The idea of school lunches evokes a pleasant thought for me. I grew up in the era of real lunchroom ladies who cooked meals from scratch. They arrived at school before the chickens were up and started cooking. Wonderful aromas wafted throughout the school letting your lucky nose and sense of smell give clues about what might be in store at lunchtime. I’m sure menus went home, but I don’t remember that. It seems to me I would just wait to catch the drifting aromas and figure out the day’s lunch. I never brought my lunch from home so whatever the lunchroom ladies had in store would take up residence in my gullet, sooner or later.
School Lunchroom Hamburger Soup with Saltines
School Lunchroom Rolls were a big hit with almost everyone. That fresh-baked yeasty roll would make you weak in the knees it was so good.
Anyone who was lucky enough to eat in a school lunchroom during the era, probably had Hamburger Soup. Ahhh…..Hamburger Soup. I remember it well. It was often served with a cheese sandwich, not grilled cheese but cold cheese, or peanut butter balls. The soup had plenty of protein making the addition of another protein interesting.
To this day, a bowl of soup and a glass of milk is one of my favorite things in the whole big world. God bless Lunchroom Ladies, where ever they may be.
Y’all come see us!
School Lunchroom Hamburger Soup
yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ground hamburger meat joins lots of good vegetables for a soul-warming, gullet-pleasing, uncomplicated, big ‘ol bowl of soup.
4 large carrots, peeled and diced
4 stalks celery, diced
2 onions, diced
1/4 cup olive oil
3 to 4 clove garlic, minced
3 pounds ground beef (85/15)
2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 quart stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
2 cups whole kernel corn, fresh, frozen or canned
1 (15 oz.) can LeSuer very young small sweet peas, drained
salt and pepper to taste
Heat large soup pot and add olive oil. Sauté carrots, celery and onions for 10 minutes or until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
Throw ground beef on top of all those beautiful vegetables and cook the meat until pink is gone. Don’t you dare drain away all that good juice after the meat is cooked. There’s very little fat in 85/15 ground beef. What little bit is there is going to add flavor.
Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, stock and Worcestershire sauce. Stir well.
Add bay leaves. Return to simmer. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Remove cover and add corn and peas. Stir. Cover and cook 15 minutes.
Taste for seasoning and adjust.
Ladle in soup bowls. For Cheeseburger Soup, add grated cheese to each bowl.
Doris Hartley says
I learned to make soup from my mother . We added cubed potatoes , green butter beans , sometimes sliced okra . I make it frequently and at times add barley , or rice or macaroni elbows .
Jackie Garvin says
Sounds delicious, Doris. Nothing beats good soup.
Jan says
Hi l am a lunchlady the secret to the peanut butter sammich is a little applesauce. Don’t.
forget to add cabbage to your soup. We also added a small amount of tomato paste. One of my favorite days to eat at school.
Jackie Garvin says
Applesauce on the peanut butter sandwich. Who knew? ❤️
Marcia Curls Wiek says
I loBed this soup, but do you know the recipe of the peanut butter balls? I would love to have that! Yes, these ladies were wonderful!!!
sharon chiles says
This is beef stock we put in here. Right???
Jackie Garvin says
Sharon,
I use chicken or turkey because I always have it on hand. You can use beef if you’d like.
Jan says
I’ve made hamburger chowder for years and like making it in my pressure cooker.
Becky M says
My Mom use to make this she put v8 juice and rice in it . :]
Wanda says
Can I divide this recipe in half it is too much for two people and no freezer to put the extra?
Jackie Garvin says
Wanda,
It freezes well.
Judy says
Cooking this now, wondering do I drain the corn, the recipe doesn’t say.Thanks
Jackie Garvin says
Judy,
Sorry for the late response. Your comment was caught by my spam filter and aim just now seeing it. I hope everything worked out well for you. I used frozen corn in mine but it’s not necessary to drain canned corn.
cookiehugs says
Oh Gosh! I grew up on this soup. My mom was the lunch lady that wiped down the tables as each class left. Since she worked at the same elementary school we went to, we stayed in the lunchroom absorbing the great smells and counting the hours before lunch. Oh how times have changed, but 3 meals I duplicate to this day is the hamburger soup, pinto beans and chili. No better eating, unless it’s a great ribeye LOL
Jackie Garvin says
Cookiehugs,
What great memories you have! Those were the days, as we say. 🙂
Laura Jackson says
Love this soup. Brought back good memories! We had PBJ with ours which was perfect. Do you have the peanut butter cake and frosting,”lunchroom”, recipe? Yummy! Thank you for what you do. We have gotten so removed from the home cooked, simple foods.
