Grandma’s Hearty Hamburger Soup: A Timeless Family Favorite (Stovetop or Slow Cooker)
Few dishes evoke the warmth and nostalgia of home quite like a classic soup. And when it comes to ultimate comfort food, my Grandma’s Hamburger Soup stands in a league of its own. Whether you prefer it brimming with tender egg noodles or packed with wholesome barley, this recipe delivers a comforting and delicious experience that feels like a hug in a bowl. It’s a truly hearty “stick-to-your-ribs” kind of meal, packed with seasoned lean ground beef, an abundance of fresh vegetables, and that delightful chew from barley. Prepare it on the stovetop for a quicker weeknight dinner or let it slowly simmer in a slow cooker all day – either way, it remains a cherished family favorite, passed down through generations.
The Ultimate Comfort: Why This Hamburger Soup Recipe is a Must-Try
From my earliest memories, soup has always held a special place in my heart, and my Grandma’s hamburger soup was at the very top of that list. I vividly remember taking thermoses of her incredible soup to school in grade school, proudly bypassing the usual PB&J sandwiches. Even as a child, I was an enthusiastic lover of vegetables, and Grandma’s soup always delivered a generous helping of them alongside the savory ground beef. It was more than just a meal; it was a symbol of her love and care, a warm embrace on a chilly day, and a foundational comfort food in my life.
The discontinuation of my beloved childhood canned soup truly left a void, but it also inspired a culinary journey. It pushed me to explore and adapt cherished family recipes, finding new ways to recreate familiar comforts. And that’s where Grandma’s recipe became even more central to my cooking repertoire. This family recipe wasn’t just a meal; it was a canvas for culinary exploration, allowing me to bridge the gap between treasured memories and new adaptations.
Crafting Your Perfect Hamburger Soup: With or Without Noodles
Initially, my Grandma’s traditional hamburger soup recipe never included noodles. I adored it just as it was – a rich, savory broth teeming with tender beef, hearty barley, and an array of perfectly cooked vegetables. The texture and flavor were deeply satisfying on their own. However, my lingering longing for that nostalgic Campbell’s flavor eventually led to an experiment. One day, while reminiscing about my discontinued favorite, I wondered if adding noodles to Grandma’s already incredible soup could bridge the gap.
The result was wonderfully surprising! When I incorporated egg noodles, I was absolutely thrilled by how closely it resembled the essence of my childhood favorite. While it’s certainly not an exact “copycat” recipe – nor do I intend to claim it as such – the addition of noodles transforms it into a fantastic, satisfying alternative whenever I crave that particular flavor profile. This versatility is one of the many reasons this recipe has remained a constant in our family kitchen, adaptable to whatever craving strikes, whether it’s for a classic, barley-rich soup or a delightful noodle-filled bowl.
More Than Just a Recipe: Cherished Memories with Grandma
Essential Ingredients for Grandma’s Classic Hamburger Soup
The beauty of this classic hamburger soup lies in its straightforward yet incredibly flavorful ingredient list. These basic, wholesome components come together quickly to create a truly satisfying and nourishing meal. You’ll need:
- Lean Ground Beef: The foundation of our soup, providing savory depth and a hearty texture. Choosing lean beef helps minimize excess grease, leading to a cleaner, more delicious broth.
- Aromatic Vegetables: Carrots, celery, and onions form the classic aromatic base, known as a mirepoix. They add natural sweetness, essential nutrients, and a wonderful depth of flavor to the broth.
- Canned Tomatoes: Diced or crushed tomatoes contribute acidity, a rich umami flavor, and a touch of sweetness, balancing the savory notes of the beef and bouillon.
- Barley: A key ingredient in Grandma’s original recipe, barley adds incredible chewiness and heartiness. It’s a wholesome grain that makes the soup wonderfully filling and satisfying.
- Beef Bouillon: This ingredient is crucial for enhancing the deep, beefy flavor profile of the soup, ensuring every spoonful is packed with rich taste.
- Ketchup: A surprising but brilliant addition! Ketchup provides a subtle tang and a touch of sweetness, perfectly balancing the savory elements and adding a unique depth.
