That’s right, retro readers, we’re not done with Campbell’s Soup yet!
MUSHROOM BURGERS. Mushroom-sauced meat patties! Mix 1/4 c. Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup with 1 lb. ground beef, 2/3 c. dry bread crumbs, 2 tbs. minced onion, 1 tbs. minced parsley, 1 beaten egg; shape into 8 patties. Brown in 1 tbs. butter. Add 1/4 cup water to remaining soup; pour over patties. Cover, cook 5 mins. Stir occasionally. Serve on 8 toasted buns.
And yes, I’m still using my homemade soup substitute.
This is what we’re using today.
I had two pounds of ground turkey that needed to be used, and so I decided to double the recipe and just freeze the extra burgers for future use. (So, since the original recipe makes 8 patties, I should be getting 16 burger patties total, right?)
However, looking at this, I really don’t see how I can get 16 patties out of it unless I make them very small and flat. That isn’t how I like my burgers. If I’m taking the trouble to hand-mix burgers at home, I want them nice and thick and juicy.
8 quarter pounders with soup it is, then — 4 for the freezer, 4 for dinner.
I apparently don’t have a frying pan that can handle more than two burgers at a time. This isn’t a big deal, though, because there is more cooking to come after I’ve browned the meat.
It was this part that sort of confused me:
Cover, cook 5 mins. Stir occasionally.
So we dropped them in a baking dish, poured soup on top, and baked it in the oven for five minutes. I don’t know how you’d stir burgers, though, so I didn’t do that part. (Anyway, the only reason I could come up with for this part would be to warm up the soup topping. It certainly didn’t change its consistency.)
The burgers were nicely moist, but bland! I always like mushrooms on a burger, but cream of mushroom soup just doesn’t have enough mushrooms to really make it worthwhile. Even extra parsley on top didn’t add much. Onion and parsley simply aren’t interesting flavors, and it ended up being mid-century mundane.
Next time I’ll skip the soup and just put mushrooms on top!
Retro Recipe Attempts 
Hm. I wonder if you’d used Campbell’s if it would be any different – the high sodium alone would fool some people into thinking the canned soup has “flavor” – but mushrooms generally don’t unless they’re sautéed, and with onions that would indeed be tasty!
The cream of onion soup turned out REALLY well. Still haven’t gotten around to actual cream of mushroom or the celery I intended to do, but there’s still time. And myriad Souper applications, apparently.
By: tadamack on March 12, 2012
at 8:54 am
No, I don’t think so — I have used canned cream of [stuff] soup in a lot of casseroles, and it really doesn’t taste like very much even with the high sodium. If you’re stuck with low-flavor, might as well make it low-sodium 😀 (and of course, then proceed to make it high-flavor with spices and other tasty things… but I stuck with fairly plain for both these retro recipes, to more closely match what you would get out of the can.)
I am happy to hear the recipe worked for you, too! It’s fun to share my (mis)adventures, but even more fun when readers have good results as well.
By: Erica on March 12, 2012
at 11:26 am
It sounds like meatloaf made in patties, covered with a can of soup. I’ve made this recipe, making little meatballs (cooked and drained of grease) and heated up in a cream soup, over noodles or mashed potatoes. No great shakes, but it was OK for kids and the undiscriminating who just want something hot. One thing, I think modern day palates have changed in the past few decades, we like things hotter, or spicier, not so much moms-home-cooking bland any more.
By: anon on March 12, 2012
at 3:53 pm
I agree. When I’m making all of my 1970s dishes I ALWAYS have to ramp up the herbs and spices or otherwise everything tastes like nothing. I first thought it was because I had recently quit smoking and my tastebuds were shot, but my 1 year anniversary was in November and the more that I read about others’ retro experiences–we just want more salt and heat now.
By: Yinzerella on March 13, 2012
at 12:54 pm
Actually, meatloaf patties is a pretty apt description of this one.
By: Buzz on March 13, 2012
at 5:06 pm
Why is it I expect Tomato Soup Cake any day now???
The popularity of this recipe in the 70s, is astonishing. I guess we have come a long way…or have we???
Thanks for sharing, Erica…Kudos to you for staying within the theme. I’m not sure I would have made it:)
By: Louise on March 14, 2012
at 11:35 pm
People still gotta eat. Kids, meat-and-potatoes men, grandpas and uncles who want mom’s home cooking all love this stuff. This recipe is easy and inexpensive. It’s what a LOT of people still cook and eat. Those who want goor-may cooking, the latest Thai curry, the most intricate sushi and sashimi, all know where to get it. This IS called Retro Recipes. Just because it’s old-fashioned grub mom or grandma used to make, the recipes aren’t, in the real world today, ever really going to be jettisoned in favor of, say, yuppie fare like black quinoa with edamame shoots, lol!
By: Lulu on March 15, 2012
at 3:21 pm
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of simple home cooking — but it doesn’t take that much to make it a little more tasty and a little more healthy 🙂
By: Erica on March 15, 2012
at 5:28 pm
I agree! She DID use her healthier soup substitute in this recipe. Maybe retro recipes from the past 30-40 years aren’t retro enough – I like the really old ones from the Fannie Farmer cookbook from the early part of the 20th century. Like turtle soup – “first, catch a turtle…” LOL! (just kidding about the turtle).
By: Lulu on March 15, 2012
at 6:16 pm
Oh!! You!!! I was going to make this exact recipe later this month!!
Maybe all of us vintage cooks should have a calendar for posting what we are making in the near future…naw. Then it would ruin the horrible surprise. 🙂
By: RetroRuth on March 16, 2012
at 6:50 pm