Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Creamy Loaded Baked Potato Soup


Who loves potato soup? This girl! I've always loved ordering it for lunch and never thought about how easy it would be to make at home. It's now one of our favorite winter soups because I can make it in about an hour and it is sooo deliciously creamy!

You will need:
  • 5 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped (or at least 4 cups of left over mashed potatoes - seasoned or not)
  • 1/2 lb of thick cut bacon
  • About 3 cups + 1/2 cup (reserve) of chicken stock (make your own)
  • 1/4 c flour
  • 2 large carrots (peeled and chopped to whatever size you like in your soup)
  • 1/2 sweet yellow onion (peeled and chopped to whatever size you like in your soup)
  • About 1 cup of heavy cream

You will do:
1. Boil the potatoes until they are done. Allow them to drain and mash briefly. Skip this step if you're using left over mashed potatoes.  
2. While the potatoes are boiling, begin cooking your bacon. Low and slow is the key for perfect bacon. Start with a cold pan, lay several pieces down and turn on to med-low heat. Cooking it slowly will allow the grease to release but not burn away any of the meat. Set aside on a paper towel - do not dump that grease from the pan!! Chop the bacon into medium sized bacon bits.
3. Using that delicious grease, cook the carrots and onions on med-low until the onions are translucent. 
4. Transfer the grease and cooked veggies to the pot you plan on cooking your soup in and add half of your bacon bits.
5. Dump in your mashed potatoes and add a little bit of flour at a time, continually stirring to thicken it up.
6. Pour in 3 cups of of chicken broth, bring to a boil and turn down to medium. Reserve extra broth just in case you need additional liquid.The soup will look very runny at first, but allow it to keep heating and the potatoes to soak up the broth and pretty soon you'll have a slightly thicker concoction but it still should be loose. If it gets too thick, add more broth and turn down the heat a little. If you feel it is still way too runny, add a little bit more flour at a time, making sure you stir constantly so that you don't get any clumps. Allow to cook for abut 10-15 minutes, until it gets to that perfect balance between the broth being fully incorporated and the soup not being too runny.

7. Add 1/2 a cup of cream at a time, stirring constantly, until you get the consistency of the soup you desire.
8. Top with the remainder of your bacon bits, some sour cream, chives, shredded cheese or whatever else you like on your baked potatoes!

I promise - you'll totally overlook the bacon grease and cream additions to this recipe. And getting good quality bacon (from a local butcher, if you can) really makes the difference. Drool.


13 comments:

  1. We are an food allergy home and love Pacific Foods for their all natural choices. My daughter lived on the Oat Milk in a Carton for 3 years.

    The soup looks delish. I don't ever mind cream or bacon.

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    1. I haven't seen oat milk yet - I'll have to keep an eye out for it! I'd like to try it for the fun of it :)

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  2. I absolutely love Pacific foods brand!

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  3. I have loaded your page at least twice just to look at this soup. I want potato soup now. Alas that isn't what I brought for lunch. But I will be making this at some point this weekend for sure.

    www.adventureswithcaptaindestructo.com

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    1. LOL you absolutely crack me up! Not going to lie, made this soup twice in the past week - once for my parents and another time for our family. Can't get enough!

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  4. THis looks so delicious and I love Pacific foods!

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  5. I LOVE baked potato soup. I'm actually planning on making it this week.

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    1. I've made this twice in the past week and we still can't get enough of it :) I love using leftover mashed potatoes in it too.

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  6. Featured on http://lindaslunacy.com/2013/12/making-a-home-homemaking-linky-95/

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  7. That's an awesome idea for leftover potatoes! I thought I made a good chowder but this sounds delish. I'll definitely be trying it!

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. Mmm!! This is one of my all time favorites! Can't wait for Fall and soup weather so I can try making it myself!!

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  10. this looks great. i miss the potato soup my mom made growing up. this sounds similar.

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