Betty Crocker Wannabe has MOVED! I am now blogging solely at A Simply Klassic Home. I am still sharing printables, party ideas, and other inspiration. It's much more streamlined and clean. I hope you will stop by and say follow along there! I have lots of ideas for new printables coming this holiday season!!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Comfort Food - Hamburger Soup & A Meal for a Friend

There's nothing that warms the heart and soul like good 'ole comfort food. 

I recently took a meal to a friend who is having some health issues. She is pregnant with baby number four, and her other three children are under age seven. So I put together a meal of my famous (ok, not so famous) Hamburger Soup, a green salad, and some rustic Italian bread. I also made them a loaf of Microwave Banana Bread (since my oven is still broken).

I found the base for this recipe on allrecipes.com (my favorite go-to cooking site) but I actually tweaked it quite a bit.


Hamburger Soup
(All measurements are approximate)
1 Tbls Olive Oil
1/2 a med sized onion, chopped
2 Tbls minced garlic
1 lb ground beef
1 can condensed tomato soup, plus 1 can water
2-14 oz. cans beef broth
1 small can of corn
1 cup cooked macaroni, wagon wheel, or small shell pasta, (or any small noodle you choose, but kids love the wheels)

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion and garlic until the onions are just soft. Add ground beef, season with salt and cook until meat is longer pink.

Meanwhile, in a 5 quart soup pot, pour in beef broth, tomato soup and water. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer. In another pot, cook pasta to package directions, or cook directly in tomato/beef broth (I've done it both ways, but prefer to cook pasta in plain water).

When meat is cooked through, add to beef soup mixture. Add corn and pasta and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

This is one of my favorite recipes because not only is it simple, but even my pickiest eaters (that would be all of them) will eat it! It's great fresh out of the pot, as leftovers two days later, and it also freezes well.

What's your favorite type of comfort food?

37 comments:

Kate said...

Sounds extra yummy, did it pass the test with my picky princess? If so I will be adding it to my menu.

xoxo
Kate

Karen T said...

I definitely want to try this one! I stopped by from The Girl Creative.

Gwen @ Gwenny Penny said...

I wasn't following you??? What the heck?!?

This looks so good, and it is so cold here today. Marking this one for later. My comfort food is beef stroganoff. I'd eat it every day if I could.

Anonymous said...

But Kristin, I can't deal with approximates!!! I will freak out and mess it up for sure! :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this recipe. I've done it two times in the last couple of weeks and my kids love it! I'm especially thrilled that my (very picky eater) son can't get enough of it!

Unknown said...

I switched it up just a little. Used ground turkey. Used the piccolini wheels that are made with zucchini and spinach. then, I also chopped up a zucchini and added it at the end, just to soften it up a little. My boys loved it.

Penni said...

Can you make this in the crock pot? We do lots of crock pot meals, as by the time we all get home and have to run to sports events, we don't have much time to cook all the time.

specialk said...

Thanks for posting, the soup turned out great! I used ground turkey and whole wheat pasta shells instead. This will definitely go into my dinner rotation!

Tiffany P said...

Penni asked if you can cook this in a crock pot, and that is what I'm doing tonight (I also prefer crock pot cooking to save time...I'm a full time college student AND a mom to 2 under 2, haha).

I cooked the ground beef first, strained it. Then put into the crock pot the beef broth, soup, water, cooked meat, veggies, and seasoning. I'm cooking it on high for four hours. About 30 minutes before its ready I will cook the pasta and stir it into the soup. :)

Unknown said...

This sounds delicious!! I think I will try it tomorrow for dinner! Might add mixed veggies instead of just corn...and perhaps sone barley...just because!! Soups are so incredibly versatile!!! Thank you!!

Hollie said...

Making this right now, adding dived carrots, barley and fresh basil. I'm super excited to try this with my little picky girlies. Oh and for fun I am using farm animal noodles!! Thanks for the recipe!

Unknown said...

My toddler hates corn, he literally spits em out like seed! I would have to substitute with french cut green beans....I would add stewed tomatoes too.

Dee said...
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Dee said...
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Dee said...

For those who don't have much time in the evenings, I suggest cooking the ground beef ahead of time. We brown a few pounds at a time, drain and cool it, then freeze in 1 lb. increments in ziplock bags, label and date on bag. Very easy to pull it out and throw in recipes like this. I only have to mess with the grease and frying pan just 1 time instead of several times. The onion doesn't have to be precooked. I use frozen chopped onion from the store, another timesaver. You'll be amazed at how much time this saves in making many recipes. I would just add the onion and beef at the time I put in the soup, the onion will get done and the frozen beef will thaw quickly.

Unknown said...

I made this last night, was so good! Thank you

Unknown said...

id crockpot it without the wheels then when get home toss them in and let them cook

Kati Hagerty said...

I love this soup! Do you think it would freeze well? I am taking part in a freezer meal exchange. I'd like to take this soup!

Renee said...

I'm making this soup as I type this out! Can I freeze this soup with the pasta in it? I'm cooking the pasta on the side and we can add into the soup how much we might want. so, that being said - can I freeze leftovers with pasta in it?

Anonymous said...

made this tonight and everyone thought it was great. i did add another tomato soup and its water because i am feeding a 17 year old and needed a bit more.

Unknown said...

This was good. The only thing I'd recommend is to make sure you season it, otherwise it is bland. I got a thumbs up from everyone!

Amy said...

How many servings in this recipe?

Amy said...

How many servings in this recipe?

Unknown said...

We added green beans along with the corn and a small can of tomato paste to thicken it up. Was awesome!

Dom85718 said...

This was a go to meal my mother has made for us for, well, YEARS.(not telling you how old I am.) My grandmother made it to feed a whole gaggle of children (12)!It was always so YUMMY!

Kayla said...

We made this tonight! Very good!! =) My only question was what size can of tomato soup?? I used a large one but just making sure it was right =)

Renna said...

I made this for tonight's dinner. I used frozen corn, rather than canned (what I had on hand), and I added in a can of (drained) diced tomatoes. The only reason I drained them was because I was afraid it would be a bit too soupy.

Our spring weather just turned cold again, and this tasty soup was the perfect comfort food for a cold, windy night. Thanks for sharing! :-)

Barbara said...

What a nice surprise to be looking at your hamburger soup recipe with the pinwheels when surprise! one of my favorite songs started playing! Thank you! The first time I heard it was just after the death of my 14 year old niece in a car accident two years ago. Meaningful message and so beautifully sung!

e5army_wife said...

The soup is loved by my family. I do have to add some Worcester sauce as its quite bland without adding something a little extra.

N8sGr8s said...

Made it tonight. So good!!!! Thanks for posting.

Anonymous said...

It looks delicious...I can't wait to try this! Thanks for sharing it here

Tammy said...

This is one of our favorites! Thank you!!

Jill said...

This is one of the most satisfying and easy soups that I make. I love it!

June said...

I made this in one pot and used frozen cheese tortellini instead of noodles that needed to be cooked. Absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend.

June said...

I made this in one pot and used frozen cheese tortellini instead of noodles that needed to be cooked. Absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend.

June said...

I made this in one pot and used frozen cheese tortellini instead of noodles that needed to be cooked. Absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend.

Hnwest11 said...

I'm making this right now and changed a couple things and added some I added diced tomatoes to it and instead of elbow macaroni or small pasta I made egg noodles and let me tell you WOW WAS IT SOOO GOOD!