Amish Hamburger Soup

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Imagine a  brisk, crisp day and the farmers are in the fields working hard with their horse-drawn plows.  There’s firewood to be chopped, gardens to be tilled, and horses to be showed. 

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• 🙋 FAQ
• 🥣 Hearty Hamburger Soup
• 📋 Instructions
• 🥣 More Amish Soups
• 🖨️ Full Recipe

It’s a hard day’s work in Mennonite country and dark falls earlier in the autumn.   The muddy boots get put by the door, the wash-house is busy, and the kitchen stove is bubbling.

The arrival of autumn brings with it an assortment of soups and stews in Amish country.   The aromas and flavors of fall find their way into all sorts of bubbling one-pot meals.  There are thousands of Amish cooks and thousands of variations on soups.   And there are soups that bubble outside in iron kettles over open fires.  There are soups steaming on wood stoves.  Soups bubbling away on kerosene and coal.  This Amish Hamburger Soup actually came to me from a Mennonite cook, but she it from an Amish friend!

Amish cooks make soups in autumn out of pumpkin, tomato, hamburger, pork, vegetables, and on and on.  There are bean soups, noodle soups, chicken soups and, what we are showcasing today, hamburger soup.

🙋 FAQ

This recipe comes to us from a Mennonite cook in Dayton, Virginia.  The mountains of western Virginia are home to a large, sprawling Mennonite community of country kitchens and verdant gardens.   Old-fashioned Mennonite cooks harvest fresh veggies from their gardens and put them into hearty soups.

True to Amish and Mennonite cooking, this Amish Hamburger Soup doesn’t have a lot of spice.  But you can add more of your favorites if you feel a need:  rosemary, thyme, or other herbs.  Some Amish cooks would even add a tablespoon or two of mustard.  Others who like a hint of sweet would add molasses, brown sugar, or honey in small amounts, but these are all optional additions.

Brown the hamburger and onions as step one in the soup.

Many Mennonites still use cast-iron skillets, but you can use whatever you have on hand.

The best tip I can advise for this soup is make it the day before you want to eat it. Refrigerate it overnight. This gives the flavors a chance to really meld and soak in. If you can't, you can eat it the same day and it'll be great. But you'll probably want to add some salt before you eat it to help enhance the flavors. Let it chill overnight and you won't need to salt individual servings.

This soup has bites of burger, veggies, and broth in every bite. Serve with some bread on the side and you have a full meal with this Amish Hamburger Soup. If you want to add a little spice, feel free to add some red pepper flakes, a squirt or two of hot sauce, or some cayenne pepper. Any of those would add some heat to the hamburger, but most Amish wouldn't do that. Jalapeno peppers are growing in popularity on Amish farms so some might dice a few of those in.

🥣 Hearty Hamburger Soup

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 onion , diced
• 2 cloves garlic , minced
• 2 medium potatoes , peeled and diced
• 3 ½ cups beef broth
• 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 /2 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups mixed vegetables , fresh or frozen

📋 Instructions

1. Brown onion, ground beef and garlic until no pink remains.
2. Drain any fat.
3. Add potatoes, broth, tomatoes, tomato soup, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and seasonings.
4. Simmer covered 10 minutes.
5. Stir in vegetables. Simmer and hour or until potatoes are tender.

🥣 More Amish Soups

Brown Flour Potato Soup

Winter's Day Soup

Comforting Ham & Cheese Soup

Church Soup

🖨️ Full Recipe