With some inspiration and recipe help, Don Mauer turns his favorite dish into a special soup

My close friends have a nickname for me: Burger Boy. The reason may seem obvious, but it is my longtime love of hamburgers. Some local restaurants make really good burgers, but the best burgers are made in my kitchen.

What makes a good hamburger? It all starts with using the best ground beef with the right fat level. I prefer certified organic 80/20 ground beef over ground beef from corporate farms that go through CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations). The higher fat content is key to making the most delicious and moist burgers. Period.

Recently, Burger Boy came across a recipe for Cheeseburger Soup created by Joanie Shawhan from Madison, Wisconsin, shared at tasteofhome.com/recipes/cheeseburger-soup/.

Taste of Home magazine began in 1993, published in Wisconsin, with a focus on home cooks sharing their recipes. Today, they tickle my interest by sharing their recipes online, which is where I first saw Shawhan’s award-winning, top-rated recipe and its picture.

Using Shawhan’s recipe as a basis, I made a few changes. First, double the ground beef from a half pound to a pound and, unlike for burgers, use lean ground beef. I used a little less potatoes and went with organic yellow potatoes and did not peel them.

Why? Nonorganic, conventionally grown potatoes can be treated with sprout inhibitors and pesticides. The Environmental Working Group has conventionally grown potatoes on its “Dirty Dozen” list. Grandma Mauer taught me that clean potato skins add healthy nutrients. Although more expensive, organic potatoes make sense here.

Shawhan uses Velveeta, a pasteurized processed cheese product, for her soup. Velveeta contains sodium citrate, which makes it melt easily, more than cheddar cheese, which does not have sodium citrate; it is just cheese.

Organic Valley, a dairy cooperative located in LaFarge, Wisconsin, produces American Cheese with sodium citrate in its ingredient list. I found it melts beautifully with an excellent American cheese flavor.

Shawhan uses an old-fashioned way to thicken her soup: a roux — a butter-and-flour blend cooked briefly over medium heat and then blended into liquid requiring thickening. I found that I could lower the calories and carbohydrates in this soup by omitting the roux and letting the potato’s starch thicken it slightly.

Shawhan used whole milk in her soup, and I did, too.

For me, a cheeseburger is not quite right without a little mustard, so I added yellow mustard to this soup, changing my soup’s flavor in a subtle but delicious way.

My version of Shawhan’s soup takes a little while to put together, as most soups do. It turned out to be worth the effort and wait. Delicious.

Give my version a try.

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Burger Boy’s Cheeseburger Soup

1 pound 90% lean ground beef*

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

¾ cup chopped onion*

1 medium carrot* julienned (about ¾ cup)

2 medium celery* stalks, diced (about ¾ cup)

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1½ pounds (about 4 cups), yellow or red potatoes* washed under cold water and cut into cubes

3 cups low sodium beef broth* (chicken broth* may be used)

12 ounces American cheese slices, chopped*

1½ cups whole milk*

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Optional: Onion rings and thinly sliced green onions

Place a large saucepan (or Dutch oven) over medium heat and add the butter. When the butter melts, add the ground beef, breaking it up as it cooks. Once it loses its pink color, transfer it from the pan to a bowl. Add the onion, carrot, celery, basil and parsley to the saucepan and, over medium heat, sauté until soft and the onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the potatoes, broth and ground beef to the saucepan, turn up the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and gently simmer, covered, until the potatoes pierce easily with a sharp knife (start testing at 8 minutes).

Reduce the heat to low and add the cheese, milk, mustard, salt and pepper; cooking and stirring until the cheese melts. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Makes 3 quarts, serving 12.

Nutrition values per serving: 253 calories (49.8% from fat), 14 g fat (8.1 g saturated fat), 13.9 g carbohydrates (12.5 net carbs), 2.9 g sugars, 1.4 g fiber, 15.7 g protein, 58 mg cholesterol, 634 mg sodium.

*Organic preferred

SaltSense: Omitting the kosher salt reduces the sodium per serving to 447 milligrams

Shawhan suggested adding a ¼ cup sour cream at the end.

— Based on a recipe from Taste of Home magazine by Joanie Shawhan