| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 20 min |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 large baking potatoes
- 6 bacon slices, plus crumbled cooked bacon, for serving
- 2/3 cup (11 tablespoons) butter
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 8 cups milk
- 5 ounces Cheddar, shredded, plus more for serving
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 green onions (scallions), finely chopped, plus more for serving
- 8 ounces sour cream, plus more for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Wash the potatoes and prick them several times with a fork. Wrap them individually in foil and bake until they are soft when squeezed, about 1 hour (see Cook’s Note). Let the potatoes cool slightly.
- While the potatoes bake, cook the bacon in a small skillet, in a microwave or on an indoor grill until crisp. Drain the bacon on paper towels and, when cool enough to handle, crumble into small pieces. Set aside.
- In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the flour, stirring constantly for 1 minute until smooth. Gradually whisk in the milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick and bubbling, 5 to 10 minutes. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into the thickened milk mixture. Add the Cheddar, salt, pepper, green onions and reserved bacon. Cook over low heat just until heated through, then stir in the sour cream. Garnish with shredded Cheddar, crumbled bacon and chopped green onions and serve with more sour cream on the side.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 504 |
| Total Fat | 30 g |
| Saturated Fat | 18 g |
| Carbohydrates | 44 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 12 g |
| Protein | 16 g |
| Cholesterol | 84 mg |
| Sodium | 767 mg |
Reviews
This was not very good. It turned out like soupy, gluey mashed potatoes. If you are going to fry bacon why wouldn’t you use the drippings rather than butter? Why are we putting foil on the potatoes? The milk should be reduced by half and substitute the rest w/chicken broth. There are many really good potato soup recipes out there, I would recommend skipping this one
Really, really good – flavorful and satisfying. Will add it to our regular menu.
Here are my modifications based on other reviewers ideas and concerns and one idea of my own:
* No foil around potatoes – baked for 70 minutes
* Used fat rendered from bacon in place of some of the butter, 3 – 4 TBS. Added 6 TBS of butter.
* Reduced flour to 1/2 cup.
* Added chopped onion (1/2+ cup) and celery (2/3 stick, chopped small) to fat/roux.
* 4 cups of chicken broth & 4 cups of 2% milk
* About 3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
* Pushed the baked potato flesh through a spaetzle press into the hot base. I wanted the potato evenly distributed through the soup.
* Peeled the papery covering from 3 of the potato skins, cut into 1/4″ strips and sautéed in 2 TBS of butter over medium heat to make a crispy topping to dress each bowl. This worked great.
Here are my modifications based on other reviewers ideas and concerns and one idea of my own:
* No foil around potatoes – baked for 70 minutes
* Used fat rendered from bacon in place of some of the butter, 3 – 4 TBS. Added 6 TBS of butter.
* Reduced flour to 1/2 cup.
* Added chopped onion (1/2+ cup) and celery (2/3 stick, chopped small) to fat/roux.
* 4 cups of chicken broth & 4 cups of 2% milk
* About 3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
* Pushed the baked potato flesh through a spaetzle press into the hot base. I wanted the potato evenly distributed through the soup.
* Peeled the papery covering from 3 of the potato skins, cut into 1/4″ strips and sautéed in 2 TBS of butter over medium heat to make a crispy topping to dress each bowl. This worked great.
Best potato soup recipe I’ve found. I cooked the bacon in the soup pot and left the drippings and decreased the butter. I also added onion to the drippings/butter before the flour. Added some garlic and onion powders. It also needed more salt. Added this one to our favorites list!
– Nothing special. Definitely not making again..lacks any flavor
The BEST!!
I love potato soup. You’ve given me two recipes to try. Yummm!
I had to make some changes because both me and my husband thought it was to bland for us. I added 1 cup chicken broth also more cheese. Added more salt and pepper too. I will make again.
I love potato soup but good potato soup is hard to find. I decided to try and make it myself. I love this recipe. It turned out awesome. It was very easy to make
Excellent! But why use butter for the roux when you have the tasty bacon grease? That was my only substitution and it just made the soup a little more bacon forward.
Delicious, but more delicious with some tweaks… roasted fresh carrots with potatoes cut them into rounds and added them in at end before serving; added chopped onion and celery to butter mixture before adding flour. Used 4c fat free half and half (what I had in frig) and 4c chicken broth. Pureed about 3 ladles of soup and added it to the rest of the pot. Added fresh chopped parsley at the end to brighten it up a bit. Family and friends declared it a hit! Thank you, Trisha!