30 Budget-Friendly Bacon Cheeseburger Soup Worth Making

Bacon cheeseburger soup takes everything you love about a juicy burger - crispy bacon, melted cheddar, a hit of mustard and pickle - and turns it into a thick, spoonable dinner that's ready faster than a drive-through order. It's a proper one-pot meal, so there's minimal washing up and the leftovers reheat just as well the next day. Below are 30 ways to make it, from the classic stovetop version to slow-cooker, spicy and low-carb spins, so there's a bowl for every night of the month. Every variation sticks to affordable, easy-to-find ingredients, because good comfort food shouldn't need a special shopping trip.

This is the base recipe everyone should learn first: crispy bacon, browned ground beef, a quick butter-and-flour roux, and diced potatoes simmered in beef stock before cheddar is stirred in off the heat. Using freshly shredded cheese rather than the pre-bagged kind is the single biggest difference between a silky soup and a grainy one, since bagged cheese is coated in anti-caking starch. Ready in about 50 minutes, it's the version to master before trying any of the spins below.

For a genuinely fast weeknight version, skip peeling and dicing potatoes and use 450 g (1 lb) frozen diced hash browns straight from the freezer - they cook through in about 10 minutes flat. Brown the beef and bacon in the same pot while the stock heats separately to shave off extra minutes, then combine everything at the end. It trades a little textural finesse for real speed, which is a fair swap on a Tuesday.

Double the potatoes to 700 g (1.5 lb) and leave the skins on for extra fibre and a rustic, chunkier bite - Yukon Golds hold their shape better than russets, which tend to break down and thicken the broth too much. This version leans more stew than soup, so it's the one to make when you want a single bowl to be the whole meal. A handful of frozen peas or sweetcorn stirred in during the last five minutes adds colour without any extra chopping.

Brown the bacon and beef on the stovetop first for flavour, then transfer everything except the milk and cheese to the slow cooker with the stock, potatoes and carrots. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours until the potatoes are completely tender, then stir the milk and cheese in during the final 20 minutes so the dairy doesn't split. It's the version to set going before the school run and forget about until dinner.

Whisk 115 g (4 oz) softened cream cheese into the broth alongside the milk for an extra-velvety, tangy body that regular cheddar alone can't quite achieve. It also helps the soup stay smoother after reheating, since cream cheese is more freeze- and reheat-stable than cheddar on its own. Cut the added salt slightly, as cream cheese brings its own saltiness to the pot.

Strip it back to bacon, ground beef, a bag of frozen diced potatoes, a tin of condensed cheddar cheese soup and milk - no roux, no fresh vegetables, no fuss. Brown the meats, tip everything else into the pot, and simmer for 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the soup has come together. It won't have the same depth as the scratch-made roux version, but it's genuinely a five-ingredient, 25-minute dinner.

Use 200 g (2 cups) sharp cheddar for flavour and 100 g (1 cup) mild Colby-Jack for extra meltability, since a blend melts smoother than sharp cheddar alone, which can turn oily if overheated. Stir in the cheese in three additions rather than all at once, letting each batch fully melt before adding the next. Finish with an extra fistful of cheese on top of each bowl so it forms a melty layer as it hits the hot soup.

Let this one simmer low and slow for an extra 20 minutes after the potatoes are tender, which gives the flavours time to deepen the way a Sunday dinner should. Add a bay leaf and a pinch of smoked paprika to the stock while it simmers, then fish the bay leaf out before serving. Pair it with warm crusty bread for mopping up the bowl - this is the version worth clearing an afternoon for.

Swap the ground beef for value-pack beef mince and use a block of mild cheddar instead of a specialty cheese - the flavour difference is minimal once bacon, mustard and Worcestershire sauce are in the mix. Stock up on 450 g (1 lb) beef mince, bacon offcuts, and own-brand potatoes to keep the cost of a six-serving pot well under a takeaway pizza. Bulking the pot with an extra 150 g (1 cup) diced carrot stretches it further without diluting the flavour.

Use the sauté function to crisp the bacon and brown the beef directly in the pot, then add the stock, potatoes and carrots and pressure cook on high for 8 minutes with a quick release. Stir in the milk and cheese afterwards using the sauté function on low, keeping the lid off so the dairy doesn't scorch on the bottom. This cuts hands-on time to about 15 minutes, making it the fastest route to the same flavour as the stovetop classic.

