Baked Potato Soup

Baked potato soup is a simple comfort food for chilly days and nights. Make it as thick and rich as you want with this easy stovetop recipe.

I don’t trust March. Or April, for that matter.

Having lived my entire lifetime in the Northeast (except for the one year when I lived in Chicago, so … sames), I’ve learned not to get too excited by the first balmy day of the year. It’s inevitable that one more snowstorm will be on the way.

So the shovels stay on the back porch and the snow scrapers stay in the car until I feel well and good that the last of the wintry mix is behind us.

Accordingly, I keep a heavy rotation of comfort foods on the meal plan until the threat of chilly days and nights has passed.

Baked potato soup is one of those foods that stretches the definition of “soup” in our household. Whereas I love a creamy, slurpable chowder, as has been well established, my husband hates soup.

In fact, the only reason I could convince him to even try baked potato soup in the first place is because he was feeling under the weather at the Grand Canyon.

Thank the Bright Angel Lodge café (which has been rebranded since we were last there to Fred Harvey Burger? Ugh) for coming to the rescue on that cold and rainy day.

Its version of loaded baked potato soup was stick-to-your-spoon thick, creamy and cheesy, and studded with potato chunks and bacon bits.

A simple, no-frills bowl of comfort, this soup warmed us from the inside out–the perfect medicine for perking up two weary travelers.

So I’ve thickened my own recipe for baked potato soup with lots of potatoes, some of which get blended in and some of which stay nice and chunky.

If you prefer a slightly thinner soup, increase the amount of broth or milk slightly from the quantities listed below. But if you like it thick as thick can be, this is the baked potato soup recipe for you.

Vegetarian or vegan?

It’s easy to make this baked potato soup vegetarian. The bacon is really mostly here to add umami flavor, so it can simply be switched out for plant-based bacon or even sautéed mushrooms if you prefer.

To make it vegan or dairy-free, you can do one of two things:

Use 3 cups broth and 1/ 2 cup of a neutral-flavored non-dairy creamer, such as an unsweetened almond or almond/coconut creamer. This adds a creamy thickness and lets you sneak in some coconut without it being too overpowering in taste.

Or you can replace the 2 cups milk with 2 cups of a neutral-flavored non-dairy milk.

Either way, you want to stay away from sweeteners and other sweet flavors, so oat milk is a no-go here, as are some of the coconut milks on the market.

I would always recommend tasting any non-dairy milk before adding it to a savory recipe to make sure the flavors aren’t off-putting.

And of course, you can use vegan shredded cheese in place of Cheddar.

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Baked Potato Soup

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Baked potato soup is a simple comfort food for chilly days and nights. Make it as thick and rich as you want with this easy stovetop recipe, which has options for both vegetarian and vegan versions.

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Ingredients

• 3 thick-cut slices pork bacon or 4 slices plant-based bacon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil if using plant-based bacon
• 1 large leek, rinsed well and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 cups whole milk or non-dairy milk (see notes)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese or vegan cheese
• 2 large scallions, thinly sliced

Instructions

Make your bacon:

If using pork bacon—

1. Slice the bacon into 1/2-inch pieces. Add to a small to medium (3- to 5-quart) Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed stockpot.
2. Cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove the crispy pieces with a spoon or spatula, leaving the rendered fat in the pot. Reduce the heat to medium-low.

If using plant-based bacon—

1. Cook according to package directions until crispy, then crumble and set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a small to medium (3- to 5-quart) Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium-low heat.

Simmer the soup:

1. Add the chopped leeks and garlic to the pot and cook until very soft, about 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Add the potatoes, milk, broth, salt, pepper, and paprika to the pot. (We prefer a thicker soup in our house, so I only use 1 cup broth. If you prefer a thinner soup, add another 1/2 cup of broth.)
3. Cover and bring to a simmer.
4. Uncover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes more, until the potatoes are very soft. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
5. Remove from the heat and blend on low speed with an immersion blender to your preferred consistency. We like ours chunky, but you can go all the way and puree the potatoes entirely.
6. Divide between 4 bowls and garnish each bowl with about 2 tablespoons Cheddar, the reserved bacon, and scallions.

Notes

See the recipe post for more instructions on making this a vegan soup.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 573Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 1239mgCarbohydrates: 64gFiber: 6gSugar: 15gProtein: 24g

The nutritional information above is computer-generated and only an estimate.

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