- Dried Basil: Imparts a classic herbaceous aroma and taste, complementing the other flavors and adding a traditional comfort food essence.
- Fresh Parsley: Used for a fresh, bright finish and a pop of vibrant green color, enhancing both the visual appeal and fresh taste.
- Egg Noodles (Optional): If you prefer a noodle-filled soup, egg noodles are the perfect choice. They absorb the flavorful broth beautifully, adding another layer of comforting texture.
- Salt and Pepper: Essential for seasoning the beef during browning and for adjusting the overall flavor of the finished soup to perfection.
These ingredients are readily available in most grocery stores and combine effortlessly to create a meal that tastes like it took hours of simmering, but comes together quite easily with minimal fuss.
Simple Steps to Prepare Your Delicious Hamburger Soup (Stovetop or Slow Cooker)
One of the best features of this hamburger soup recipe is its adaptability. It yields fantastic results whether you cook it quickly on your stovetop for a weeknight meal or let it slow cook to perfection throughout the day, filling your home with wonderful aromas.
Stovetop Method:
- Brown the Beef and Onion: In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot, begin by browning the lean ground beef with the chopped onions. As it cooks, season generously with salt and pepper to build flavor from the start.
- Drain Excess Grease: Once the beef is fully browned and no longer pink, carefully drain any accumulated grease from the pot. This step is crucial for a cleaner, less greasy soup. Return the seasoned beef and onions to the pot.
- Combine and Simmer: Add all remaining ingredients to the pot, *with the sole exception of the egg noodles if you’re using them*. Stir everything together thoroughly to combine, then bring the mixture to a robust rolling boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce and Cook: Once boiling, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover the pot tightly, and let it cook for approximately 90 minutes. This extended simmering time allows all the wonderful flavors to meld beautifully and ensures the barley softens to a perfect tender-chewy consistency.
- Add Noodles (Optional): If you plan to include egg noodles, prepare them according to package directions in a separate pot just before serving. Add the cooked noodles directly to individual bowls or stir them into the main pot right before serving to prevent them from becoming too soggy.
Slow Cooker Method:
- Brown and Drain (Optional but Recommended): For the absolute best flavor development, I highly recommend browning the ground beef and onions with salt and pepper in a separate skillet before transferring them to the slow cooker. Be sure to drain any grease. While you *could* add raw ground beef, browning it first adds a significantly richer depth of flavor to the finished soup.
- Combine in Slow Cooker: Add the browned beef and onions (if using) along with all other ingredients (again, *excluding egg noodles*) to your slow cooker pot.
- Cook Low and Slow: Cover and cook on the low setting for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours, until the vegetables are tender, the barley is perfectly cooked through, and the flavors are deeply infused.
- Add Noodles (Optional): As with the stovetop method, prepare your egg noodles separately on the stovetop just before serving. You can then add them to individual bowls or, if you prefer them to absorb more broth and flavor, stir them into the slow cooker for the last 15-20 minutes of cooking.
You’ll find the full printable recipe card with exact measurements and step-by-step instructions at the bottom of this post, making it easy to save and follow!
Preserve This Comforting Recipe: Pin It for Later!
Don’t let this incredibly comforting and versatile Hamburger Noodle Soup recipe get lost in the sea of online content! Make sure to save it to your favorite Pinterest recipe board right now. This way, you can easily find it whenever a craving for a hearty, homemade meal strikes, whether for a cozy family dinner or a batch of delicious leftovers. Pinning it also makes it super easy to share with friends and family who are looking for new, tried-and-true recipes!
Noodle Varieties and Other Delicious Additions for Your Soup
The beauty of Grandma’s Hamburger Soup is its incredible versatility, especially when it comes to adding starches and extra vegetables. When I first experimented with adding noodles to our vegetable beef soup, it was a revelation that brought back so many cherished childhood memories! I initially used Kluski noodles, which I found in the dry pasta section of my grocery store. Their thick, chewy texture was a perfect match for the hearty broth, adding a wonderful body to the soup.