Add 100 g (1 cup) diced celery and a diced red pepper along with the onion for a more vegetable-forward, rustic pot that eats more like a stew. Dice the potatoes larger than usual, into 2.5 cm (1 inch) chunks, and simmer a few minutes longer so everything stays intact rather than breaking down. It's a good way to use up whatever odds and ends of vegetables are sitting in the crisper drawer.

Top each bowl with a dollop of sour cream, extra crispy bacon, chopped chives and shredded cheddar, exactly the way you'd dress a loaded baked potato. Swirling the sour cream in at the table rather than cooking it into the pot keeps the tang bright and stops it from splitting over heat. This version is popular with kids because they can build their own bowl of toppings.

Simply scale the classic recipe by one and a half times - 675 g (1.5 lb) beef, 1 kg (2.2 lb) potatoes and 450 g (4.5 cups) cheddar - in your largest stockpot to feed eight to ten people from one batch. Brown the meat in two batches rather than crowding the pot, since overcrowded beef steams instead of browning and loses flavour. It freezes well in individual portions if there's more than one meal's worth left over.

Season the beef with 1.5 teaspoons of steak seasoning (a mix of coarse pepper, garlic and paprika) as it browns, and use beef stock rather than chicken stock for a deeper, more savoury base. A splash of Worcestershire sauce plus a teaspoon of tomato paste stirred in with the roux adds the umami richness you'd expect from a good steakhouse burger. This is the version to make when you want to impress rather than just feed everyone.

Built for speed rather than any dietary need: once the potatoes are fork-tender, mash a few chunks right against the side of the pot with a fork and stir them back through, letting the starch thicken the broth naturally instead of mixing up a separate roux or slurry. It saves the step of melting butter and toasting flour, so the soup goes from stovetop to bowl a few minutes faster with one less pan or whisk to wash up. A finishing splash of extra cheese stirred in off the heat makes up any body you'd normally get from the roux.

Add one to two diced jalapeños with the onion and stir 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne into the roux for steady background heat that builds as you eat. Pepper-Jack cheese in place of half the cheddar reinforces the spice without pushing the soup into fiery territory. Serve with pickled jalapeño slices on top for anyone who wants an extra kick.

Use smoked streaky bacon for the base and stir in a diced pack of cooked smoked sausage or extra bacon lardons near the end for a genuinely smoky, meat-forward pot. A quarter teaspoon of liquid smoke or smoked paprika added with the stock reinforces that flavour if your bacon isn't heavily smoked to begin with. This version is popular for cold-weather batch cooking because the smokiness deepens even further overnight.

Replace 240 ml (1 cup) of the beef stock with a light lager or amber ale, adding it after the roux has cooked so the alcohol can simmer off over about 5 minutes before the rest of the liquid goes in. Sharp cheddar and a touch of Dijon mustard both pair naturally with the beer's bitterness, echoing a classic beer cheese dip. Leave the beer out and replace it with extra stock for a completely alcohol-free version that tastes just as rounded.

Stir in a drained 400 g (14 oz) tin of diced tomatoes with green chillies and a teaspoon of ground cumin along with the stock for a Tex-Mex twist on the classic. Swap the cheddar for a Mexican-blend or pepper-jack cheese, and finish bowls with crushed tortilla chips, diced avocado and a squeeze of lime. It's a good one to make when you want cheeseburger soup with a bit more punch and colour.

Whisk one sachet (about 30 g) of dry ranch seasoning mix into the soup along with the milk for a tangy, herby edge that pairs surprisingly well with the bacon and cheddar. A dollop of ranch dressing swirled into each bowl at serving time reinforces the flavour further if you want it more pronounced. This variation is consistently one of the most requested among kids, since ranch is an easy sell.

Replace the potatoes with 450 g (1 lb) cauliflower florets and skip the flour roux, thickening instead with an extra 60 g (2/3 cup) of shredded cheddar stirred in slowly off the heat. Simmer the cauliflower for only 8-10 minutes, since it turns mushy far faster than potato does, and check for tenderness with a fork from the 8-minute mark. The result is noticeably lower in carbohydrates while keeping the same rich, cheesy body.

Thicken with 3 tablespoons of cornflour or a gluten-free flour blend instead of plain flour, and double-check that your beef stock, Worcestershire sauce and any seasoning blends are labelled gluten-free, since both commonly contain hidden wheat. Whisk the cornflour into a little cold milk first so it doesn't clump when it hits the hot broth. Everything else in the classic recipe is naturally gluten-free, so this swap is the only change needed.

