Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

We are talking about beef, bacon, cheese, BBQ sauce, mustard and pickles in a soup. It sounds weird, but after trying ‘The Joint’s’ cheeseburger pizza I had to make a soup rendition!

Ingredients

Approx. 100g thick sliced bacon (sliced into ¾ inch slices)
500g lean ground bison or beef
1 cup yellow onion (small dice)
½ cup beef broth or water
2 tablespoons garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large can whole peeled tomato (796 ml)
¼ cup BBQ sauce
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
Mustard and sliced pickles (optional garnish)

Directions

Preheat a large fry pan on medium-high.
Add the bacon and fry until nice and crispy. Remove the bacon and set aside. Pour off excess fat leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan.
Add the bison or beef to the pan in big chunks and fry until browned and then flip and brown again. Now break up the meat into small pieces and fry until browned all over. By leaving the meat in big chunks in the beginning you prevent the pan from being overloaded.
Now transfer the meat to a medium pot. Add the onions into the hot fry pan and sauté, stirring frequently, until nicely browned.
Add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes more, stirring frequently and then add the broth or water. Stir the bottom of the pan to release all of the brown bits and then transfer to the pot with the meat.
Add the tomato paste, whole tomato, BBQ sauce, paprika, salt and pepper to the pot and stir to combine. Omit the salt if the canned tomato has added salt.
Heat the soup on medium-high until it begins to bubble and then reduce heat to minimum. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour.
Add the bacon once the soup is finished cooking and then serve the soup.
Add some shredded cheddar and a little drizzle of mustard and a few sliced pickles if you want to be adventurous and then enjoy this fantastic soup.

PREP 10 mins
COOK 80 mins