However, the world of pasta offers many delicious choices for your ground beef noodle soup. Many people opt for classic macaroni, ditalini, small shells, or other small pasta shapes. These smaller pastas are great because they cook quickly and are easy to eat in a spoon. Ultimately, the best noodle is the one you enjoy most – it’s truly a matter of personal preference and what you have on hand. Feel free to experiment!
Last year, I felt a strong pull to reconnect with my childhood and decided to make homemade egg noodles from scratch, just like I used to with my grandma and my mom. The experience was incredibly rewarding, and the flavor and tender-chewy texture of homemade noodles are simply unparalleled. While store-bought frozen egg noodles are certainly convenient when you’re short on time – and undeniably great for a quick fix – I now make an effort to allocate a little extra time to prepare egg noodles from scratch whenever I plan to make a soup that calls for them. The effort is always worth the elevated taste and texture.
Beyond noodles, there are other fantastic ways to enhance your hamburger soup and customize it to your liking. For a gluten-free option or simply a different texture, consider making hamburger soup with rice. A good quality long-grain or short-grain rice would make a wonderful and filling addition to the soup, absorbing all those delicious flavors. You could also add small diced potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, corn, or even spinach for even more vegetable variety and heartiness, as I often suggest in the recipe notes! Don’t be afraid to make this recipe your own.
Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup
The Hearty Wholesomeness of Barley in Soup
If you haven’t cooked with barley much, you’re truly missing out on a wonderful and versatile ingredient! I absolutely love adding it to my soups and stews because it elevates the dish to a whole new level of heartiness and nutritional value. Its tender, slightly chewy texture and subtle nutty flavor are a perfect complement to savory broths, soaking up all the rich tastes of the soup. It transforms a simple soup into a substantial, satisfying meal that truly “sticks to your ribs” and keeps you feeling full and warm.
For another fantastic barley-filled option, be sure to check out this Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup recipe. It cooks up in no time, but tastes like it has been simmering all day, thanks in part to the generous addition of yummy barley. The Instant Pot makes preparing such hearty meals incredibly convenient. And even though my Mother-in-law’s classic Mulligan Stew recipe traditionally doesn’t call for barley, if I have it on hand, I almost always toss some in. It’s such a simple way to add more fiber, texture, and a deeper, comforting quality to almost any hearty stew or soup, making it even more robust and satisfying.
Explore More of My Favorite Soup Recipes!
Here’s a fun fact about this very ground beef soup recipe: It was once featured on the prestigious Today Show Food website a few years back! It was such an incredibly cool and humbling moment to see one of my Grandma’s cherished recipes gain such widespread recognition on a popular national food platform. It just goes to show how universally appealing and timeless truly good comfort food can be, and how a simple family recipe can touch many lives.
Ready to experience the heartwarming goodness of this incredible soup for yourself? Let’s get to the comforting soup recipe and start cooking!
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Print Recipe
Hamburger Soup With or Without Noodles
Equipment
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AmazonBasics Enameled Cast Iron Covered Dutch Oven, 6-Quart, Blue
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 5 cups of water
- 1 – 16 ounce canned tomatoes
- 2 small onions chopped
- 2 carrots sliced
- 2 stalks of celery sliced
- 1/2 Tablespoon parsley
- 1/4 cup barley I use a little more, we love it!
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 Tablespoon instant beef bouillon
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Egg Noodles optional
Instructions
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In a large pot, salt and pepper ground beef to taste, and brown it with your onions.
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Drain. Place back in the pot. *at this point you could add ingredients to your crockpot or continue on the stove*
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Add the rest of your ingredients and bring to a boil.
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Reduce and Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
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Add your prepared noodles before serving if desired.
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If you make it in your crockpot, just cook it on low all day.
Notes
**I always double this recipe when I make it – I love to have leftovers. Freezes well, too! **
Nutrition
This timeless recipe for Grandma’s Hamburger Soup was originally shared on January 7, 2014. It was thoughtfully updated to improve user experience, enhance clarity, and add more valuable content, and was reshared on December 1, 2020.