Tasty Tuesday

Baked Potato Soup has become one of our favorites.  We had tried some in a tub one day at Sam’s Club, but that one little tub had a small amount of servings for the price.  I can make a batch of soup with twice as much for about half the price. 

Ingredients:

5 medium red skinned potatoes; scrubbed & diced into 1” cubes

5-6 slices of bacon, chopped/crumbled

1 onion

5 T butter

¼ c. flour

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 -2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional – to your taste buds)

1 ½ c. reserved potato water

1 c. Whipping Cream (for a healthier version, substitute this with 1 - 12 oz. can of evaporated milk)

3 c. milk or 1 c. half n half & 2 c. milk

1 10 oz. can Cheddar cheese soup (can substitute can of cream of chicken but add one additional cup of cheddar cheese)

1 c. shredded cheddar

DIRECTIONS:

Put potatoes in stock pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, 6-10 min. (will depend on the size/thickness of potatoes) – do not over cook. Drain BUT reserve 1 ½ c. of the water and set the potatoes to the side. In the same pot, cook the 5-6 slices of bacon until crisp (TIP: I cut my bacon up into the pan with kitchen shears and then fry); remove and place bacon on a paper towel to soak up some of the fat/grease and drain (you could leave some drippings in the pot for added flavor). Now add the butter and melt, once it is melted, add the onions and cook until tender. Add flour, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper and cook for 3-4 min. to infuse the flavors. Add the 1 ½ c. reserved potato water whisking in slowly to prevent lumps; cook and let bubble for 3 min. Then add milk, can of soup, and shredded cheese until melted and blended. Then add the potatoes and use a hand masher to give texture (we don’t want mashed potatoes) to the soup. Now add the chopped/crumbled bacon and cook/simmer 15-20 minutes.

 

Now, this last time I combined the bacon and onion and cooked off together.  Then I added the butter, flour, crushed pepper, etc. and cooked for a few minutes.

This is what it looks like after adding the reserved potato starch water and before adding the milk (I had already dropped the soup into the top of the pot).

Not a very good picture of the soup because of the light.  But it still is very tasty!