This loaded baked potato soup recipe is finished with crispy bacon and melty cheese
I am not crazy for soup like some people. They could eat it every day, long for it and rave about the latest soup recipe they’ve discovered. For me, other than gumbo, which I’ll eat any day, any time, soup is a seasonal thing, an occasional dish, and the occasion is usually because it’s cold outside.
When the temperature dips and I cannot seem to warm my toes, the one thing that usually takes the chill off is a bowl of hot soup. If there is no gumbo tucked away in the freezer that I can thaw, I’m apt to slurp a bowl of wonton soup or a dig into some variation of chicken soup with rice or noodles.
Or, if I’m making it myself on a weeknight, I’ll conjure potato soup, because it is so easy and luscious. A loaded baked potato soup is one of my favorites. This one-pot version, which I adapted from Eating Well — because it’s January and so, of course, I am thinking about eating healthier — comes together in about 40 minutes.
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It’s simple. You fry a couple of slices of bacon. Set that aside. Then fry a little onion and garlic in the bacon fat. Next, dice the potatoes and add them and broth to the pot, then simmer until tender.
You can make a chunky soup by removing and mashing half of the potatoes and then returning them to the pot. Or, if you prefer a smooth soup, use an immersion blender to puree the potatoes in the pan; or, transfer the potato mixture, in batches, if necessary, to a blender and puree.
To add creaminess, stir in a little sour cream and cheese.
Ladle the soup into bowls and top it with crumbled bacon, more grated cheese and a sprinkling of chives or scallions.
I used reduced fat sour cream and found it hit the mark. I also used no-salt broth. You may want to add 1/4 teaspoon of salt after tasting, but remember, you are going to crumble bacon on top, so maybe hold off until after that first taste. Also, this recipe calls for a half-cup of cheese, which didn’t seem like enough to me, but I found it plenty cheesy, because you sprinkle a little on top of each bowl just before serving and get melty bites as you dig in.
If you’re vegetarian, this recipe is easy to adapt. Use vegetable broth in place of the chicken and make yourself a batch of mushroom bacon to sprinkle on top.
Correction: An earlier version of this recipe was missing instructions for when to add the garlic. It has been corrected.
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