January 04, 2005

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Recipe Courtesy of Taste of Home-Quick Cooking

Growing up, my mom and dad could make a mean potato soup. They would mix it up sometimes by including a little bit of sausage (such as little smokies cut up), or would spice it up with some red pepper flakes. I LOVED this soup. At least until I found the following recipe. The Loaded Baked Potato Soup is a blissful marriage of potato soup and a loaded baked potato from the Outback...I don't know any other way to describe it. It is hearty and thick and so tasty! In the middle of winter (yes, we are expecting upwards of 12-15" of snow by the end of the day tomorrow here in the middle of the good ole U.S.A.), this soup will warm you up!

Ingredients:

6 bacon strips, diced (remember your meat guy - he makes the best bacon!)
3 cups of cubed, peeled potatoes
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 small carrot, grated
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp each celery seed, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper (or to taste)
3 tbsp flour
3 cups milk (I've tried this with skim, and it is still creamy and hearty)
8 oz process american Cheese, cubed into very small pieces
2 green onions, very thinly sliced

Instructions:

In a larger pot, cook bacon until crisp, drain on a paper towel. Add potatoes, broth, carrot, onion, parsley, celery seed, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender (about 15 minutes).

Combine flour and milk until smooth, add to soup. Bring to a boil; boil and stir 2 minutes. Add cheese, stir until cheese melts and soup is hot. Garnish with green onions if desired.

My 2 cents: There really isn't an ingredient that I would skip in this recipe - each ingredient provides a nice layer of flavor in this soup. I have substituted celery salt in place of the celery seed with no problem. One HUGE recommendation is on the American cheese. I recommend only using Kraft American Cheese Product (it is a cheese located by the Velveeta, and is in a blue box). I've bought American cheese from the deli, thinking it would be more flavorful, but the Kraft product melts so much better, resulting in a smoother soup. The deli stuff tastes good, but doesn't always melt completely.

Enjoy - if you like potato soup and like baked potatoes with all the fixin's, you will LOVE this recipe!