Super Tasty Baked Potato Soup

I did a lot of cooking last week. A lot. In addition to making regular meals for my family, I was also in charge of bringing lunch for twenty-five people at my local school district for our twice-monthly meeting with the PTO presidents. That’s a lot of food.

Since it was St. Patrick’s Day on Wednesday, I decided that whatever I made had to fit the theme. The corned beef was out since so many people are anti-corned beef – oh and the smell in a small room for two hours? Yeah, that killed it, too. I was going to do baked potatoes (Irish potato famine, anyone?) with all sorts of toppings and chili. Until the person at the last meeting brought in chili with all the toppings. Ugh.

I wracked my brains and finally came up with something. I made the Irish soda bread I mentioned last week, along with homemade whole-wheat baguettes. I did a quick spinach salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette. Oh, and I made a baked potato soup.

I started making all of the above at 7 am the day of the lunch. I had to be out of the house for an event at school at 10 am. Start doing the math. Yikes! The soup was great. The second day. Cooking for two hours the day of the event? Well, it was decent, but it’s possible that the potatoes were a little crunchy. Oops. Needless to say, I changed a few things around to account for my little mistake, and the soup – all two huge crockpots of it – has been gone for three days now.

I served it with a couple of garnishes – fresh parsley, shredded cheddar, and crumbled bacon. The unexpected winner of the garnishes? The parsley made the best addition of all of them. If you’re making this soup, make sure you put parsley on when you serve it!

Oh, and my other lesson? When traveling with two very full crock pots, use Saran Wrap, not masking tape. Those fill lines on your crock pot are there for a reason. My poor car.

How to Make Baked Potato Soup

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Bake your potatoes, and cube them. Note that the red potatoes will cook faster than the baking potatoes (you want the baking potatoes for their added starch to thicken the soup).

In a large saucepan (I used my Le Creuset bouillabase pan to make the whole thing), cook bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside. Keep 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings, and dispose of the remainder.

Saute onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. Stir in flour slowly and mix well to ensure it doesn’t clump. Add the salt, basil, and pepper; mix well. Cook for 3 minutes to get the raw taste out of the flour.

Gradually add broth. Bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the potatoes, cream, and hot pepper sauce; heat through but do not boil.

You can also make this without baking the potatoes first. In that case, you’ll want to take the boiled broth to a crock pot. Add the remaining ingredients as directed, and cook on low for 10 or more hours. It really is better the next day!

Garnish with bacon, cheese, and parsley. With all the soup I made, you’d think that I had a picture. Nope. I didn’t take one. It was so good I only remembered to take one after half the bowl was gone.

Baked Potato Soup

Baked Potato Soup is a hearty and comforting dish that captures all the flavors of a loaded baked potato in a creamy soup. Made with tender chunks of baked potato, rich cream, and topped with crispy bacon, cheese, and onions, it’s the perfect way to warm up on a cold day. This satisfying soup is easy to make and sure to become a family favorite.

5 from 1 vote

Print Rate

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Diet: Low Fat

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Michelle

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Ingredients

• 3 bacon strips diced
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 baked baking potato cubed
• 2-3 baked red potatoes cubed
• 1 teaspoon basil dried
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
• 1 cup cheddar shredded
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley minced

Instructions

• Bake your potatoes, and cube them. Note that the red potatoes will cook faster than the baking potatoes.
• In a large saucepan, cook bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside. Keep 1 tablespoon bacon drippings, and dispose of the remainder.
  3 bacon strips
• Saute onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. Stir in flour slowly and mix well to ensure it doesn’t clump. Add the salt, basil and pepper; mix well. Cook for 3 minutes to get the raw taste out of the flour.
  1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• Gradually add broth. Bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the potatoes, cream and hot pepper sauce; heat through but do not boil.
  4 cups chicken broth, 1 baked baking potato, 2-3 baked red potatoes, 1 cup half and half, 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
• Garnish with bacon, cheese, and parsley.
  1 cup cheddar, 1/2 cup fresh parsley

Equipment

Bouillabase Braising Pot

Chef’s Knife

Bamboo Cutting Board

Notes

• You can use any other hot sauce if Tabasco is not available.
• The baking potatoes will add starch to thicken the soup.
• You can also make this without baking the potatoes first. In that case, you’ll want to take the boiled broth to a crock pot. Add the remaining ingredients as directed, and cook on low for 10 or more hours.
• For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving

This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.

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