Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Ok, so it's been awhile since I blogged. A longggg while. Moving across country, starting a new job and getting settled into a new house had me reverting back to tried and true recipes and not trying many new things. Obviously, I couldn't blog the same recipes so I drifted away for awhile.

Things are changing here in Mississippi, a routine is forming, and I now find that I have a little more time for my love of cooking. Even better, my little toddler loves to cook with Momma, and it gives us some great bonding time together. He absolutely loved cooking this loaded baked potato soup with me last week, and it made him feel very accomplished when it came out delicious.



My little chef .. he loves the kitchen!

I searched for a potato soup recipe and came across several but I couldn't decide which one looked more appealing. Each had something that I did or didn't like so I improvised. I took the recipes from Paula Deen and Guy Fieri and sort of combined the two, creating my own version.

Ingredients:
5-6 baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 C chicken broth
4 Slices bacon
Green Onion, chopped
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 C sour cream
1 t garlic powder
1 C heavy whipping cream
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
In the same pot you wish to cook soup in, fry your bacon. When bacon is crisp, remove to paper towels to drain. When drained, crumble.

In the bacon grease, add diced potatoes and let cook for 1-2 minutes, then add chicken broth. Bring the potatoes and broth to a boil, and let boil for 10 minutes, or until potatoes are soft. Turn heat down to low. Place HALF of the potato and broth mixture into blender and blend until they reach a mashed potato like appearance. Add back to the soup simmering in pot.  (This makes the soup have a thicker consistency - you can skip if you don't wish for it to be that thick).

With a fork, lightly mash the remaining potato cubes. Stir in sour cream, whipping cream, garlic powder, and cheddar cheese. Stir until cheese melts into soup. Add about half of the bacon crumbles and green onion, leaving the remaining for garnish. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve garnished with cheese, sour cream, bacon and green onion.

Feedback:

DELICIOUS! In fact, we are making it again today for lunch!