I don’t know about you, but when the weather finally gets cold and going outside is not a desirable option anymore, the bone broth starts to be brewed and the warming spices come out of the pantry. I love me some hot coffee or tea, but nothing beats a warm bowl of hearty soup when I feel that chill deep in my bones.
Recently my family and I moved to a state where we actually experience a cold winter (unlike California) and these instinctual reactions of reaching for the soup pot flooded right in. I think the first soup I made this season was a good ole’ fashion chicken noodles soup, and boy was that good…but I felt that it lacked some of the warming aromas to really heal me from the inside out.
So on one particularly cold evening a few nights ago, I embarked on creating a delicious soup for my family that would anchor us down after a day of running around in the frigid air and prepare our minds and bodies for a restful sleep.
The soup that transpired that night is one my husband calls, “Burger Soup.” The ground beef in this meal is the main staple of heartiness, while the surrounding vegetables add in a unique blend of taste and nutrition, topped off by the warming spices of sage, thyme and oregano that bring it all together to make this soup what I call, “Winter in a Bowl.”
To Make this Soup:
Preparation
Wash and cut up all vegetables: the onion, carrots, celery, and leeks should be diced small; the purple cabbage should be cut into thin slices approximately 2-3 inches long; remove skins from the garlic bulb and plan to press each clove into the pot using a garlic press or chop into very small pieces. Remove stems of spinach. Set a large pot on the stove on medium heat and add about 2 T of olive oil when hot.
Saute Vegetables
Immediately after you add olive oil into pot, add in the onions, carrots, and celery. Saute for about 5-10 minutes or until they start to brown slightly. Add in the butter and then the leeks and purple cabbage and cook for another few minutes. Press in 2-3 cloves of garlic and mix into the vegetables and cook for about a minute. Scoop out all the veggies in the pot and place aside for now.
Cook Beef
Depending on how much oil is left in the pot, add in a small amount of olive oil and then the grass-fed ground beef. Sprinkle some salt, pepper, garlic powder, sage, thyme, and oregano onto the beef as it is browning. Cook ground beef until nicely browned with little to no pink showing. Careful not to over-cook and dry out the meat. Add vegetables back into pot with the ground beef and mix together thoroughly.
Add Broth
Pour in all of the chicken broth. Stir the meat and vegetables around to help flavor the broth. Add in the spinach and mix into soup. The heat of the broth will wilt the spinach leaves within a couple of minutes.
Season & Simmer
Press in the remaining garlic cloves and the remaining seasonings: sage, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Use your judgment as to if you should add more of some of the spices to enhance their particular flavor profile in the soup.
Bring soup to a simmer on high heat and then immediately drop the temperature to low heat and simmer for approximately 10-20 minutes. This time will allow the flavors to medley together and infuse into the broth.
That’s it! Serves a small crowd or makes the best leftovers.
We personally LOVE eating this soup with a fresh loaf of sourdough bread, whether it’s one that I planned ahead and prepared over a 2-3 day period of fermenting and shaping, or a quick and delicious sourdough loaf that was prepped in hurried anticipation just a few hours before the soup is ready by using dry active yeast in the mix. Either way it is a welcomed addition and really matches the feeling of comfort and warmth that the soup brings.
The great thing about this recipe is that is uses pretty ordinary ingredients that many of us have on hand to create a bountiful bowl of goodness that warms the very soul.
Hopefully next time your senses are calling for a soup that will check all the boxes, you will skip the usual favorites and try out this scrumptious Burger soup – truly the taste of winter in a bowl. Enjoy & Shalom!
Burger Soup – Winter in a Bowl
Ingredients
- 2-3 Tbsp Olive oil/Avocado Oil Add more if needed
- 2 Tbsp Grass-fed Butter
- 1 Medium Onion diced
- 2 Medium Carrots diced
- 1 Cup Celery diced
- 1 Cup Leeks diced
- 2 Cups Purple Cabbage thinly sliced
- 1 Bulb Garlic *use garlic press or chop very fine
- 1-1.5 lbs Grass-fed Ground Beef
- 8 Cups Chicken Bone Broth 1/2 Gal; See notes
- 1 Handful Spinach stems removed
- 2-3 Tsp Dried Sage
- 2 Tsp Dried Thyme
- 1 Tsp Dried Oregano
- 3 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 Tsp Ground Pepper *add to taste
- 2 Tsp Salt *add to taste
Instructions
Preparation
- Wash and cut up all vegetables: the onion, carrots, celery, and leeks should be diced small; the purple cabbage should be cut into thin slices approximately 2-3 inches long; remove skins from the garlic bulb and plan to press each clove into the pot using a garlic press or chop into very small pieces. Remove stems of spinach. Set a large pot on the stove on medium heat and add about 2 T of olive oil when hot.
Saute Vegetables
- Immediately after you add olive oil into pot, add in the onions, carrots, and celery. Saute for about 5-10 minutes or until they start to brown slightly. Add in the butter and then the leeks and purple cabbage and cook for another few minutes. Press in 2-3 cloves of garlic and mix into the vegetables and cook for about a minute. Scoop out all the veggies in the pot and place aside for now.
Cook Beef
- Depending on how much oil is left in the pot, add in a small amount of olive oil and then the grass-fed ground beef. Sprinkle some salt, pepper, garlic powder, sage, thyme, and oregano onto the beef as it is browning. Cook ground beef until nicely browned with little to no pink showing. Careful not to over-cook and dry out the meat. Add vegetables back into pot with the ground beef and mix together thoroughly.
Add Broth
- Pour in all of the chicken broth. Stir the meat and vegetables around to help flavor the broth. Add in the spinach and mix into soup. The heat of the broth will wilt the spinach leaves within a couple of minutes.
Season & Simmer
- Press in the remaining garlic cloves and the remaining seasonings: sage, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Use your judgment as to if you should add more of some of the spices to enhance their particular flavor profile in the soup. Bring soup to a simmer on high heat and then immediately drop the temperature to low heat and simmer for approximately 10-20 minutes. This time will allow the flavors to medley together and infuse into the broth.