Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Who doesn’t love a bacon cheeseburger?! In this hearty soup the flavors of your favorite burger are in a bowl, topped with traditional burger fixin’s. Comfort food for sure!
Serves: 6
Time: 1 hour
½ lb. thick-sliced bacon, cut into ¼-inch strips
2 lbs. ground venison
2 quarts (8 c.) reserved pan drippings (see Extras below), or equal amount of beef broth
1 can (11 oz.) cream-style corn
1 can (28 oz.) petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1 Tbsp. granulated onion powder
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. coarse kosher salt
½ tsp. granulated garlic
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ - 1 c. instant potato flakes
1 ½ c. grated sharp cheddar cheese
Toppings:
Crispy fried shallots or French Fried Onions
Additional grated cheddar cheese
Diced fresh tomato
Diced Kosher dill pickles
Sourdough bread, buttered and grilled
In a medium stock pot over medium heat, brown bacon until very crisp; drain and set aside. Add ground venison to pot and brown. Drain off any remaining fat. Add pan drippings (or broth), corn, tomatoes, Worcestershire, onion powder, granulated garlic, pepper, and salt. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. In ¼-cup batches, stir in potato flakes until soup is desired thickness, waiting about 5 minutes after each addition. Add bacon and cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Serve topped with crispy fried shallots, additional grated cheese, fresh diced tomato, and diced pickles accompanied with slices of grilled sourdough bread.
I always bake bacon slices on a half sheet pan without lining the pan with parchment paper. After I remove the bacon from the pan and drain off the fat, I’m left with dark brown bits of bacon-flavored fond. Instead of wasting it, I add enough water to barely cover the bottom of the pan and let it sit for a few minutes to soften. I scrape it loose and strain the dark brown liquid with a hint of bacon flavor into a wide-mouth container and refrigerate it overnight. Any remaining fat rises to the top and gets firm enough for me to remove. Do this every time you bake bacon and before long you’ll have a quart or more of drippings to use for a variety of things - like this soup, or to add a little complexity to a gravy, or anywhere else you might like a hint of bacon flavor.