Delicious Crockpot Loaded Potato Soup
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 5 medium carrots, chopped
- 5 medium celery stalks, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 10 slices cooked bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon parsley, dried
- 3 cups chicken broth
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose-flour
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Supplies
- slow cooker
- medium saucepan
- potato masher
Directions
Wash and dry all produce. Add diced potatoes, chopped onion, carrot, and celery to the slow cooker. Toss in the minced garlic, bacon, and dried parsley.
Carefully pour in chicken broth into the slow cooker, season with salt and pepper. Stir until blended and cook for 6-8 hours on low, until the potatoes are fork tender.
When the soup is finished cooking, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-heat. Whisk in the flour until thoroughly combined, then slowly add the heavy cream, mix until smooth.
Turn the heat down to low; stir occasionally, cooking until the cream mixture starts to thicken.
Carefully add the cream mixture to the slow cooker and stir to blend.
With a potato masher, mash half of the potatoes in the soup. Toss in the cheddar cheese and sour cream. Mix until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Continue heating soup on low for 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Try topping your potato soup with even more cheese, sour cream or scallions.
Loaded potato soup is the ultimate comfort food! Nothing beats a warm bowl of rich, creamy soup on a chilly winter night. This dish is brimming with wholesome ingredients that will leave you feeling full. In terms of texture and flavor, this is a versatile soup. Regarding your preferences of the potatoes, they can be chunkier, or smooth. The soup’s taste can also be altered with herbs, spices, and with variously flavored broths.
Changing The Texture Of Your Potato Soup
Depending on your preference you may desire a creamier or chunkier textured soup. To achieve a smoother soup as well as thickness, you must mash the potatoes. There are several methods you can use to do this, a food processor, blender, immersion blender, or a simple potato masher. If you like chunks of potatoes in your soup, you can mash half, as our recipe does to allow for different textures. The following are popular potato varieties for soups:
Russet Potatoes
The best choice for a creamy potato soup based on its light, mealy texture. Russet potatoes are easily mashed due to their high starch content.
Yukon Gold Potatoes
The Yukon Gold is an excellent choice for soups that have both smooth and chunky textures. Due to the medium starch content of the Yukon Gold, it does not fall apart as easily as the Russet. The Yukon Gold is used in our loaded potato soup.
Red Potatoes
This potato has a low starch content, meaning it holds its shape very well during cooking. This potato is best for soups where you want those potatoes to keep their shape; a clam chowder would be a good example. Red potatoes are also a good choice for when you’d like chunkier potatoes with skins.
Adding Different Flavorings To Your Potato Soup
It’s true that potato soup is made out of, well potatoes, however, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a little room for some customization when it comes to adding some depth of flavor. As we mentioned earlier, the taste of the soup can be altered by various spices, herbs, and broths. Additionally, it can be enhanced with extra add-ins via different meats and cheeses. Let’s take a look at some tasty options:
- cayenne pepper
- chili flakes
- allspice
- celery salt
- dry mustard
- cajun spice
- thyme
- parsley
- rosemary
- vegetable broth
- fish broth
- beef broth
Nothing beats gooey, melty cheese in your potato soup. Try adding a different variety of cheeses to the mix, such as Colby Jack, Gruyere or Swiss. Bacon is a favorite, but there are other meats you can try as well, try tossing in some ground beef, ham, or steak. Add a dollop of sour cream and garnish your soup with chives or green onions for a refreshing flavor.
Allergy And Diet-Friendly Variations
Our loaded potato soup contains ingredients that may not be suitable for all diets; bacon, chicken broth, butter, heavy cream, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. Luckily alternative ways of making this creamy based soup are available:
Vegan: Replace chicken broth with vegetable broth. Substitute dairy cheese for vegan cheese varieties. Boil potatoes in vegetable broth. Using a food processor or hand immersion blender, mix potatoes with organic coconut milk from a can to create a thick, creamy consistency. Top soup with Phoney Baloney’s Coconut Bacon or McCormick Bac’n Pieces Bacon Flavored Bits
Keto/Low Carb: Swap out the potatoes for cauliflower. Check out our healthy cauliflower mashed potatoes recipe.
What To Serve With Loaded Potato Soup
Potato soup is a meal in itself; the side dish does not need to be overly complicated if you choose to have one. It can be on the lighter side. A simple, crisp, refreshing salad or a crusty slice ofbread to soak up the soup are perfect pairings to this wholesome dish.
Bread
- ciabatta
- sourdough
- focaccia
- French bread
- garlic bread
Salads
- Mixed greens with olive oil, feta, and pecans
- Arugula salad with olive oil, lemon zest, and parmesan cheese
- Arugula salad with olive oil, tomato, avocado, and nuts
Check here for some delicious ideas on how to dress up your side salad. Loaded potato soup is the perfect meal to serve up this winter to stay warm, and feel good. Get that slow cooker started!