Jackie Garvin says
Laura,
I don’t have that recipe but I’m always on the lookout for authentic vintage school lunchroom recipes. We had a number of great peanut butter recipes and never knew of anyone with a peanut allergy.
S.W. says
What is the point of having a “Print Friendly” version if I have to get all the comments with it?
Jackie Garvin says
You can delete anything you don’t want to print. In the print preview, delete comment, photos or anything else you don’t need.
Amber Allen says
We had peanut butter sandwiches with this soup. The peanut butter was mixed with a syrup of some kind or something sweet (not jelly or a jam.) I’ve tried to duplicate the taste I remember perfectly but have never been successful. If anyone knows what I’m talking about and knows what was used please let me know.
Deborah Lewis says
I’ve been told it was honey but I’ve never tried it so I’m not sure.
Sabrina says
Just discovered this searching for the vegetable soup I remember from school! My aunt was a lunch lady and she’d make this for family sometimes too. That and the yeast rolls were my favorites! Now do you have the recipe for the rolls?
Jackie Garvin says
Authentic School Lunchroom Rolls
https://syrupandbiscuits.com/recipe-miss-frankies-authentic-school-house-rolls/
Leanne says
OMG! I grew up in NC and I absolutely remember those lunchroom yeast rolls but had totally forgotten about the soup! I used to love it. So going to make this. Thank you for sharing your food!
Jackie Garvin says
Enjoy, Leanne! ❤️
D GRAY says
I TRIED FOR YEARS TO DUPLICATE THAT LUNCHROOM PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH. i TRIED ALL THE SYRUPS, HONEY, JELLYS, ECT. FINALLY, ONE DAY, WHEN I DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING ON HAND BUT SOME MOLASSES, THAT WAS IT. i KNEW IT EVEN BEFORE I TASTED IT BY LOOKING AT THE CONSISTANCY OF IT AND THEN THE TASTE WAS SPOT ON. THEN, I REMEMBERED ALWAYS SEEING THOSE LARGE CANS OF MOLASSES IN THE LUNCHROOM KITCHEN.
Jackie Garvin says
Great detective work!
Gayle says
Jackie, I came across your blog tonight and I love it. I was born in Cleveland Ms. We moved to Central Ms. when I was 10, then years later to South Ms. Growing up with both parents cooking, and meeting new people in other areas, I learned everyone cooks very differently in other areas of the state. Up North we had a lot of catfish available. Near the Coast, more seafood was readily available. Dad always had a small garden, so we had fresh vegetables most of the time. My dad made the best yeast rolls. I can still smell them baking. But forgot about those at school, until I read your blog. That smell permeated the whole school. We couldn’t wait till lunch break. Do you remember‘swapping food’? To me you were in heaven if you could swap for an extra Yeast Roll, lol. Thanks for the long lost memories of the lunchroom ladies that cooked their hearts out for us! Our kids would have been so lucky to have been served those yeast rolls and hamburger soup like our lunchroom ladies made for us, back in 1961 – ….. all brings a smile to my face. Love you recipes! Gayle Riley
Jackie Garvin says
Hi Gayle!
Welcome to Syrup and Biscuits. I enjoyed your comment very much. Great memories!
Gayle Riley says
Jackie, I came across your blog tonight and I love it. I was born in Cleveland Ms. We moved to Central Ms. when I was 10, then years later to South Ms. Growing up with both parents cooking, and meeting new people in other areas, I learned everyone cooks very differently in other areas of the state. Up North we had a lot of catfish available. Near the Coast, more seafood was readily available. Dad always had a small garden, so we had fresh vegetables most of the time. My dad made the best yeast rolls. I can still smell them baking. But forgot about those at school, until I read your blog. That smell permeated the whole school. We couldn’t wait till lunch break. Do you remember‘swapping food’? To me you were in heaven if you could swap for an extra Yeast Roll, lol. Thanks for the long lost memories of the lunchroom ladies that cooked their hearts out for us! Our kids would have been so lucky to have been served those yeast rolls and hamburger soup like our lunchroom ladies made for us, back in 1961 – ….. all brings a smile to my face. Love you recipes! Gayle Riley