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This potato soup recipe is an extremely comforting meal that reminds me of the loaded potato soup I’d order at O’Charley’s growing up. The base is silky and cheesy. Normally you would think of a potato soup base as gritty, but this is anything but. The shredded cheddar cheese and Velveeta melt into the broth to create the silkiest soup base you’ll ever taste. The red potatoes cook down to the point of being soft but not mushy, so you get these perfect bites of potato. The soup then gets topped with more cheddar cheese, green onions and crispy bacon.
After cooking the bacon, the fat gets rendered and used to cook the onions. It’s a secret to what makes the soup so flavorful, even though there are so few ingredients. Cooking the onion down in that fat is a critical step. Other than the onion, the red potatoes are the only other vegetable in the soup. It truly is the perfect potato soup recipe where the potatoes are the star.
If you love great soup recipes, be sure to check out my most popular soup, white chicken chili.
Tips for the Best Potato Soup
- Cook the bacon in the pot you’ll make the soup in. Just be sure after you remove the bacon and pour out the fat, you wipe it down with paper towels. It doesn’t have to be perfectly clean; you just want to remove any little burnt bacon bits left behind. If not, those will continue to cook when you sauté the onions creating a burnt flavor in the dish.
- Use a vegetable chopper to chop the onions. Saves time and creates an even dice!
Loaded Potato Soup
A silky-smooth cheese soup with hunks of red potato topped with crispy bacon, cheddar cheese and green onions.Ingredients
- 1 lb bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1/4-1/3 c rendered bacon fat
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 3 lbs red potatoes diced
- 64 oz chicken stock (2 cartons)
- 1 tbsp better than bouillon chicken base heaping
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 16 oz Velveeta cubed
- 8 oz cheddar cheese shredded, divided
Thickener
- 4 tbsp salted butter
- 1/3 c flour
- 1 1/2 c half and half
Instructions
- Wash and dice potatoes. Set aside.
- Cook the bacon in a pot over medium heat until crispy, dry on paper towels and save the bacon fat.
- Wipe out the pot and remove any burnt bacon bits.
- Add 1/4-1/3 c rendered bacon fat back to the pot over medium heat. You can start with 1/4 c of fat and add more if needed.
- Add the diced onion to the pot and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add chicken stock, better than bouillon chicken base, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
- Add the potatoes to the boiling chicken stock. Once the water re-reaches a low boil, set a timer for 10 minutes.
- While the potatoes cook make the thickener in a separate pot. Over medium heat melt butter then add flour and whisk for one minute. Pour in half and half and continue whisking until it becomes thick.
- Whisk the thickener into the soup and work out any lumps. Turn heat to high and once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to medium and allow to thicken, covered, for 7 minutes.
- Add Velveeta and half of the shredded cheddar cheese to the pot and mix until melted. Allow to simmer for 5 more minutes.
- If potatoes are still fully formed, smash them against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon to help break them up. Stir.
- Serve and top with the cooked bacon, shredded cheddar cheese and sliced green onions.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!