Loaded Baked Potato Soup

This Loaded Baked Potato Soup is perfect for cold-weather entertaining! It’s hearty and delicious with toppings of bacon, sour cream, and cheese. Plus, it will please both your family and guests.

An Easy Potato Soup is a tasty addition to your menu whether as a soup course or a main dish. It’s the epitome of comfort food!

Why You Must Make

• There’s a definite chill in the air. Ideal soup weather. This easy recipe for a loaded potato soup is the perfect way to warm you from the inside out. It’s darn tasty, too.
• When it gets really cold, I turn to hot, steaming dishes for dinner. Soup, like this Homemade Beef Barley Soup, is a favorite. Hubby prefers his meat and potatoes, so sprinkling this baked potato soup with a healthy amount of chopped bacon does help.
• It’s definitely hearty and you can load it up with all sorts of toppings!

In the winter, I am the one who keeps her coat on for an hour after we get home from running errands, wears multiple layers of clothing, and has an electric mattress pad. The one disadvantage of being skinny is constantly feeling cold when the temps plummet. I sip hot tea all day long and make cozy, hot homemade soups for dinner!

Ingredient Notes

• Kitchen Staples – Butter, Flour, Kosher Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• Baking Potatoes – Russet potatoes work well.
• Onion – Minced. Soak in water if you want to remove some of their pungency since they’re not sauteed before adding to the soup.
• Milk – I used 2%, but whole milk will make a slightly richer soup.
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese – I used pre-shredded cheese, but feel free to shred your own.
• Optional Garnishes – Use what you love including crumbled bacon, sliced scallions or chives, sour cream, and shredded cheddar cheese.

How to Bake a Potato

Though I’ve microwaved a potato in a pinch, the potato ends up more steamed than baked. Using the oven is the best way to bake a potato. Here are the easy steps:

• Wash and dry your potatoes. Use a knife or fork to pierce through the skin and into the potato in a few spots. This prevents the potatoes from bursting open in the oven as the steam builds up inside.
• If you’re not using the baked potatoes for soup, rub each lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.
• Preheat your oven to 350º and place the potatoes directly on the oven rack.
• Bake for 1 hour or until the skin is crispy and the potatoes give when you squeeze them or you can easily pierce through to the centers with a sharp knife.
• To add to your dinner menu, cut your potato open and top with butter, sour cream, or any of your favorite toppings. If using for homemade potato soup or twice-baked potatoes, let them cool enough to handle, then scoop out the flesh as needed for the recipe.

Recipe Tips

• Russet potatoes work best for this baked potato soup instead of a waxy yellow or red potato.
• To speed up the process, you can microwave the potatoes instead of baking. Prick them with a fork or knife, then microwave for 10+ minutes until you can easily insert a fork or knife.
• Steakhouses typically use russet potatoes when they serve a baked potato with your beef. Their mealy texture makes them better than waxy potatoes for making this soup.
• You can tweak your potato soup by mixing in your favorite baked potato toppings.
• I like to provide sour cream, shredded sharp cheddar, bacon, and chives or scallions as toppings to have available. Think of what you enjoy on a baked potato or potato skins. The possibilities are endless.
• Feel free to saute or roast a few cloves of garlic and add to make a garlicky baked potato soup.
• Save your potato skins to make a loaded potato skins appetizer with some of the same toppings you use to garnish this soup.

Give this easy potato soup a try. My countdown to spring has begun. How about you?

Frequently Asked Questions

You May Also Like:

• Hearty Italian Vegetable Beef Soup from Barefeet in the Kitchen
• Tomato Tortellini Soup from Crunchy Creamy Sweet
• Beef Mushroom Soup
• Chicken Jambalaya Soup
• Tuscan Sausage Soup
• Chicken Wild Rice Soup
• Chicken Gumbo
• More of my Soup Recipes

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The Recipe:

Baked Potato Soup Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Yield 6 servings

A creamy potato soup garnished like a baked potato!

Ingredients

• 4 large baking potatoes
• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced onion, soak in water if you want to lessen their pungency
• 6 cups milk
• ½-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Crumbled bacon, sliced scallions or chives, sour cream, and shredded cheddar cheese for garnish

Instructions

1. Wash potatoes and prick them with a fork. Bake at 400º for one hour or till soft.
2. When cool enough to handle, cut them in half and remove the pulp.
3. Melt butter in a large pan. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute. Gradually add milk while stirring; cook over medium heat till thick and bubbly.
4. Add reserved pulp, salt and pepper, onions, and cheese. Heat thoroughly, adding extra milk to thin if necessary.
5. Recheck seasonings and add more salt and pepper if needed.
6. Ladle into bowls and garnish as desired.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1 bowl
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 574Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 813mgCarbohydrates: 63gFiber: 5gSugar: 3gProtein: 20g

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