Souper Burgers – My Childhood Favorite Dinner

I grew up in Hinesville, Georgia, in the 1980s, and money was often tight in our house. Meals had to stretch, ingredients were usually simple, and 6 mouths needed to be fed. Some of the foods I remember most fondly came from exactly that kind of kitchen: inexpensive, filling, familiar, and made over and over again because everyone liked them.

Souper Burgers were one of those meals.

I have loved them since I was a kid. They are simple, a little messy, deeply comforting, and exactly the sort of recipe that can transport me straight back to childhood after the first bite. There is nothing fancy about them, and I think that is part of why I still love them so much.

As part of my push to save money and live a more simple life, I find myself reviving some of the recipes from my childhood home. I’d like to share this one with you because I think you might like it too. It’s inexpensive, quick to make and provides a lot of food given very few ingredients.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 – 1.5 pounds of ground beef
• Nature’s Seasoning Salt (it needs to be this exact kind)
• 2 cans of Campbell’s Vegetarian Vegetable Soup (the one’s with the alphabet pasta in it)
• yellow mustard
• plain hamburger buns (the cheaper the better and with no sesame seeds)

Here’s what you do:

1. In a large skillet, add your ground beef and brown it up, crumbling it as it cooks adding a generous amount of Nature’s Seasoning Salt.
2. Once is it cooked through, drain the fat out of the meat and the pan.
3. Return the beef to the skillet and add the two cans of Campbell’s soup to the beef, then squirt a generous amount of yellow mustard.
4. Mix it up really well and let it get hot. You don’t need to simmer it or do anything special, just let the soup and mustard you mixed in get hot.
5. While it is heating up, grab a plate and open up a hamburger bun onto the plate.
6. Scoop the mixture from the skillet onto each slice of hamburger bun.
7. Enjoy!

See how easy that was? From start to finish this takes about 20 minutes at most so it’s perfect for busy nights. Kids absolutely love this dish too! I did growing up and my siblings still enjoy eating it to this day.

I never knew that this was an actual recipe until I started digging around the internet. I found out that Souper Burgers have existed since the 1970’s, but they were using different soups. I haven’t found a recipe that uses the Alphabet Soup, so I am happy to add my recipe to the internet for others to enjoy.

If you try this super easy, budget friendly, kid friendly, economical recipe, let me know what you thought of it in the comments.