Have you seen the movie Splash? Do you remember Eugene Levy’s character, Dr. Kornbluth? He had a little catchphrase, “What a week I’m having!” That is how I have been feeling. Nothing is wrong, everything is just a little off…

We came home from a great vacation then the very next day I got sick. I had to miss my cousin’s 40th birthday party, boo! And my house looked like I was preparing for a garage sale because I was too wiped out to unpack anything.  So uncomfortable.

Fast-forward two days. I’m feeling a little better but both my husband and I need new phones. Our iPhone 5’s have been acting up so it was time for an upgrade. We left the house at 11am on a warm, sunny Sunday for the Apple store. Two hours later (I mean, are we buying a car or some phones?) we were running in freezing rain to show up late to our girls’ soccer game. Oh, and because it takes so long to buy a phone I didn’t feed my kids any lunch or have their water bottles for soccer.

After that miserable game I took them straight to the My Little Pony movie. I had been promising to take them for 3 weeks and I figured I better get there before it was out of the theater. But, since I was not dressed appropriately while watching my kids lose their soccer game, I sat in a theater for 2 hours with wet socks and shoes watching MLP.  Is there anything worse than wet socks?  Because of all these shenanigans, I was way behind on getting dinner on the table. My schedule was off. And when that happens I don’t function well.

I was making my final soup of Soup Month for dinner that night. Now, this was a new recipe so I wasn’t sure what to expect. If it wouldn’t have turned out I don’t think I could have handled it. Luckily, it was really quite easy to throw together and absolutely delicious! Because of my attempt to get dinner on the table asap I don’t have pictures of the steps; only the end result.

I based my potato soup recipe off this one from Nancy Fuller. I switched up a few things but this was a BIG hit in our house. My picky eater, A, said it was her favorite soup EVER, even more than ramen noodles! She cleaned her bowl and asked me to pack it for her school lunch. I had great pictures of her eating every last bite using my new phone’s awesome camera but in the transfer of old phone to new phone those got deleted, never to be seen again. What a week I’m having! Let’s just throw a pot of soup together, shall we…

Loaded Potato Soup

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
6 slices Bacon
2 Onions, chopped
Salt & Pepper
3-4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 T Butter or Olive Oil
3 T Flour
4 c Chicken Broth
1 c Heavy Cream
3 lbs Russet Potatoes, peeled and diced
1 c Sour Cream
1½ c Shredded Cheddar (plus extra for garnish)
Scallions or Chives (for garnish)

Put bacon in soup pot over medium heat.
Render fat out of the bacon and cook until crispy, turning over as necessary (about 10 minutes).
Set bacon aside and let cool.

Add onions to the pot, sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté in the bacon fat, stirring occasionally, until soft (about 7 minutes).
Add the garlic and cook for another minute while stirring.
Add the butter or olive oil to the pan and let it heat up for a minute or two.
Add the flour; cook while stirring for about 3 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.
Add the chicken broth while stirring to avoid any lumps
(You can add 1 cup first and stir vigorously until you have a smooth consistency then add the remaining 3 cups while stirring)
Add the heavy cream and stir together.
Add potatoes, season with a little more salt and pepper and cook until tender; stirring occasionally.
(Cook time will depend on how large you dice your potatoes. Mine were about a ¾“ dice and they took 15 minutes.)

Using a spider or slotted spoon, remove ½ to ¾ of the diced potatoes; put them in a bowl and set aside.
Using an immersion blender, blend the remaining potatoes and broth.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a potato masher.
(The more potatoes you leave in the pot and the more you puree the thicker your soup will be).

Stir in sour cream then the shredded cheddar cheese.
Return diced potatoes to the pot and stir to combine.
Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

Ladle soup into bowls and top it as you would a baked potato: a little extra cheese, crumbled bacon and snip some scallions or chives over the top.

This is a big bowl of comfort food!

Mangia! Mangia!

Print Recipe

Loaded Potato Soup

This is a big bowl of comfort food!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Course: Lunch, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Comfort Food, Fall, Potatoes, Soup

Servings: 6 People

Author: Emily ~ Garlic & Olive Oil

Ingredients

• 6 slices Bacon
• 2 Onions chopped
• Salt & Pepper
• 3-4 cloves Garlic minced
• 2 T Butter or Olive Oil
• 3 T Flour
• 4 c Chicken Broth
• 1 c Heavy Cream
• 3 lbs Russet Potatoes peeled and diced
• 1 c Sour Cream
• 1½ c Shredded Cheddar plus extra for garnish
• Scallions or Chives for garnish

Instructions

• Put bacon in soup pot over medium heat. Render fat out of the bacon and cook until crispy, turning over as necessary (about 10 minutes). Set bacon aside and let cool.
• Add onions to the pot, sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté in the bacon fat, stirring occasionally, until soft (about 7 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for another minute while stirring. Add the butter or olive oil to the pan and let it heat up for a minute or two. Add the flour; cook while stirring for about 3 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.
• Add the chicken broth while stirring to avoid any lumps. (You can add 1 cup first and stir vigorously until you have a smooth consistency then add the remaining 3 cups while stirring.) Add the heavy cream and stir together.
• Add potatoes, season with a little more salt and pepper and cook until tender; stirring occasionally. (Cook time will depend on how large you dice your potatoes. Mine were about a ¾“ dice and they took 15 minutes.)
• Using a spider or slotted spoon, remove ½ to ¾ of the diced potatoes; put them in a bowl and set aside.
• Using an immersion blender, blend the remaining potatoes and broth.  If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a potato masher. (The more potatoes you leave in the pot and the more you puree the thicker your soup will be.)
• Stir in sour cream then the shredded cheddar cheese. Return diced potatoes to the pot and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
• Ladle soup into bowls and top it as you would a baked potato: a little extra cheese, crumbled bacon and snip some scallions or chives over the top.