I-Heart-Soup

I like to make a homemade pot of soup at least once a week. Usually, it's of the chicken soup variety, but yesterday I tried a potato version. This soup tastes thick and creamy without the use of fatty cream, but with the help of a little flour. It's extremely easy and fast to make -- about 30 minutes total. Overall, this soup is definitely a crowd pleaser and the ingredients are probably already in your fridge or pantry...gotta love that!


photo via Eating is Believing

Baked Potato Soup
Serves 6

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
4 cups milk
2 cups peeled and chopped potatoes
4 green onions, chopped and divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2-4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a pot over low heat; add flour and stir until it's smooth.
2. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute until it thickens and bubbles. Note: it thickened immediately for me, so you may be able to skip this short step.
3. Gradually stir in the milk. Stir in the potatoes, half the green onions, salt and pepper.
4. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, 30 minutes or until thickened and the potatoes are done and cooked. Again, for me it did not take 30 minutes to cook the potatoes, so this estimate of time may be much shorter for you.
5. Stir in 1 cup of cheese and cook for about 5 minutes more.
6. Serve the soup with the remaining cheese, green onions and bacon on top.

I found the baked potato soup recipe on the Start Cooking blog (by the way, rated in the top 5 cooking blogs by Real Simple magazine), which directs you to the Eating is Believing blog.

My tips:
-If you have to run to the bathroom or answer the phone or do anything that will take you away from the pot for more than a couple of minutes then remove the pot from the burner. This soup really does have to be stirred often or it will start to burn on the bottom.
-If you don't normally keep bacon in the house and you don't want to buy a whole package just for this recipe then you can pick up a couple of slices of bacon at the deli of your grocery store.
-I use my kitchen scissors to snip the green onions. It's sooooo much faster than cutting.