Have you ever seen a recipe, say on Pinterest, and thought it looked so good so you pin it or even look at it long enough to know what you need to get at the store. Then you get all the ingredients and get all excited, only to start making it and realize it’s not at all what you thought it was going to be.
That happened to me with a recipe for a soup that had a name similar to this one. The picture showed lots of gooey cheese and beef and onions and it looked so warming and comforting. Then I went to make it and realized it was more like beef stew with just cheese on top of a piece of bread over the soup (like a French Onion with beef).
Which I’m sure was tasty, but that’s not what I wanted. I wanted a creamy, cheesy soup with all those same flavors. I was extremely disappointed.
But do not fear, for this story ends happily. It ends in the making of this absolutely and amazingly delicious soup.
I’m sorry if it seems I’m being a bit dramatic, but this soup deserves it! It was all I hoped and more. And I couldn’t tell you if my kids liked it or not because my husband and I both decided after trying it that we were not going to share it with them. It was just so good! The creaminess and the flavor is perfect and so were the croutons on top.
Creamy Cheesesteak Soup with Garlic Croutons
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds bottom round roast, sliced thin and cut into bite size pieces
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 8 oz mushrooms, chopped
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 can beef broth
- 1 1/2 cups half and half
- 8 slices provolone cheese, shredded and divided
For the Croutons
- 4 slices sourdough bread
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- pinch kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon parsley
- 2 teaspoons grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Cut sourdough bread into 1 inch pieces and place in a bowl.
Mix melted butter, garlic powder, salt, olive oil and parsley. Pour over bread pieces and toss to coat.
Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and toss to coat again.
Lay pieces out on a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes or until starting to toast, stirring every 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the soup:
Heat olive oil in large sauce pan over medium-high heat. Cook beef just until pink is gone, about 3-4 minutes, then remove to a bowl and set aside.
In same pot, melt butter then add onion and mushrooms.
Cook a few minutes, or until the onions are soft.
Add flour and stir and cook for 1 minute.
Slowly add the beef broth, stirring constantly to avoid clumps.
Add half and half, stir and cook until heated through then add the beef back to the pot.
Add about 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese, and stir until melted.
Serve warm with garlic croutons and more of the shredded cheese