Potato Soup is delicious, even more-so once loaded! That’s why a Loaded Potato Soup was our treat of choice this past weekend. Utilizing some spuds, a few culinary tricks, and a secret ingredient (that may or may not be bacon) we present to you, one heck of a Loaded Potato Soup.

-Enjoy

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We’re just a couple of potato fanatics here.

And honestly, who doesn’t love potatoes! You can fry them, bake or sauté them, have them scalloped if you’re up for the challenge, or an all time classic, mashy tatoes. We can (and will) talk about all of those another time, for now, let’s get soupy!

Mandy and I came up with this recipe using the tried and true method of being indecisive then in turn panic deciding to avoid an argument. This method consists of a conversation that goes a little something like this:

“Chris, what are you hungry for this weekend?” says Mandy.

“I dunno. What are you hungry for?” Replies Chris.

*Mandy glares at Chris…menacingly* “What are you hungry for, dear?”

Realizing his mistake, Chris panics ” Ah! Umm uh uh errmm, something with….potatoes?”

Mandy smiles at this small victory and says, “Potatoes it is!”

Mandy 2022

I’m sure that this feels very relatable for some of you. Nonetheless, the seed was planted, all that remained was time to grow, and boy did this recipe grow.

The “Formula” for Loaded Potato Soup

Now I could say that we stopped at a simple and starchy potato soup recipe, but no, that’s not how we roll. We are PASSIONATE! Our love for food is endless, and our love for potatoes more-so. My love for potatoes goes so far as to incorporate the word “potato” into my regular vocabulary as a means to describe the things that I love.

Yes, Mandy is a sweet potato. And to Mandy, I am a russet potato. This is fact, but I digress.

We really racked our brains thinking of a couple ways to make this more than soupy potatoes which by no means is bad, it can just be so much better. The first thing that came to mind was making this a baked potato soup, but realizing it didn’t make much sense to cook a potato for it to be cooked again we crossed that off. Unless we par cooked the potato in the oven (which wouldn’t add much flavor-wise) we would end up with disintegrated potato soup. We would have to think of something different. Then it hit us, LOADED!

By taking our initial idea, the baked potato soup, and introducing the elements of a loaded baked potato we would create a soup that would satiate. To make this happen we would need potatoes that held up well when boiled, a thickened broth, and a last minute idea that really took this soup to the next level.

The Potato to Our Soup

You might be wondering “Chris, now that you’ve figured out what soup you’re going to make, how did you decide what potato to use?” And that my friend, is a great question. If you’ve already snuck a look at the recipe, why are you reading this, go make our soup and tell us it was delicious! (I’m kidding) If you haven’t taken a peak and just enjoy a good read we took a little bit of time deciding what potato would work best.

As mentioned we knew going into this we would need to have a potato that would hold up well when boiling, something that wouldn’t disintegrate or break apart easy. However, we also wanted a potato that would soften, something in the middle so-to-say. Honestly we didn’t do a deep dive into the lore of potatoes for this, the potatoes that we typically work with are Russets, White, Yukon Gold, and Baby Taters. There are other potatoes that we’ve used but were just out of the question for this particular experiment.

So, Russets, White, Yukon, and Baby, what do you think we used? I’ll give you 5-seconds

!!!Five-Four-Three-Two-One!!!

If you guessed White potatoes, well, that would be incorrect. White potatoes are a safe bet as they can satisfy most potato based needs. You would also be wrong if you guessed Russets, they would end up breaking down a bit too much when boiled. While Baby potatoes are a close second, I have more experience roasting them over boiling. This left us with Yukon Golds, potatoes that absorb water and soften up but don’t fall apart as the soup is finishing.

Culinary Know-How

So, as mentioned, our second obstacle was that we needed a nicely thickened broth for this soup. From years of cooking a variety of meals I had two ways to do this up my sleeve. One, we could use what’s known as a slurry, or a roux. With our options set, let’s get into detail.

A slurry. This is a mixture of water and cornstarch, usually with a ratio of 2 to 1. respectively. When mixing a slurry, you use room temperature water and dissolve your cornstarch completely. It’s extremely important that you do this separate from the dish being prepared. If you just toss cornstarch into a boiling pot of broth, you’ll get a bad case of the clumpies (the cornstarch will clump up). Once you’ve gotten everything into your soup add the slurry and stirry. Your soup should thicken up nicely.

Now, before I even knew what a slurry was I was mixing roux’s left and right. White roux, blonde roux, brown roux, roux roux, I’ve probably made it at this point. A roux is composed of equal parts flour and butter. You melt the butter in a pan (or pan) add flour, stir with vigor, and voila, nutty smelling soup thickener. And that nutty smell is the key, once you catch a whiff turn the heat of and keep stirring.

I’ve found, personally, that a roux provides more flavor to a dish, whereas if you ONLY need to thicken something, a slurry is the way to go. So don’t be afraid to use either of these. Just remember, a roux starts the dish, a slurry finishes it.

The Secret to a Good Loaded Potato Soup

You get to know the super duper secret ingredient that we came up with last minute and it’s totally not bacon.

Alright alright…. it’s bacon. BUT, not just chopped up bacon to top off the soup no no no my friend. Sometimes, what you do to an ingredient makes the BIGGEST of differences. So this idea popped into my head while we were at the grocery store. (I will try to keep this short) A while back I had followed a chili recipe, but this was not your ordinary chili. This chili took the bacon and pan fried it, IN THE POT THEY MADE THE CHILI IN! It was genius!

