Mmmm…potato soup

Being that I’m all knocked up and stuff, I sometimes I get cravings. STRONG cravings. Today, I woke up from a nap (ahh…the sweet bliss of a nap) craving potato soup. I love a good potato soup and the weather has been perfect for it (cool and rainy). I’ve never actually made potato soup, though, so I had to find a recipe. I found this on allrecipes.com and used it as a guide. I did change quite a bit about it, though. It turned out SO well. Completely satisified my craving and its a definite “keeper” recipe.

Potato soup

Ingredients

1 package of bacon
2 Tbsp bacon grease (reserved from frying bacon)
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 c flour
3 cups chicken stock
5 cups milk (I used 2 % but I don’t think it would matter)
5 green onions, chopped
4 large baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
2-3 tbsp salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Cheddar cheese

In a large dutch oven (or whatever soup pot you’re using), fry bacon. Drain and chop small. (I fried up the whole package and ate some, so I’m not totally sure how much ended up in the soup.Probably about 2/3 of the package?) Drain all but 2 tbsp of the grease from the pot (make sure to leave the brown bits at the bottom too) Add butter to grease and melt. When butter is melted, add green onions and saute for a minute or two to soften. Then add the flour, stirring together with the fats. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken stock and milk, about a cup at a time. Add 2 Tbsp salt, then add potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes to the desired consistency (I left some small chunks, but most were mashed). Stir in pepper and bacon. Taste and add salt accordingly. Top with cheddar cheese when serving.

The original recipe called for sour cream, but I left it out. Troy really doesn’t like it, and the soup didn’t need it. I honestly can’t imagine that it would add anything to the soup but if you want to try it, go ahead. I also really like the texture that using the potato masher gives, but you can certainly use the immersion blender if you want. I prefer some small chunks in my soup though.

Also, this makes A LOT. Enough for 6 people at least. So if you’re making it for less, either cut the recipe in half or be prepared to eat potato soup as leftovers for a few days.