Slow Cooker Cheeseburger Soup

Rain this week, the cold kind, the October kind that comes sideways and strips the last leaves off the maples and turns the yard into a carpet of wet gold. I put the garden to bed on Monday — pulled the dead tomato vines, composted the squash leaves, turned the soil one last time. There's a sadness in closing the garden. It's small, it's seasonal, it's nothing like real sadness. But standing there with a rake looking at empty rows where two weeks ago there were tomatoes — it reminds you that everything has a season and nothing stays.

Helen says I get philosophical in October. She's right. October does that to a person. The light changes, the air sharpens, and suddenly you're thinking about time and mortality while raking leaves. Thoreau had Walden Pond. I have a compost pile and a rake. Different scale, same questions.

I made beef stew. It's the first stew of the season, which is a small occasion in this house — the formal transition from summer cooking to winter cooking, from salads and cold suppers to the heavy, warm, rib-sticking food that Vermont demands from November through April. The recipe is my mother's: chuck beef, cut in cubes, browned in the Dutch oven with flour. Then onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, a can of tomatoes from the summer batch, beef broth, thyme, a bay leaf. Low and slow, two hours minimum. The house fills with the smell that means winter is coming and we're ready.

I served it with biscuits. Drop biscuits — flour, butter, buttermilk, a bit of baking powder. You drop them on the baking sheet without fussing, because fussing makes tough biscuits and tough biscuits are a disappointment to everyone, including the biscuits. Ten minutes at 450. Golden outside, fluffy inside. You split them open and let the stew soak in. That's dinner. That's October.

Sarah called to confirm she and Tom are coming for Thanksgiving. She'll bring a pie — she makes a good apple pie, learned from Helen, who learned from my mother. The chain holds. Ben will be there too, almost three now, loud and opinionated and wonderful. It'll be the first Thanksgiving with James. All five grandchildren under one roof. Helen is already planning the seating. I'm already planning the turkey. We Bergstroms prepare for Thanksgiving the way other families prepare for war: early, thoroughly, and with a clear chain of command.

The rain stopped tonight. Stars out for the first time in days. Frost and I stood on the porch. Cold. Clear. Vermont. Enough.

That kind of night—cold, clear, the dog at your side and Thanksgiving on the horizon—calls for something warm and unapologetic on the stove come morning. I’d been thinking about this cheeseburger soup all week, the kind of thing that fills the house with a smell that makes people wander into the kitchen uninvited. With a full house coming and Helen already drawing up seating charts, I needed a recipe I could start early and walk away from. Here’s how I made it.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 6–8 hours (low) | Total Time: 6 hours 20 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (80/20)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 3/4-inch cubes
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cups beef broth
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, with juices
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Salt and black pepper to taste
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
2 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (freshly shredded melts best)
1/2 cup sour cream
Optional toppings: crumbled bacon, sliced green onions, extra shredded cheddar

Instructions

Brown the beef. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef, onion, and garlic until the beef is no longer pink and the onion is softened, about 8 minutes. Drain excess fat. Season with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.
Load the slow cooker. Transfer the beef mixture to a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the diced potatoes, carrots, celery, beef broth, diced tomatoes with juices, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme. Stir to combine.
Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 6–8 hours, or on HIGH for 3–4 hours, until the potatoes and carrots are completely tender.
Make the cheese sauce. About 20 minutes before serving, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk and continue stirring until the mixture thickens, about 4–5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar until fully melted and smooth.
Finish the soup. Pour the cheese sauce into the slow cooker and stir well to incorporate. Stir in the sour cream. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Let sit on WARM for 10 minutes before serving.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with crumbled bacon, green onions, and extra cheddar if desired. Serve alongside drop biscuits or crusty bread to soak up the broth.

Nutrition (per serving)

Slow Cooker Cheeseburger Soup — The First Pot of the Season