So as we passed the bacon section (the only section that matters) I grabbed a pack and held it up mouthing the word “bacon” to Mandy. To which she replied by grabbing a pack of turkey bacon, and whispering “turkey bacooooon” as she slid the pack into the cart. The decision was made, and as you will read in the recipe what you do is cook your bacon, most of the way finished, in the pan you plan on making your soup in. Pull the bacon out but leave the juices, and toss in your sauté-able veggies. I highly recommend giving one of those bad boys a taste, and try to tell me its not fan-flippin-tastic.

HOORAY YOU’VE MADE IT THIS FAR!!! I suppose you want a reward, a recipe or something? What if I told you this isn’t the recipe you were looking for and that you should probably check out our sweet Three Onion French Onion Soup.

But if you REALLY want that Loaded Potato Soup recipe, I suppose you deserve it.

~Enjoy

The BEST Loaded Potato Soup

Chris

This soup is rich, its creamy, and filled to the brim with flavor! With bacon on top, what more could ya ask for?

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Irish-American

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

  

• 6-8 Medium golden Potatoes ~4 cups diced
• 1 Yellow Onion diced
• 1 Tbsp Avocado oil or other neutral oil
• 1/2 cup Butter 1 stick + 1 Tbsp
• 1/2 cup All purpose flour
• 1 pack Bacon Turkey or pork
• 5 Scallions sliced
• 3 blocks Shredded cheese Cheddar, Muenster, & Gruyere
• 6 cups Preferred broth Chicken/beef/veggie your choice
• 1 cup Heavy cream Half-&-half can substitute
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream Optional + more for serving
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Get yourself a pot. A nice big 4–6-quart pot. Take your bacon of choice, we used turkey (this will matter later so take note) and slice it into ½ inch pieces. Now put all of that sliced bacon into your pot turning the heat to medium. Cook the bacon on until it is beginning to crisp with very few soft pieces left, but don’t burn it.
• Next, we can remove the bacon leaving as much oil in the pan as possible. Now the reason what kind of bacon you use matters is that turkey bacon produces significantlyless oil when cooked. This is where, if needed, you can add 1 Tbsp of Avocado Oil& 1 Tbsp Butter to help with the cooking process.
• Now we add our diced onion to the pot of bacon oil. Stir frequently, coating the onion with all that goodness, and once the onions become translucent (partially see through) toss that chopped garlic in as well. Cook until the onion just begins to brown.
• Once the onions begin to lightly brown, we want to melt that stick of butter. Once melted, add in the ½ cup of flour then stir stir stir! The ingredients should begin to come together in what’s known as a roux. You will know the roux is finished once the pot begins to smell faintly nutty
• You will need a whisk for this. Add the 6 cups of broth to the roux and stir with that whisk. We’re going to break apart the roux inside of the broth so that the soup thickens properly. Bring this to a simmer after mixing thoroughly
• After coming to a simmer add in your: diced potatoes, chopped scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, salt & pepper. Turn to high heat and bring to a boil, then down to medium for a simmer. Stir occasionally. Cook until potatoes are fork tender.
• Lower the heat and add heavy cream (and sour cream if your soup is too loose). Keeping at a low heat, add shredded cheese in batches stirring frequently. We’re trying to melt the cheese to make it a part of the soup without letting it fall and sit at the bottom of the pot (where it will burn!)
• Add back ¾ of the bacon that was removed. Stir, serve, and top with more cheese, bacon, sour cream, and scallions!

Notes

Turkey is a leaner meat and may need a little
help browning. You can add a drizzle of oil to
the bottom of your pan to help the turkey bacon
crisp up.

We decided on the roux as not only would it
add more flavor, but it would pick up all the
goodies we had just cooked in the pot we were
using.

The point of using heavy cream or half & half is
to give a creamy base to your soup without it
just tasting thick. Potatoes naturally have starch
and will thicken your soup on their own (like a
built-in slurry). Depending on ratios and
ingredients, it’s really your preference on soup
viscosity, and that’s where your choice of
adding sour cream comes into play.

Keyword Bacon, Potatoes, Soup

Results and Take-aways

This recipe is a must for anyone who even remotely enjoys potatoes. Even if you’re kind-of on the fence with potatoes, like you had a bad first date with a potato and you’re not sure if you wanna give that potato another try, I PROMISE, this recipe doesn’t break deals, it makes them.

With the season change in full swing and the weather getting colder and colder it makes having a nice hot bowl of soup just that much more enticing.

I did mention that we used turkey bacon, but I’m sure you bacon fanatics out there can see plainly that there is real bacon in those pictures. That’s because I cooked some pork back to sprinkle on my soup. If you want to do this dish completely with pork bacon go right ahead! Turkey bacon is great in its own rights, and is far healthier, but the massive difference in flavor is too wide a gap to go unnoticed.

The Millennial Pen in Hand social media accounts are available to the right. If you had fun reading this article you should really share it, like, with everyone you know! And please, make this soup!

We are always striving to improve the meals we make because food is a wonderful thing that should be shared among wonderful people. The only way that we can get better at what we do is if you speak up and tell us what you think. Comment on this post, dive into our other posts, if you get the chance check out our social media accounts and get involved.

We’ve shared with you a bit of our story, now let’s hear about you and your delicious meals

To end this, Mandy and I would just like to thank you for reading this through.

Thank you for being you, and we look forward to our next adventure.