This is a bacon cheeseburger in a bowl — ground beef, bacon, cheddar, and a tomato-based broth that tastes like the inside of a really good burger. Not just beef soup with cheese. Actually a cheeseburger, in soup form. The difference comes down to two ingredients most people overlook: condensed tomato soup and Worcestershire sauce. Skip either one and it tastes like a creamy beef soup. Use both and it tastes like a cheeseburger.

This one has been in the crockpot soup rotation for a long time. If you want the full slow cooker soup collection, https://thisoldbaker.com/crockpot-soup-recipes has everything in one place.

The Secret Ingredient: Condensed Tomato Soup

A can of condensed tomato soup in the broth is what makes this taste specifically like a cheeseburger rather than beef and potato soup with cheese. Tomato soup has a concentrated, slightly sweet, slightly acidic tomato character that’s in the same flavor family as ketchup — which is, of course, what a cheeseburger tastes like. It gives the broth that specific warm tomato depth that makes the first spoonful recognizable.

Worcestershire sauce does the same job from the savory side. It adds the umami depth that makes beef taste more like beef — the same reason a good burger gets a splash of it in the patty mix. Add a tablespoon to the crockpot and it ties the whole broth together.

If you make your own Worcestershire sauce or keep https://thisoldbaker.com/worchestershire-sauce-powder in the pantry, a teaspoon of the powder stirred into the broth does the same job without opening a bottle.

Brown Everything First

Three browning steps before anything goes in the crockpot, and all three matter.

First, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat until no pink remains. Drain the fat — you want richness from the cheese broth, not greasiness from beef fat. Transfer the beef to the crockpot.

Second, cook the bacon in the same skillet until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve — this is the topping, not a crockpot ingredient.

Third, cook the diced onion and minced garlic in the remaining bacon fat until soft, about five minutes. The bacon fat carries smoky flavor into the aromatics. Transfer to the crockpot. Season the beef well while it’s browning — https://thisoldbaker.com/copycat-kinders-butchers-burger-blend is built specifically for this application.

Building the Broth

Into the crockpot with the beef and onions: four cups of low-sodium chicken broth, one can of diced tomatoes, one can of condensed tomato soup (don’t dilute it — add it straight from the can), one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, dried basil, dried thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine, cover, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours.

The long cook mellows the tomato, deepens the beef flavor, and gives the broth time to become something more than the sum of its parts. By the time you lift the lid, it should smell exactly like what you want for dinner.

The Cheese Thickener — Do It This Way

The original recipe’s cheese method is actually the right one and worth explaining. In a separate bowl, whisk together one cup of milk, one cup of shredded cheddar, and a quarter cup of flour until smooth. Stir this mixture into the hot soup and cook on high for an additional 15 to 30 minutes until thick and creamy.

The flour is what keeps the cheese stable. Without it, cheese added directly to hot liquid risks separating into a greasy, grainy mess. The flour coats the cheese proteins and gives the sauce its structure. It’s the same technique used in a béchamel — fat, starch, dairy, in that order — just applied in a slightly different format.

One important note: shred your own cheese from a block. Pre-shredded cheese is coated with anti-caking agents (cellulose powder) that interfere with melting and produce a grainy texture in the finished soup. A block of sharp cheddar shredded on a box grater melts smoothly. Pre-shredded doesn’t.

The Bacon — Keep It On Top

The bacon you cooked in the skillet stays as a topping. Six-plus hours in a slow cooker turns crispy bacon into a limp, greasy texture that disappears into the broth without adding anything useful. Crumbled on top right before serving, it adds the smoky crunch that earns the name.

The bacon fat you used to cook the onions and garlic? That’s your smoky contribution to the broth. It’s enough to get the flavor through the whole pot without the texture problem of bacon that’s been slow-cooked.

Top It Like a Burger

The soup without toppings tastes like a good creamy beef soup. The soup with burger toppings tastes like a cheeseburger. The toppings are the point. Crumbled bacon, extra shredded cheddar, dill pickle slices, a drizzle of ketchup and yellow mustard, sliced green onions, and a dollop of sour cream. The pickle is the one most people skip and most people should use — the brine cuts through the richness of the cheese broth and sharpens everything.

Set them out in small bowls and let everyone build their own. The soup is the same base for everyone; the toppings make each bowl personal.

Variations Worth Making

Spicy jalapeño cheeseburger soup: add diced jalapeño to the skillet with the onion, use pepper jack instead of cheddar, and top with pickled jalapeño slices.

Mushroom Swiss burger soup: add sliced mushrooms to the skillet and brown them before the onion. Use beef broth instead of chicken for a deeper base. Swap cheddar for Swiss cheese in the thickener. Top with sautéed mushrooms.

Ground turkey version: works well — use chicken broth and keep everything else the same. The seasoning and tomato base carry the flavor even with the leaner protein.

Storing and Freezing

Refrigerates up to four days. The soup thickens as it sits — add a splash of broth when reheating on the stove over medium-low heat. Stir gently and don’t rush the heat.

For freezing, the flour-thickened cheese version actually freezes better than a pure cream-and-cheese version — the starch helps the sauce hold together through the freeze-thaw cycle. Freeze in portion containers for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stove. Add a splash of milk if the broth has thickened too much.

If this is in the regular rotation, https://thisoldbaker.com/crockpot-loaded-baked-potato-soup is the other crockpot soup in the lineup that hits the same creamy, topped-at-the-table format.

Frequently Asked Questions

Crockpot Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

A bacon cheeseburger in a bowl — ground beef, bacon, condensed tomato soup, and Worcestershire in a creamy cheddar broth. The condensed tomato soup is the secret that makes it taste like a cheeseburger. Top it like a burger and it's the whole experience.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 8 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound bacon chopped
• 1 onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• Optional toppings: chopped bacon shredded cheddar cheese, green onions

Instructions:

Instructions

 

• In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Drain any excess fat and transfer the beef to a 6-quart slow cooker.
• In the same skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
• Add the diced onion and garlic to the bacon fat in the skillet and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the onion mixture to the slow cooker.
• Add the chicken broth, diced tomatoes, tomato soup, Worcestershire sauce, basil, thyme, salt, and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir to combine.
• Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, shredded cheddar cheese, and flour until smooth. Stir the cheese mixture into the soup until well combined.
• Cook on high for an additional 15-30 minutes, or until the soup is thick and creamy.
• Serve hot, garnished with chopped bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, and green onions, if desired.

Notes

Don’t skip the condensed tomato soup or Worcestershire — they’re what makes this taste like a cheeseburger. Brown beef, bacon, and aromatics separately before the crockpot. Shred your own cheese — pre-shredded won’t melt properly. Whisk cheese with flour and milk before adding to soup. Cook bacon separately; use it as a topping only. Add pickle — it’s the most important topping.