Hungry for soup but want something more filling? Try this loaded potato soup!
I’ve been looking for the *perfect* potato soup recipe with the right ratio of potato:bacon:spice and finally decided to just make up my own. After weeks of potato soup for lunch, I think I’ve finally perfected the recipe and am excited to share it here- both for you to try and for me to remember the recipe. 🙂
Loaded Potato Soup
Ingredients:
- ~2 lbs. baking potatoes (I used 7 small- to medium-sized russets)
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion
- 1/2 lb. bacon
- 32-oz. carton chicken broth (about 4 cups)
- 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 2-3 cups milk
- 3 tablespoons flour
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- Cayenne pepper, to taste
- Tabasco sauce, to taste
- Cooked ham (enough for 1/2 cup diced)
- Green onion (enough for about 1/2 cup chopped)
- 1 1/2-2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
- 8 oz. sour cream
Directions:
Dice yellow onion, set aside. Wash, peel, and dice potatoes, set aside.
In a 3-quart dutch oven, cook bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels, crumble, and set aside.
Drain bacon grease, reserving 2-3 tablespoons in the pot. Over medium-high heat, saute the diced onions for about 5 minutes, until tender.
Add diced potatoes and chicken broth. Bring to boiling and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.
While broth mixture is cooking, chop the green onion and set aside. On a separate cutting board, dice ham and set aside.
Melt butter. In a sealed container, combine 1 cup of milk, the melted butter, and flour. Shake for 1-2 minutes, or until flour is completely mixed with milk.
Once potatoes are soft, stir milk mixture into broth. Add remaining milk and stir until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste and a healthy amount of cayenne pepper and Tabasco sauce (remember, less is more and you can always add if you need to 😉 ).
Using an immersion blender, blend the broth to the desired smoothness. (I liked leaving some potato chunks for heartiness, but I’m more of a smooth soup kind of person and preferred to blend most of it).
Once broth mixture is thickened and bubbly, add diced ham, 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the cheese, sour cream, half of the green onions, and half of the bacon. Stir until thoroughly heated.
Serve soup and top with remaining cheese, bacon, green onion, and sour cream, if desired. Bon Appétit!
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