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Our Best Baked Potato Soup
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- #16312
Love baked potatoes loaded up with cheese and bacon? Then this soup is right up your alley. It has a creamy base made with onions cooked in bacon drippings, seasonings, and half and half. The potatoes are baked first then added to the soup. Top off individual servings with bacon, cheese, and green onions.
serves/makes:
ready in:
1-2 hrs
1-2 hrs
20 reviews
1 comment
ingredients
5 medium baking potatoes
8 slices bacon
1 cup chopped sweet onion
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups half-and-half
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup sliced green onions, divided
directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Scrub the potatoes. Poke several times with the tines of a fork to pierce the skin. Place in oven directly on the oven rack and bake for one hour or until done. Set aside to cool. When potatoes are cool, peel and slice crosswise.
In a large, deep skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon in a single layer until crisp. Remove the bacon to paper toweling to drain. Reserve the drippings in the skillet. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
Add the chopped onion to the skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until soft. Stir in the flour and mix well. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
Slowly stir the chicken broth into the roux in the skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick and bubbly.
Stir in the sliced potatoes, half and half, parsley, garlic, basil, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Do not let the soup boil.
Stir in one cup of the Cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup of the green onions. Cook, stirring, until the cheese melts.
Serve the soup in individual bowls topped with crumbled bacon, and the remaining shredded cheese and sliced green onions.
Recipe Source: adapted from America's Best Recipes
nutrition data
258 calories, 13 grams fat, 24 grams carbohydrates, 12 grams protein per serving.
Not to be confused with evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk is very sweet (and very sticky) and used primarily in desserts.
Delicious recipes for red velvet cakes, cupcakes, and cheesecakes.
reviews & comments
March 3, 2021
I love that this recipe is from scratch. It's one of my favorite soups. I make it at least once a month.
February 10, 2019
I have been making this soup for years using this recipe. Each time I make it I get rave reviews. I have shared this recipe with friends and they get rave reviews also.
September 11, 2016
This is one of my new favorite recipes. Very easy to make and very filling so we eat it as a meal with some bread and a salad.
November 11, 2015
okay, I didn't make this recipe, but I have. It is a 5 star wonder. I'm working on one that I hope will be even better. However, I have made this recipe from a book called Americas most wanted recipes, it is almost exactly the same. Except for cream instead of half and half.
January 25, 2015
This recipe truly tastes like a great potato soup I had in a restaurant. I make it several times over the winter months. I add celery to it. Absolutely delicious!
November 4, 2013
oh my this was good i added a dollop of real sour cream on top of each serving
June 29, 2013
This is definiately one of the better potato soups I've had. I used regular onions instead of sweet and fat-free half and half and fat-free cheddar cheese.
December 20, 2012
Very excellent base recipe. The changes I made.. added more basil and garlic, using heavy cream in place of half in half " yuck " and half a stick of real salted butter. I added some crumbled bacon, a cup of sharp cheddar, and a dollup of sour cream along with the other 6 ingredents. I also didn't add the potatoes until the stock was fully cured, that way, they remained intact. I don't understand people adding carrots or celery to it " bleh. " It's baked potato soup, not just potato soup. Why don't you just go add celery and carrots to your baked potatoes. haha
October 16, 2012
The soup was fantastic! It pleased every member of our family of 8, including the 2 year old! I added about 1 tsp of liquid smoke to give it the "little something extra" flavor I was looking for and served it in bread bowls. I also left the potato skins on.
January 23, 2011
This recipe is very good. I added a 3rd cup each of celery and carrots to the saute. It can be taken up another notch to world class by using this homemade chicken stock recipe: Chicken Stock: 1 whole free-range chicken (about 3½ pounds), rinsed, giblets discarded 2 carrots, cut in large chunks 3 celery stalks, cut in large chunks 2 large white onions, quartered 1 head of garlic, halved 1 turnip, halved 1/4 bunch fresh thyme 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns Place the chicken and vegetables in a large stockpot over medium heat. Pour in only enough cold water to cover (about 3 quarts); too much will make the broth taste weak. Toss in the thyme, bay leaves, and peppercorns, and allow it to slowly come to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and gently simmer for 1 to 1½ hours, partially covered, until the chicken is done. As it cooks, skim any impurities that rise to the surface; add a little more water if necessary to keep the chicken covered while simmering. Carefully remove the chicken to a cutting board. When its cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones; hand-shred the meat into a storage container. Carefully strain the stock through a fine sieve into another pot to remove the vegetable solids. Use the stock immediately or if you plan on storing it, place the pot in a sink full of ice water and stir to cool down the stock. Cover and refrigerate for up to one week or freeze. Yield: 2 quarts.
December 28, 2009
All three of my chilren and husband enjoyed this soup. Very thick and rich. I added like some of the reviews that were posted carrots and celery.
October 22, 2009
This the best bake potato soup ever. I added celery and mushrooms. My family loves it. Try it you won't be disappointed. I rated this a 5 but it is really a 10 in my book.
March 17, 2009
This soup is fantastic!! I tweaked it with cayenne pepper, celery and carrots. I love it - yummy!
January 11, 2009
This soup really is incredible! I decided to make it for a family get together and it was a huge hit. Delicious is an understatement. If you like potato soup or rather baked potatos you'll love this soup. The only thing I added was celery.
February 3, 2008
One of the best potato soups I've had. Easy to Make. I even cheated a little. I used 1.7 cups of skim milk and 2 large dollops of reduced fat sour cream and used Tone's Cheddar Sauce Mix instead of cheese - since I was running short.
October 29, 2007
best baked potatoe soup ever, It can stand up to any resturante soup around
November 12, 2006
Awesome, everyone loved it. I also tried it with sweet Italian sausage and was wonderful
November 5, 2006
Loved the recipe. The soup was thick, rich and tastey. I made my own modifications like, put all the cheese, bacon, scallions in at once. It turned out wonderfully!
This soup is easy to make and everyone loves it. I pass the garnishes separetly so people can add what they want...that includes the bacon (I make a little more because it is a favorite), cheese, green onions and also sour cream.
October 10, 2006
My family loved this. We left the skins on when we put the potatoes in the soup, as our variation. It was wonderfully rich and got lots of raves last night!
September 28, 2006
Very good soup! Not difficult to make. One of the very best I've had.