Loaded Potato Soup
Both creamy and chunky, this soup is a meal in its own right.
Each spoonful of this soup tastes like you’re eating a baked potato from the a five-star steakhouse. Perfect to knock the chill of any Winter day.
Just the Recipe | 4 Servings
Ingredients
6 Slices Bacon
2 Yellow Onions
2 Cups Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 Cup Russet Potatoes
3/4 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
4 cups Chicken Stock
2 Bay Leaves
Garnish:
Shredded Cheddar
Sour Cream
Scallions, Chives, and/or Fried Sage Leaves
Heavy Based Soup Pot or Braiser
Steps
Prepare the veggies:
Peel and chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces.
Dice the onion.
Cook the bacon:
Dice the bacon slices.
Heat the soup pot on medium high heat. When hot, add the bacon and cook until the fat has rendered and the meat is crisped. Stir often as it heats up, be careful not to burn.
Remove the bacon to a plate with paper towels to drain.
Optional: Fried Sage. If you want to fry sage leaves for a garnish, do this now. Add sage leaves (small leaves or large leaves julienned) into the hot bacon grease. Allow to fry for about two minutes, do not stir. Using a slotted spoon, remove to drain on paper towels. They may look limp but they will crisp up as they dry. Then continue with the soup.
Add the onions to the hot bacon grease. Season with the salt and pepper. Cook for at least 5 minutes until softened.
De-glaze the pan by adding any of the following and stirring until all the browned bits are loosened: cognac, beer, white wine, sherry, or water.
Add the potatoes and cook for two minutes, stirring into the onions.
Add the bay leaves, cover with the stock, and bring to a boil. If the potatoes aren’t covered completely by the stock, add some water until they are. Then, reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the potato cubes are soft enough to break up with a fork.
To get a creamy texture without adding any cream or dairy, blend about half of the soup and then add it back to the pot. Stir and, viola, creamy soup! You can blend by transferring about 1/2 of the soup to a blender (use caution and cover the blender with a towel to keep from getting burned) or use an immersion blender directly in the cooking vessel.
Optional: Add a splash of whole milk or cream for some additional creaminess.
Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with a garnish of the reserved bacon, a dollop of sour cream, the fried sage or diced fresh herbs, and shredded cheese.
Kitchen Acumen Tips:
The combination of potatoes is suggested but not required. Yukon gold potatoes have a buttery, smooth flavor. Russets are more starchy and add a baked potato flavor. But feel free to use any combination of potatoes.
Simple Potato Soup. To make a simple potato soup, skip the bacon and use Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Follow the directions as above (you likely won’t need to deglaze the pan). If dairy is ok, stir in about 3/4 cup of cream or whole milk for a creamy version at the end after blending the soup.
To make vegetarian/vegan: skip the bacon and use extra virgin olive oil. Use vegetable stock. Drop all the dairy garnish and instead use scallions and chives for a bright, fresh flavor. Use vegetable stock. Consider adding some nutritional yeast for some umami flavor directly to the soup or as garnish instead of the dairy.
Using Baked Potatoes: If you have a lot of leftover baked potatoes you can absolutely use them in this soup. Follow the directions as above, except add the scooped out potato filling (discard the peels or make potato skins) instead of raw potatoes. Bring to a boil. You will only have to simmer for about 10 minutes before blending. Using a combo of raw and baked potatoes? Follow directions as above but in the last ten minutes that the raw potatoes are cooking, add the scooped out potatoes to the soup.
Cheddar cheese works nicely as a topping, contrasting the rich potato flavor with a sharp bite.
