This soul-satisfying keto cheeseburger soup is a wonderful belly-warmer. It is my low carb version of this all-American comfort food classic. A creamy, rich soup with ground beef that is seriously family-friendly. Only 3.3g net carbs per serve.
Have you ever heard of bacon cheeseburger soup? This hearty, chunky soup has all the flavor of a cheeseburger with bacon, but without the bun.
My kids love it, because it's super tasty. But we also like it because the idea of a cheeseburger soup is simply fun.
In essence, it is a thick soup with ground beef and a few extras thrown in that remind us of a cheeseburger: tomatoes, bacon, cheese, and even pickles or croutons.
Jump to:
Why You'll Love It
- Delicious! Creamy texture and packed with flavor
- Nourishing. A protein-rich and filling soup that is great as a standalone meal
- Quick. Only 5 minutes prep and ready in 30 minutes
- Easy. An uncomplicated recipe for beginner cooks
- Versatile. Can be made ahead and reheated
- Great for batch cooking. This soup is freezer-friendly
- Keto-friendly and gluten-free. Only 3.3g net carbs per serving
These will be the best 30 minutes you spend cooking this week.
Ingredients
Let's take a look at the ingredients for a low carb cheeseburger soup:
- Onion and garlic. I like to use fresh, because the taste is better. However, you could season the beef with onion powder and garlic powder if you are strapped for time.
- Ground beef. Choose a lean ground beef.
- Bacon. This should be thinly sliced. Bacon lardons work as well.
- Chopped tomatoes and tomato puree.
- Beef stock or beef broth. Option to use chicken broth for a milder taste.
- Cream cheese and heavy cream. Adds creaminess.
- Cheese. This could be shredded cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack.
- Seasoning: Salt, pepper and Dijon mustard.
Instructions
This section contains step-by-step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
Step 1: Fry the onions and garlic in a large pot or dutch oven over a low heat until soft and translucent.
Step 2: Add the ground beef and bacon and cook until the beef is browned.
Step 3: Stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, Dijon mustard, beef stock, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil.
Step 4: Reduce to a simmer and cook until the soup thickens.
Step 5: Add the cream cheese plus part of the cheddar and the parsley. Mix well until the cheese melts. Stir in the heavy cream and take off the heat.
Step 6: Pour the cheeseburger soup into soup bowls and top with the remaining cheese and parsley as well as some chopped fresh tomatoes.
Top Tip
Don't leave out the Dijon mustard! It really lifts the taste. For extra flavor, you can also add 1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce.
Variations
More vegetables: Add 2-3 stalks of celery and 1 small carrot to the recipe. You don't want to use more than that because of the additional carbs. Small cauliflower florets also work well.
Change the meat: Keto cheeseburger soup also tastes great with ground chicken to ground turkey.
Toppings
Below are ideas for optional toppings:
- Bacon pieces
- Shredded cheese
- Keto croutons
- Sugar free pickled gherkins or dill pickles. The tanginess adds an interesting twist!
You can even enjoy the soup with a proper burger bun. For this, I recommend my Keto dinner rolls.
Recipe FAQs
If you make this recipe, yes! Traditional cheeseburger soup recipes are not keto-friendly, because they are made with potatoes. I have omitted them here. A replacement for the potatoes could be very small cauliflower florets.
Cheeseburger soup requires two types of cheese. Cream cheese makes it velvety and rich. And sharp cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack adds additional flavour. You could also use Gouda.
Yes, you can use more beef stock instead. However, I think the tomatoes complement the beef flavour. Think keto bolognese!
Absolutely. This soup is great for meal prep and you can double, triple or quadruple the recipe as you wish. For larger amounts, fry the beef in batches so it can brown evenly.
Storage
Keto cheeseburger soup recipe is great for batch cooking and it tastes even better on the second day once the flavors have had time to mingle.
Refrigerator: Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezer: Freeze for up to 3 months.
To defrost: Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat on the stove top or in the microwave.
More keto soups
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
★ STAY IN TOUCH on FACEBOOK, PINTEREST and INSTAGRAM for more great food and join my NEWSLETTER for the latest updates and a FREE EBOOK.★
Recipe
Keto Cheeseburger Soup
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Equipment
- soup pan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped (60g)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1.1 lb ground beef 500g
- 6 small slices of thin cut streaky bacon smoked or unsmoked, chopped (90g)
- 1 cup tinned chopped tomatoes 240g
- 1 - 2 tablespoon tomato puree
- 1.5 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cups beef broth
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ⅓ cup cream cheese 80g
- 1.5 cup shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese 170g
- 3 tablespoon chopped parsley
- ⅓ cup heavy cream 80g
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cherry tomatoes 38g
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a dutch oven or non stick soup pan. Fry the onion and garlic for 2 - 3 minutes until soft and translucent.
