CHEESEBURGER SOUP - BETH'S CREATION

While watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives last night I discovered a little something called Cheeseburger Soup. Guy sampled a bowl at Grover's in East Amherst, NY. After searching the internet today for a recipe similar to Grover's I decided to make a little version of my own. All others out there used process cheese and I wanted to stay away from that.

I made it tonight and Jacob kept saying, "It really tastes like a cheeseburger!"

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground beef (seasoned with S&P)
3 tablespoons butter (used light margarine)
½ cup diced onion (used frozen)
¼ cup flour
2 cups chicken stock (used bouillon)
1 1/2 cups half and half (used fat free)
1 ½ cups shredded cheddar
tomato, diced
lettuce (used bagged iceburg)

DIRECTIONS

Brown beef in large pot and drain off excess grease.
Set aside meat to add to soup later.
Sauté onions in butter in the pot over medium heat until onions are translucent.
Sprinkle flour over mixture, whisk well and cook until flour mixture begins to golden.
Add chicken stock to mixture and whisk well to combine.
Let mixture come to a boil and then cook down for about five minutes.
Reduce heat and add in half and half and cheese.
Stir consistently until cheese melts.
Stir in ground beef.

Soup can be served with lettuce, fresh diced tomatoes, bacon, etc. Get creative.
My husband liked the soup with the toppings but I liked it without.

This yielded about 4 servings.