Baked Potato Soup
Easy and delicious Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 4 potatoes for baking
- 6 bacon slices
- 3/4 cup chopped green onions divided
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups Milk fat-free or reduced fat works fine
- 1 cup Chicken Broth low sodium
- 1/2 cup Heavy Whipped Cream
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tsp. Dry Parsley
- 1/2 tsp Thyme
- 1 cup 4 ounces shredded Smoked Gouda Cheese, divided
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400°F. Wash potatoes and wrap each potato individually in heavy-duty Aluminum foil and bake for about 1 hour or until tender. Cool for a bit, then peel the potatoes and mash. It doesn't have to be perfectly matched, just roughly mash. (Leftover baked potatoes work too)
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In a larger pot, add bacon (cut into small pieces) and cook until crispy. Remove, and place on the kitchen paper towel. Set aside until ready to serve.
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Add chopped green onions in the pot and saute for a few minutes, remove half of the green onions/scallions for the garnish.
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Mix flour with milk (Roux) until smooth. Turn the heat on medium, add milk in the pot, stirring Roux in with a whisk until blended and smooth, then add chicken stock and heavy whipped cream. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 5 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup of cheese, salt and pepper to taste, parsley, and thyme; Stir until cheese melts and everything is combined, about 8 minutes.
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Ladle soup into each bowl and sprinkle each serving with cheese, green onions, and crunchy bacon. Garlic croutons are really good too.
Recipe Notes
You can use Cheddar Cheese instead, or any that you prefer or like. Smoked Gouda cheese adds so much flavor. Bacon is a must, but you can use turkey bacon if you do not eat pork. Now the flavor is a bit different. Russet potatoes are high starch potatoes and great for this soup. If you are using cold leftover baked potatoes, I would recommend mash them when you add into the pot to cook use fork to smash more or add soup in a blender if you do not like potato chunks. If you are going to puree soup to a smooth consistency in a food processor or a blender often you'd have to work in batches. The reason why I am pointing that: the liquid may start coming out the edges of the food processor or the built-up steam can actually blow the lid off the blender, so the best way is to add maybe half of the food processor or blender as you puree. If it's too thick for you, just adjust the liquid. Add more milk or chicken broth, boil, whisk and see if the thickness is the way you like it.