- Add the ground beef and bacon and cook for a further 4 - 6 minutes until browned. Option to drain the fat if using a high fat content beef.
- Stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, Dijon mustard, beef stock, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes until thick.
- Add the cream cheese, 1 + ¼ cup of cheddar and 2 tablespoon chopped parsley. Mix well until the cheese melts. Stir in the heavy cream and take off the heat. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
- Serve in bowls and top with the remaining ¼ cup of cheese and chopped fresh tomatoes mixed with the remaining 1 tablespoon of parsley.
Katrin van den Heuvel
Made this recipe already 3 or 4 times - it is incredibly good. We are also using it as a sort Bolognese with cauliflower-celery puree.
love your blog!
Katrin Nürnberger
That sounds like a PERFECT winter dinner!!!!
Stephanie
Just saw this recipe but it sounds delicious! Am going to give a go and will add a dollop of sour cream and avocado at the end =) Sine I don't care for parsley I will try substituting it with cilantro....and add some cayenne to the seasoning! I'm American and had never heard of this soup until recently and it is a good soup! Thank you for the dinner idea and love your website!
Angela Eichholzer
Gave this recipe a go today. Absolutely lip-smacking delicious, BTW. Each serving came to exactly 1 cup. I am curious, however, what products you're using that result in such a low carb count. I put all the ingredients into my carb tracking app, removed the optional toppings (cherry tomatoes and 1/4 cup cheese) and used the lowest carb versions of every ingredient I could find. It still came to 6g net carb per serving. Perfectly acceptable for a meal but a far cry from the 2.5g net carbs indicated on the recipe. Not trying to be cheeky or a Debbie Downer, just genuinely curious how to minimise the carb count.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Angela, that's interesting you're getting such a different result. I used the Ketodiet app nutrition checker, which stores all nutrition within the app. So I checked and saw I actually hadn't added the right amount of tomatoes - but still this brings it only to 3.3g net carbs for me (changing this in the post now). I have repeatedly found that different calculators can give very different results. But also, different brands of the same product can actually have varying amounts of carbs - almond flour is one where you'll get huge differences, for example. I think in the end we all have to trust our common sense and make the right choice based on what we know is good for our bodies.
Kris
This soup is very good. My only recommendation would be to crisp the bacon up first, remove it and then brown the ground beef. This way it stays crispy and doesn't get gummy. I also added a few teaspoons of pickle juice to mine. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Kris, that is a great idea. Thanks for the tip!
Wendy
Can this be frozen and thawed to be consumed on another day? Thinking of making this and freezing to last me a few lunches!
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Wendy, this soup freezes really well 🙂
Julie Waters
is the calorie count for a cup or bowel?
Katrin
Per portion assuming 5 portions. Sorry, I did not weigh them.
Solange
I just made it again for the 2nd time since the recipe was published, it's delicious, comforting and perfect for these autumn evenings. I love all the recipes I've tried so far. Thank you for making this low carb journey much easier
Ruth
Hi Katrin,
I never have heard before about cheeseburger soup. Sounds quite strange. But knowing by experience, that whatever I find in your blog tastes great, I immediately tried it out.
How rich it is! I prepared a big portion, so I could use the rest the next day as sauce for pasta. I liked the idea of adding mustard, as it always helps harmonizing different tastes. And as we all like it hot, I finally enriched the mixture with a tsp of Sambal Oelek.
What a felicitous name for a really fantastic tasting and filling dish, quick and easy to prepare!
Katrin
Hi Ruth, adding a bit of heat with sambal sounds like an interesting addition!!
Susan Klein
I'm definitely making this soon. With the leaves turning and the temperatures dropping, this sounds like a great bowl of comfort food. If you want to make it even more "traditional American" - you could top it with a squirt of yellow mustard, some sugar-free ketchup and some chopped dill pickles. Trust me - the pickles will take it to the next level.
Katrin
I’ll definitely have to add pickles next time!!!
Kathy Snyder
This is soooo down my alley! We have a potluck for a co-worker retiring at the end of the month. I'm going to make this soup! No one will ever know they're eating keto...
Katrin
Hi Kathy, I'd love to hear how it went!!!