Who doesn’t like Baked Potato Soup. And, bonus! Even better when it’s loaded with delicious goodness!
It takes no time at all to make because it makes itself. There is no peeling the potatoes. Just chop them into bite-size pieces and let it cook in the broth. This soup makes for about 6 generous servings and if there is any left over, no worries…it tastes even better when reheated.
So, if you are planning to serve this as a starter at dinner for guests, it can be made the day before and reheated.
Here is your shopping list:
1. 3 Medium Carrots peeled and chopped
2. 4 Celery Stalks chopped
3. 1 medium sweet Vidalia onion chopped
4. ¼ cup of fresh parsley chopped
5. 8 strips of thick cut bacon chopped
6. ½ cup Sour Cream (and more for garnish)
7. 3 cups vegetable stock or broth
8. 3 cups of chicken stock or broth
9. ¼ cup vegetable stock and 1heaping tbsp flour for to make a Slurry
10. 1-1/2 cups of heavy cream
11. 6 medium size Yukon gold (thin skin) potatoes cut into bite size pieces and rinsed in cold water
12. 8 oz. Kraft Signature large cut shredded cheese
13. Salt and Pepper to taste
Put the chopped bacon in a large pot or Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pot and dab up about ½ of the bacon grease. You will need some grease to cook the vegetables.
Increase the heat a bit and add the carrots and celery. Cook for about three minutes stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper. Add the onion and continue to cook until translucent. Add the flour slurry and stir to mix evenly with the vegetables.
De-glaze with 1 cup of the vegetable broth scraping the bottom to get the rich goodness of the bacon. Once you have scraped up the bottom, then add the rest of the vegetable broth and add the chicken broth. Add more salt as you will be boiling the potatoes at this point. Increase the heat to bring to a boil.
Add the potatoes and let it come to a boil again. Reduce heat to a simmer, add the parsley and cover. Let it cook until the potatoes are just tender. Turn off the heat and slowly add the heavy cream and continue stirring until completely incorporated. Add ½ cup of the sour cream and continue stirring until it dissolves evenly into the soup.
Turn the heat back on to medium low and cook uncovered stirring while it thickens (about 5-7 minutes). Add ¾ of the shredded cheese and continue stirring until it melts. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Turn off the heat and cover and let it sit for about 15 minutes.
Serve in a bowl with crispy bacon, shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle it with chives. Now, this is a fully loaded baked potato!
This week’s fun fact: What is a Slurry anyway? In cooking, it is a mixture of a starch and cold liquid used to thicken sauces or soups without clumping. You can use either flour or cornstarch. Mixing this thoroughly to get rid of any clumps and then adding it to the hot liquid will allow it to thicken without lumps. It’s different from a roux (which is a mixture of cooked fat and flour used to thicken sauces at the beginning of cooking). A slurry is uncooked and requires no fat which can be added at any point to thicken a sauce or soup. Make sure it is smooth before adding.