Creamy Crock Pot Hamburger Soup With Ro-Tel

This Crock Pot hamburger soup is loaded with ground beef, sweet cream-style corn, and a kick of Ro-Tel tomatoes in a silky broth that the cream cheese melts right into. It cooks seven hours on low in a 6-quart slow cooker, and I always have some bread baking in the oven to go with it.

Here’s what I learned the first time I made it. I didn’t break the ground beef up enough going in, and it cooked into big clumps floating in the soup. Tasted fine, but nobody wants to cut up their supper in a soup bowl with a fork. Now I break it apart well before it goes in the cooker, then give it one more good stir and chop with a spoon right before serving. Fixes it completely.

 

Prep Time	Cook Time	Servings	Prep Level
5 minutes	7 hours	6	Beginner +

Why You’ll Want To Make This Soup

This soup can’t decide if it wants to be brothy or creamy, so it does both. Loaded with vegetables, rich enough to feel like comfort food, with just enough zip from the Ro-Tel to wake everything up without sending anyone running for a glass of milk.

It’s also a pantry-friendly recipe for me because I can usually keep the Ro-Tel, corn, and cream cheese on hand, and ground beef is something I’m always grabbing when I’m at the store. I’ve got two hungry kiddos, so anything that makes a decent-sized pot is a win.

A quick note on the Ro-Tel: if you’re feeding people who don’t like much heat, use mild Ro-Tel. If you love a little more kick, original is great. I’m a bit of a spice wimp and have accidentally bought the spicier version. It’s still good, but I like things a little more on the mild side.

How To Make Creamy Crock Pot Hamburger Soup

You’ll want a 6-quart slow cooker for this recipe. It’s a full pot, and it needs room to stir well.

Add the 2 pounds ground beef to the slow cooker and break it up. I use a wooden spoon or my hands and keep going until I don’t see any big clumps. The more you break it up now, the nicer the texture later. Add the cream cheese.

Next, add the Ro-Tel, creamed corn, broth, and milk.

Give everything a good stir, cover, and cook on the low setting for 7 hours. Low heat matters here. With milk and cream cheese in the slow cooker, low gives you a steadier, gentler cook so the soup stays creamy.

If it’s a little bit oily from the beef, you can take a turkey baster and skim some of the fat off. Then, give everything a good stir. The cream cheese should break up easily, but you will need to stir a little bit. I will sometimes get out a whisk to help break up the cream cheese. Break up some of the beef if you need to.

This last stir is the little step that makes it feel like “soup” and not “slow cooker meat dip,” if you know what I mean.

I love to serve either some Jiffy cornbread on the side with this soup or some good old Saltine crackers. We also love to dip chiabiata bread in the soup – that is always a treat!

If you’re taking it to someone’s house, keep it on warm and give it a good stir before you serve. The cheese settles a little as it sits.

How To Store And Reheat Leftovers

You can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. When you reheat it, do it gently. Warm it on the stove over low heat, stirring often, or in the microwave at a lower power level so the dairy doesn’t get weird. If it thickens up a lot after chilling (it usually does), stir well as it warms and it loosens back up.

I haven’t tested freezing this soup, and because it has milk and cream cheese, I don’t count on the texture being the same after thawing. In my kitchen, this is a fridge-leftovers recipe.