Recipe: Loaded Baked Potato Soup
It’s cross country season which means we’re loading up on carbs and loading everything on our potatoes.
The evening before a meet I’ll typically prepare a pasta meal with some bread, Madeline’s choice. Sometimes it’s Ina’s spicy turkey meatballs and spaghetti, other times it’s pasta agilo e olio (garlic and oil). By evening’s end we’re all stuffed and sleepy, and sure as summer days are long, Madeline does great the next day. But this past week we went in a different direction.
I need to give Pinterest a shout-out for this one. Jackson isn’t a fan of mashed potatoes, and as often as we fix items that necessitate them as a side (or a potato variant) I’m always on the lookout for new ideas. While searching through Pinterest for a new pasta dish I happened upon gorgeous picture of I Wish You Dry’s loaded baked potato soup. I was gobsmacked. You know the kind of pictures I’m talking about? The ones that look so good, so tempting you know you need to fix it that night? Well substitute ‘tempting’ with ‘cheesy’ and you’ll understand why I immediately ran out to get all the ingredients.
Pasta, schmasta. This was going to be our pre-meet dinner.
This recipe comes from the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and I admit to tweaking it a bit to suit our needs, but isn’t that what makes meals special to your family? The personal touches.
They seemed to be the right ones as well because my “not unless it’s a French fry” child absolutely loved this potato dish. It’s a very simple recipe, but as it is with anything you’re preparing for the first time it takes a little bit longer so allow yourself that time. Any personal changes/notes I made will be notated with an asterisk (*) so y’all are aware. Enjoy!
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients
4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed
8 bacon slices
4 tbsp unsalted butter* (the chef used Challenge butter specifically perhaps because it was a sponsor)
2 garlic cloves, minced* (I minced 4 because we love our garlic. Healthy hearts y’all.)
1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups low fat milk
1 cup half and half
2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 tsp garlic salt, plus more to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
Minced fresh chives, for garnish only
Instructions
Scrub to clean your potatoes then pierce multiple times with a fork, microwaving them for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender or if you prefer, you can bake your potatoes in the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake the potatoes directly on the rack for 45 minutes or until fork tender. Carefully remove the potatoes, halve them and let cool. Once cool enough to handle remove the skins, *or keep some on to add depth of flavor, and cut into chunks.
While your potatoes are getting warm and mealy, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. *Make extra for all the bacon lovers in your life. 8 pieces just isn’t enough. That’s just a fact.
Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and cool. Reserve up to 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the pan and carefully discard the rest. Once the bacon has cooled, crumble it into small pieces.
Once you're done with the bacon and your potatoes are cut into chunks you get to do something all Southerners know is vital to making any good base for a soup, stew, or sauce: you get to make a roux! Don’t be intimidated, just stir. You’ll be fine.
In a large pot melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the reserved bacon fat, garlic and onion and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the onion is tender. Slowly whisk the flour into the pan and stir for 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and half-and-half. Keep whisking until smooth. Gradually add the chicken stock. Bring to a light simmer and whisk in the kosher salt, garlic salt and pepper. Keep at a light simmer until the mixture has thickened slightly, 5 to 7 minutes.
Stir in the cheeses, bacon, and the sour cream, keeping some of each as ‘dressing’ for your baked potato soup. Remove the pot from the heat.
*This is where you need to judge how thick you want your soup to be. Right now you have a nice, coating-the-back-of-your-spoon consistency to your soup. But remember: potatoes are a starch, and in a soup with a roux base the more you add the thicker and heavier your soup is going to get.
Begin by adding your potato chunks slowly. Scoop them into the pot a few at a time, breaking them into small pieces or leaving them chunky. It’s all about what you prefer. Take note of the consistency. If you like how it is after half your bowl of potatoes are added, great! If you want it to be thicker and want to keep adding, also great! We like ours HEAVY which means we added almost all the potatoes. It’s all up to you-as is this next step.
Aside from eating, this has to be everyone’s favorite part. Once you’re finished adding the potatoes, ladle the soup into everyone’s bowl and let them go to town with the garnishes. I love setting up a little bar area so we can all dress it to our liking. Cheese, bacon, chives, sour cream, it’s all there, ready to be enjoyed.
And it was. Thoroughly. It felt like Fall in our home even though it’s very much summer outside, and both children, Madeline especially, were very happy with our dinner. But don’t take my word for it. You and your krewe will have the same reaction after your first bite!