Stir 3 tablespoons of dill pickle relish or finely diced dill pickles into the soup right at the end, off the heat, so the pickle stays bright and tangy rather than muted by prolonged cooking. A drizzle of the pickle brine itself, a teaspoon at a time to taste, sharpens the whole pot the same way pickles cut through a rich burger. Extra chopped pickle on top of each bowl makes it unmistakably a burger-inspired soup.

Sauté 200 g (2 cups) sliced mushrooms in the bacon fat until deeply browned before adding the beef, then swap half the cheddar for Swiss or Gruyère for a nuttier, mushroom-swiss burger flavour. Mushrooms release a good amount of liquid as they cook, so let them sauté until that liquid has mostly evaporated rather than adding them straight into the simmering soup. This is one of the more grown-up variations on the list.

Stir 3 tablespoons of your favourite barbecue sauce into the soup along with the Worcestershire sauce for a smoky-sweet edge, and use smoked cheddar if you have it to lean further into the flavour. Crispy fried onion straws scattered over the top at serving time echo a classic BBQ bacon burger. Go easy on the added salt, since most bottled barbecue sauces are already well seasoned.

Hollow out small sourdough boules, leaving a 1 cm (1/2 inch) wall, then warm them in a 180°C (350°F) oven for 5 minutes before ladling the hot soup straight in. The soup should be thick enough to hold its shape rather than soaking straight through, so make it with the full amount of roux and let it simmer a few extra minutes to reduce. It's a showy way to serve the classic recipe for a dinner party or game day.

Make a double batch but leave out the milk and cheese, freezing the beef-potato-stock base in flat freezer bags for up to three months. When you're ready to eat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheat gently on the stovetop, then stir in fresh milk and freshly shredded cheese only at that point. Adding the dairy after freezing rather than before is what keeps this version smooth instead of grainy on reheating.

Swap the ground beef for 450 g (1 lb) lean ground turkey and use turkey bacon in place of pork bacon to noticeably cut the fat content while keeping the same overall method. Because turkey is leaner, add an extra teaspoon of butter or oil when browning it so it doesn't stick or dry out in the pot, and use a meat thermometer to confirm it reaches a safe 74°C (165°F) internally before moving on, since poultry needs to be cooked through more thoroughly than beef. A reduced-fat cheddar and semi-skimmed milk lighten it further, though the texture stays just as creamy.

Use two cheeses the way a diner double cheeseburger would - American cheese for that classic melt and sharp cheddar for flavour - stirring in the American cheese first since it melts almost instantly. A tablespoon of yellow mustard and a small handful of finely diced white onion, stirred in at the very end raw, recreate that diner-counter tang. Serve with a sesame bread roll on the side for the full effect.

This is the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink version: the full classic base plus extra bacon, a mix of cheddar and American cheese, diced pickles, and a finishing swirl of burger sauce (mayo, ketchup and mustard whisked together) over each bowl. Build the toppings station with small bowls of each garnish so everyone can load their own bowl exactly how they like it. It's the one worth making when this soup is the main event rather than a quick dinner.

Shred your own cheese from a block rather than using pre-shredded bags - the anti-caking starch coating on bagged cheese stops it melting smoothly and is the number one cause of grainy soup. Always add the cheese and milk off the heat or on the lowest possible simmer, stirring gently, since boiling dairy is what makes it split. If the soup turns out thinner than you'd like, whisk a tablespoon of cornflour into cold water and stir it in, simmering for 2-3 minutes until it thickens. Taste before adding extra salt, as bacon, stock and cheddar are all salty on their own, so most pots need less seasoning than you'd expect.

Bacon cheeseburger soup is filling enough to serve on its own with warm crusty bread or garlic toast for dipping. For a heartier spread, add a simple side salad to cut through the richness, or serve smaller portions in mugs as a starter before burgers or grilled sandwiches. Classic burger toppings - diced pickles, extra bacon, shredded cheese and chopped chives - work just as well scattered over the soup as they do on a bun.

Cool the soup completely before transferring it to an airtight container and refrigerating for up to 4 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop over low heat, stirring often, or in the microwave in 30-second bursts, since high heat can cause the dairy to split. Freezing isn't ideal once the cheese and milk are in, as both can turn grainy after thawing, so freeze only the beef-and-potato base if you're planning ahead, then stir in fresh milk and cheese after reheating. Thin any leftovers with a splash of milk or stock if they've thickened too much in the fridge.