Baked Potato Soup
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
  • 4 baking potatoes (Russet potatoes work best)
  • 6 slices of bacon
  • 6 cups milk (I've used nonfat, 1%, 2% and whole and all work out just fine)
  • ¼ cup butter
  • ½ cup flour
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • ¾ cup chopped green onions, divided
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Wash and scrub the potatoes well. Pierce the potatoes all over with a fork or paring knife. Bake for 1 hour or until a paring knife slides easily into the cooked potato with no resistance.
  3. Cool, peel and coarsely mash the potatoes.
  4. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large frypan until crispy. When it's cool, crumble the bacon.
  5. Warm the milk on the stovetop or in the microwave. A warm liquid will help your soup thicken quicker when it's added to the flour/butter mixture.
  6. In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk, letting it cook for a 1-2 minutes. It will be fairly crumbly at this point.
  7. Gradually add the warm milk, whisking consistently to get rid of any lumps.
  8. Cook the milk mixture over medium heat until it's thickened and bubbly, about 15 minutes. Whisk frequently as you don't want the milk to burn. The soup will thicken even more when you add the starchy potatoes and other ingredients.
  9. Once the mixture has thickened, add the mashed potatoes, ¾ cup of cheese, salt and pepper. Stir until the cheese melts.
  10. Add the sour cream and ½ cup of the green onions.
  11. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes or until everything is heated through.
  12. Serve the hot soup and top with cheese, green onions and crumbled bacon.
Notes
I usually just mash the potatoes on the same baking sheet they were baked on. I find bacon cooks best on medium heat, low and slow. Oftentimes, if I'm planning on making this soup, I'll make bacon to have with breakfast and then just set some aside for the soup. When warming the milk, I warm 2 cups of milk in a glass measuring cup in the microwave for about a minute. While I'm whisking that milk in with the flour and butter, I'll warm the second 2-cup measurement and then repeat again until all 6 cups are warmed and incorporated into the pot.
Recipe by Sweet Peas and ABCs at https://www.sweetpeasandabcs.com/baked-potato-soup/