Creamy Baked Potato Soup

November 24, 2008

I just wanted to point out a delicious creamy baked potato soup recipe from the personal finance blog Get Rich Slowly.  It’s pretty cheap, pretty healthy, and tastes really good.  It’s thick enough, too, to work as a whole meal.

All you need is 3-5 russet medium to small russet potatoes (I used five, a couple small ones with three medium sized ones), a quarter cup of butter (4 tablespoons), one small onion, two cloves of garlic, a quarter cup of all-purpose flour, two cups of chicken stock/broth, 12 ounces of evaporated milk, salt, pepper, green onions or chives, shredded cheese, and bacon or ham.  I had green onions and bacon.

I began by washing and scrubbing the potatoes well, then piercing each with a fork a few times.  I then put them in the microwave for about nine minutes.  I then put the bacon in a skillet over medium-ish heat to cook and placed a large pot over medium-low heat with the butter to pre-heat.

Once all that was going on, I chopped my onion and minced the garlic.  I turned the heat up to medium on the large pot with butter and added the onions.  After letting them soften (about five minutes), I added the garlic and cooked it for about 30 seconds.  This was smelling pretty good already.

The next step called for me to stir in the flour for a couple minutes, creating a roux, before slowly adding the evaporated milk and stock.  By this point my potatoes were finished in the microwave, so I took two of the small ones and one medium and scooped out the inside, mashed them with a fork, and added them to the soup.  I let this come to a boil.

Once boiling, I turned down the heat a little and added salt and pepper.  The recipe calls for seasoned salt, but I just used salt and pepper, and it worked well.  I diced the remaining potatoes and empty skins of the ones already added, and dropped them into the pot.  At this point I diced the bacon and scallions, garnished, and ate.

Tips

• This soup, though simple, is delicious.
• The more mashed potatoes you add, the creamier it will be.
• I think the bacon adds another dimension to the soup, so even if you want to keep it healthy, try adding a little.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3-5 russet potatoes, washed
• 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp.) butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken stock/broth
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Bacon or Ham, cooked and chopped
• Chives or green onions, chopped finely
• Shredded cheese

Recipe:

1. Poke each potato with a fork three to four times and cook in the microwave for 8-9 minutes.  Heat a large pot over medium heat with the butter and add the onion.  Cook for 5-7 minutes, until soft, then add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.  Add the flour to create a roux.
2. Slowly stir in the evaporated milk and stock.  Take 1/3 to 1/2 of the potatoes, scoop out the inside, mash it, then add it to the pot.  Allow the soup to come to a boil, then turn down the heat a little.
3. Season the soup with salt and pepper.  Chop the remaining potatoes and remaining potato skins from the already-added potatoes.  Add to the soup.  Heat through, garnish, and serve.

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