeric, coriander and cumin at the early stage of cooking, when you are frying onions and garlic, to enhance the taste of the beef stew. Fresh herbs like coriander and bay leaves also contribute a distinct flavour without making the dish too spicy for the younger members of the family.

How to add more flavor to ground beef? ›

Once the beef has rendered its fat, it's time to generously add your mix of seasonings — granulated garlic, granulated onion, ground cumin, and cayenne powder. These seasonings absorb the rendered fat, bloom, and beautifully transform the beef.

How to cook 5 lbs of ground beef? ›

All you do is add up to 3 pounds of ground beef to your crock-pot (I have done as many as 5 lbs. at one time). Break up the beef and add ¼ cup water (per pound of beef). Turn your crock-pot on and cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or LOW for 4-6 hours.

What to do with extra ground beef? ›

Cooked burgers are an even quicker shortcut: Just crumble them and reheat, stirring in some seasoning, to make a quick filling.
  1. Spicy Chipotle Beef Enchiladas.
  2. Spicy Eggplant & Beef Chili.
  3. Kitchen Sink Hamburger Soup.
  4. Big Batch Shepherd's Pie.
  5. Beef & Mushroom Skillet Lasagna.
  6. Mini Meat Pies.

What makes soup more flavorful? ›

Herbs and spices add aroma, flavor, and intensity to soup broth. "Use fresh or dried basil in tomato-based recipes or fresh parsley to add freshness to clear broth soups," says Sofia Norton, RD. You can also go with more heat and spices.

What are three qualities of a good soup? ›

A soup's quality is determined by its flavor, appearance and texture. A good soup should be full-flavored, with no off or sour tastes. Flavors from each of the soup's ingre- dients should blend and complement, with no one flavor overpowering another.

What gives vegetable soup that depth of flavor? ›

Tips for Flavorful Vegetable Soup

Flavor the base: We add Italian seasoning and tomato paste to the aromatics and warm them up to bring the seasonings back to life. You could use fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary, or even add a Parmesan rind for more flavor.

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