Although baked potatoes are delicious, you won’t be able to warm up with your hands as much as you can with a large bowl of soup. Let’s make Loaded Potato Soup! It will be thick, creamy, warming, cozy, delicious, and filling. This soup contains traditional fixings such as bacon, cheddar cheese and green onions. It is made with a rich and velvety potato soup base. Soooo cozy!
What kind of potatoes are best for making potato soup?
For various reasons, I used russet potatoes to make my potato soup. They are easy to mash and more starchy than other potato varieties. This helps create a thick soup. Yukon Gold is slightly starchy, slightly waxy, and can hold its shape better. They are a great choice if you prefer your soup chunky-soupy rather than thick and creamy.
It’s all about the BACON
A little bit of bacon can make this recipe richer and smokier. To add flavour and keep the recipe affordable, I used 1/4 pound of bacon. But you could use half a pound or even a full pound of bacon is your favourite!
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU ADD TO POTATO SOUP
Loaded potato soup is one of my favourite recipes. It allows for fun toppings and add-ins. If you have the ingredients, here are some other options:
- Hot sauce
- Seasoning for ranches
- Sweet corn
- Italian sausage
- Cauliflower (see my Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Soup).
- Garlic herb seasoning
- Seasonings for Everything Other Than the Bagel
- Each bowl should be topped with a drizzle of BBQ sauce
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: Each 1.5 cup
INGREDIENTS
- 4 oz. bacon ($1.37)
- 1 yellow onion diced ($0.32)
- 4 cloves minced garlic ($0.32)
- 3 Tbsp butter (0.33)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour ($0.03)
- 2 cups chicken broth ($0.26)
- 2 cups whole milk (0.40)
- 2 lbs. 2 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and diced ($1.20).
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to your taste) ($0.02)
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1/2 cup sour cream ($0.37)
- 4 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded ($1.15)
- Three sliced green onions ($0.30).
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cook the bacon in a large soup pot on medium heat until it is crispy and brown. Transfer the bacon to a bowl or plate using a slotted spoon.
- While the bacon cooks, chop the onion and mince garlic. After the bacon is removed, add the onion and garlic to a pot and cook in the bacon grease on medium heat until the onions become translucent and soft.
- Continue to stir the butter and flour into the pot. Cook on medium heat for approximately two minutes to make a roux.
- Mix the chicken broth with the milk in a saucepan. Stir to combine all the butter and flour.
- Cover the pot with the potatoes diced and heat on medium-high to bring the broth to boil. Turn the heat to medium-low once the potatoes have boiled. Let them simmer for 15 minutes or until they become very tender.
- You can use an immersion blender or potato masher to mash the potatoes to the desired thickness.
- Season the soup with salt, pepper, cayenne, and smoked paprika. Stir in the sour cream once you have seasoned the soup.
- Serve the soup hot. Top each bowl with crumbled bacon, sliced green onion, and cheddar cheese.
