Creamy Loaded Potato Soup

This Creamy Loaded Potato Soup is smooth, creamy, and delicious. It can only be described as serious comfort food in a bowl that’s quick and easy to make. A simple recipe perfect for a cold day.

Creamy soups don’t have to be bad for you. Clocking in at 422 calories a serving, this soup is not too shabby in the calorie department. But besides a decent calorie count, this soup has a lot going for it, literally and figuratively.

It’s easy, relatively quick, rich and creamy, not to mention full of flavor and oh so comforting, especially this time of year. The best thing about this soup is that you can load it up with all your favorite toppings such as cheddar cheese, bacon, sour cream, green onions and whatever else you can think of.

So this soup here, this soup embodies everything I love about baked potatoes, the cheese and the bacon, oh yeah the bacon. So how can you go wrong here? You can’t!

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need for this yummy soup:

• Potatoes – such as Yukon gold or russets. My favorite are Yukon gold though because they really are an all purpose potato, they’re nice and buttery plus I love their golden color.
• Bacon – I like to use a thick cut applewood smoked bacon, but any bacon will do. For a vegetarian version, simply omit the bacon and sprinkle the soup with a bit of smoked paprika for a little smoky flavor.
• Onion and garlic – no soup is complete without onion and in my opinion garlic. The onion caramelizes nicely and provides a little bit of sweetness to soups.
• Flour – all-purpose flour is all you need. The flour is used to thicken the soup.
• Heavy cream – to make the soup extra creamy and delicious.
• Chicken broth – the main broth in our soup, try and go with a low sodium version or no sodium added broth.
• Herbs – dried basil and oregano are used to provide a little depth of flavor to our soup.
• Salt and pepper – to taste.

Other toppings:

• Cheddar cheese
• Green onions
• Sour cream

How To Make Potato Soup

1. Cook the potatoes: Add the cubed potatoes to a pot of salted boiling water and cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes. You can alternatively bake them in the oven at 425 F degrees for about 45 minutes until fork tender.
2. Cook the bacon: Cook the bacon until crisp, then crumble into small pieces or cut it first into small pieces then fry. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. Reserve 2 tbsp of the rendered bacon fat and discard the rest.
3. Saute veggies: In a large Dutch Oven or soup pot add the bacon fat and onion; cook the onion until soft and translucent, should take about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds until aromatic. Stir in the dried basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
4. Make the soup: Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir. Cook for about one minute to get rid of the raw flour taste. Add the chicken broth a cup at a time, stirring to remove any of the lumps as necessary. Once all the broth has been added, add in all the heavy cream. Bring to a boil.
5. Finish the soup: Add the cooked potatoes and cook for another 10 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. The soup should thicken nicely. Stir in half the bacon bits and reserve the other half for topping over the soup. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
6. Serve and add toppings: Spoon into bowls, top with remaining bacon and load it up with your favorite toppings.

Healthy Variations For Potato Soup

Even though this soup only clocks in at 422 calories, you can still lighten it up quite a bit. Here are some suggestions:

• Skip the bacon. I know I know, I never say no to bacon, but this is a great way to cut out some of the fat from the soup. Use a little olive oil instead to saute the onions in. This will also make your soup vegetarian. If you want a little added smokey flavor, sprinkle some smoked paprika over your potato soup, it’ll taste great!
• Use half and half or milk instead. Heavy cream comes in around 18 percent fat, while half and half has around 10% fat. You want it even leaner, you can use regular milk instead.
• Add in more veggies. Some cooked cauliflower would add nice bulk and lots of fiber and B vitamins. How about some broccoli? Not only will it add nice pop of color to your soup, but it will add lots of good vitamins.

Some Tips And Tricks

1. Saute your onion and garlic in the bacon fat. Don’t skip this part, because it will provide the soup with tons of flavor!
2. Use the right potatoes. You want to use a low starch or waxy potato like the Yukon golds because they will give you a creamier soup versus a starchier potato like the russets.
3. If you’ve got the time, the best way to get a really delicious soup is to use homemade chicken broth.

Storing Leftovers

Store leftover soup in airtight containers and refrigerate within two hours of cooking. It will last 3 to 4 days in the fridge or 4 to 6 months in the freezer.

More Must Try Soup Recipes:

• Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup
• Avgolemono Soup
• Tomato Tortellini Soup
• Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
• Egg Drop Soup
• Sausage and Bean Soup
• Minestrone Soup
• Stuffed Pepper Soup