Baked potato soup
Buttery potatoes, sharp cheese and smoky bacon, what's not to love about potato soup? My version channels loaded baked potatoes piled high with sour cream, bacon, cheese and green onions. And there’s no need for fancy ingredients or sophisticated equipment. You need just one pot, one spoon, a blender and about 30 minutes, plus a few core ingredients.
The first step in this recipe involves cooking bacon until browned and crisp. No potato soup is complete without the addition of smoky bits of pork. Not only does the crispy bacon add texture, but the bacon fat is perfect for caramelizing the sweet onion. Any bacon variety will work, so choose your favorite or what you have on hand. You can also substitute diced ham, just note that since you won't have the rendered bacon fat to cook the onion in, you'll need to add an extra tablespoon of butter to the pan before you start sautéing.
Onion and garlic are used to build the base flavor in this soup, and thanks to their aromatic quality, you need little else. I favor yellow onions because they have a higher sugar content, which means they caramelize beautifully. While I find the onion and garlic sufficient for seasoning this soup, you can add diced celery and carrots, about 1 cup of each, if you want.
The creamy, cheesy elements add richness. Both mild and sharp cheddar cheese varieties can be added, but play with the ratio to suit your taste. For just a hint of cheese flavor, choose mild cheddar and for a more intense cheese flavor, add more sharp cheddar.
In addition to chicken broth, milk and heavy cream help enrich stock for simmering the potatoes. This is not a low-calorie soup, so I encourage you to use whole milk and heavy cream as instructed. The same goes for the sour cream, which is added just before serving for tang and to add to the loaded potato vibe.
And, when it comes to the potatoes themselves, I prefer Yukon gold since they’re delightfully creamy and boast a more buttery flavor than other potato varieties. That said, you can use Russet or Idaho potatoes as well.
Finish things off with fresh, grassy green onions or chives. They’re light and airy and the ideal accompaniment to this velvety soup.
Loaded baked potato soup
Cut your potatoes into uniform pieces.
I suggest cutting your peeled potatoes into 1-inch chunks to ensure that the pieces all finish cooking at the same time, and in a short amount of time. Larger
pieces take longer to cook and may not be fork-tender when it comes time to puree your soup.
Use an immersion blender or regular blender.
You can make this soup as smooth or as chunky as desired. I love an almost-smooth potato soup, but you can certainly leave chunks of potato if preferred. When using an immersion blender, simply puree the soup right in the pot. When using a regular blender, let the soup cool slightly before pureeing. Don't fill the blender more than halfway (work in batches), as the steam can build up pressure and spatter. Cover the top of the blender with a dish towel in case there’s a spillover.
No matter how you blend it, do not add the cooked bacon to the soup until after it’s pureed.