Another discovery from “Great Day Cafe” is their Cheeseburger Soup. Their daily soup menu changes day to day but you can always be sure to find a tasty bowl listed on the blackboard. My version has a few differences, however. Great Day Cafe cooked diced potatoes in their soup where as I like crisp fries on the side. Waffle fries are perfect to dunk in this soup and also as a side cruncher. To give it some New Mexican flavor add some green chile, which is purely up to you. Don’t tell Great Day Cafe, but I think I like my Cheeseburger Soup slightly better than theirs. That won’t stop me from going back, I feel inspired every time I visit their cafe!
For this soup I used 1 pound of lean ground beef, 1 chopped onion, 4 diced roma tomatoes, 5 diced green chiles, 4 cups grated cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup flour, beef stock, milk, plus half and half.
In a dutch oven brown ground beef over medium high heat.
Season the ground beef with salt and pepper. When the ground beef has browned, remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with a paper towel and set aside.
Reserve the grease from the browned ground beef. If you need more, add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the onions and saute until they become translucent.
Next add the flour to the onions and stir. You may need to add a drizzle of olive oil if there isn’t enough moisture to absorb all the flour. Then add 2 cups of beef stock. I didn’t have any stock on hand so I dissolved 2 teaspoons of a beef base into 2 cups of water.
Now stir the pot.
And begin adding the rest of the ingredients back into the pot starting with the ground beef.
Next comes 1 1/4 cups of milk, 1 1/2 cups half and half, and 4 cups of cheddar cheese. Fold the cheese in slowly as it melts into the soup.
Next add the green chile if you so desire!
Take a taste and see if it needs any salt and pepper.
I added about 2/3 of the tomatoes and reserved the rest to top my soup. I like the taste of fresh tomato and lettuce on top which gives the taste of cheeseburger with each bite.
I’ve seen some add the lettuce into the soup, but I’m not a fan of wilted lettuce and especially leftover soup with soggy lettuce. I prefer to add a little diced lettuce, tomato and pickle on top of each bowl to add that fresh taste along with the soup. Also adding some waffle fries, or other type fries really does add that crunch that goes naturally alongside a cheeseburger or cheeseburger soup.
Cheeseburger Soup with Green Chile
1 lb lean Ground Beef
1 Onion, chopped
4 Roma Tomatoes, chopped (reserving 1/3 to top soup)
5 Hatch Green Chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped
4 cups Cheddar Cheese, grated
2 cups Beef Stock
1 1/4 cup Milk
1 1/2 cup Half and Half
1/4 cup Flour
Olive Oil, if needed
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Top with Shredded Lettuce, Chopped Tomato or Diced Dill Pickle
Serve with Waffle Fries, optional
Brown ground beef over medium high heat in a dutch oven. Season with a little salt and pepper. When browned, drain ground beef and transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel, set aside. Add onions back into the dutch oven and drizzle with olive oil if needed. Saute onions until they are clear and translucent. Sprinkle the flour into the onions and stir until all the flour has been absorbed. Add a drizzle of olive oil if necessary. When the flour has been absorbed, add the beef stock, ground beef, milk, half and half and cheddar cheese into the pot. Stir slowly as the cheese begins to melt. When the cheese has melted, add the green chile and 2/3 of the chopped tomatoes into the pot. Let simmer 5 minutes. Top with shredded lettuce, chopped tomato or diced dill pickle.
Makes 6 – 8 servings.
An Inspired Cook 