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The other day I was talking to my kids about the concept of life’s simple pleasures. Things and experiences that make us happy but don’t require a lot of time, effort, or money. We came up with riding our bikes down a big hill (whee!), taking a nature walk, and getting caught in the rain.
This is starting to sound like I need a pina colada! Anyway, I’d like to add baked potatoes to the list. Inexpensive and ordinary, yet delicious and satisfying.
The only way to make one any better is to turn it into Loaded Baked Potato Soup. This thick, creamy, and hearty soup recipe is packed with classic loaded baked potato flavor. Perfect for chilly nights, or anytime you need a food hug – it’s the ultimate cozy comfort food!
Main Ingredients Needed
Raid the fridge and pantry for the main ingredients needed to make this hearty, stick-to-your-ribs soup recipe:
- Russet potatoes: thicken and flavor the soup. You’ll need 4 medium-size potatoes, which is just shy of 3lbs.
- Bacon: a baked potato is not loaded unless there’s bacon involved – I said what I said!
- Flour: works with the mashed potatoes to give the soup a thick and luscious texture.
- Chicken stock or broth: I find adding stock or broth to milk-based soups helps stabilize it, and prevent the milk or cheese from separating and becoming grainy. Think of it as smooth and creamy soup insurance.
- Milk: 2% milk fat or higher is recommended, though you could use whole milk for half or the whole amount of milk called for. The soup is plenty indulgent-tasting with 2% though.
- Freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese: not only flavors the soup, but tops each bowl.
- Sour cream: flavors the soup and provides richness.
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5 Tips for Avoiding Grainy Soup
Have you ever made a milk or cheese-based soup or sauce that turned out grainy and unappetizing? Been there, done that – ugh! That said, here are my top 5 tips for achieving a smooth and creamy dairy-based soup:
- DON’T BOIL. This is the most important tip, which is why I’m shouting! A milk/cheese-based soup should never go above a gentle simmer. Too high of heat can cause the milk proteins to separate and curdle.
- Go slow. Adding shredded cheese too quickly or at too high a temperature can cause the cheese proteins to separate and coagulate. Whisk the shredded cheese into the soup in two additions (vs all at once) with the heat OFF.
- Remove the chill. Let the milk, shredded cheese, and sour cream sit on the counter for a least 20 minutes before adding to the hot pot/broth.
- Grate fresh. Bags of pre-shredded cheese contain anti-caking agents to prevent the shreds from sticking together, which means they don’t melt into soups as easily and smoothly as freshly-grated cheese.
- Reheat gently. I’ll cover this more below, but always re-warm a dairy-based soup on low or medium-low while stirring constantly.
Try Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup
How to Make Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Step 1: Bake then mash the potatoes.
Start by scrubbing russet potatoes clean then pierce them all over with a fork. Place the potatoes on a foil-lined half or quarter sheet pan with an oven-safe wire rack on top (alternatively you can bake the potatoes directly on the oven rack).
Bake the potatoes at 425 degrees for 60-70 minutes, or until a knife can be easily inserted into the centers, then set them aside for 10-20 minutes or until they’re cool enough to handle.
Recipe Tip
Slice the baked potatoes in half to help speed up the cooling process. This also makes it easy to scoop the flesh out with a spoon.
Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, use a spoon to scoop the flesh away from the skins and add them to a large mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher to your desired consistency – chunkier mashed potatoes will result in a chunkier soup. I like a medium-texture mash so I can still eat pieces of baked potato in my bowl of soup.
Measure out 5 loosely-packed cups of mashed potatoes to add to the soup, then set them aside.
Recipe Tip
You can use 5 loosely-packed cups of prepared mashed potatoes, vs baking and mashing your own. This is a great recipe for leftover holiday mashed potatoes!
Step 2: Brown the bacon.
Meanwhile, add chopped bacon to a large soup pot or Dutch oven then turn the heat to medium and cook until the bacon is crisp. Scoop the bacon onto a paper towel-lined plate to drain then remove all but 2 Tablespoons bacon grease from the pot. Just eyeball it!
Step 3: Saute onions and garlic.
To the bacon grease in the pot add butter then, once melted, add chopped onions, season with salt and pepper, and saute until the onions are tender, 5-7 minutes. Add minced or pressed garlic then saute for 1 minute.
I wish you could smell this picture!
Step 4: Add flour to thicken the soup.
Sprinkle flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour – you can use AP flour if you’re not GF) over the onion mixture then whisk for 1 minute in order to remove the raw-flour taste.
Step 5: Add broth and milk.
Slowly pour in chicken stock or broth while whisking to create a smooth, thick sauce then add milk and whisk to combine.
Turn the heat up to medium-high then bring the soup to a simmer while stirring slowly yet constantly. Again, we’re looking to gradually heat the milk so it doesn’t separate and become grainy.
Recipe Tip
Let the milk sit out at room temperature while you’re browning the bacon so it’s not super cold when adding to the soup.
Step 6: Add the toppings.
This is where it gets really delicious! Turn the heat OFF then add the following ingredients in the following order to the soup pot:
- Whisk freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese in two additions, whisking until the cheese is completely smooth and melted before adding the second addition.
- Whisk in sour cream until smooth.
- Whisk the mashed potatoes into the soup in two additions.
- Stir the browned bacon into the soup.
The soup will thicken slightly as it cools though at this point it’s ready to scoop into bowls, top with extra shredded cheese and cooked bacon, plus chopped chives or green onions, and devour!
How to Store and Reheat
Typically dairy-based soups can separate when reheating, or freezing then thawing and reheating, but the mashed potatoes in this recipe stabilizes the soup a bit. Lucky us!
- To store: refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the soup from frozen in the refrigerator.
- To reheat: microwave individual bowls in 30 second increments, stirring between increments, until the soup is hot. To reheat more than one serving – if you stored the entire soup pot in the fridge for example – place the soup pot over medium to medium-low heat then stir slowly yet constantly until the soup is hot.
I hope you love this hearty, cozy, totally satisfying Loaded Baked Potato Soup – enjoy!
More Hearty Soup Recipes
- Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup
- Sweet Corn, Kielbasa, and Potato Soup
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Cheesy Taco Soup
- Hamburger Soup
- Ham and Bean Soup
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
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Equipment
- Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 4 medium-size russet potatoes 2-3/4 – 3lbs total
- 3/4 lb (12oz) bacon chopped
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- salt and pepper
- 3 cloves garlic pressed or minced
- 6 Tablespoons gluten free flour or AP flour if not GF
- 2 cups chicken stock or broth
- 4 cups milk 2% milk fat or higher recommended
- 12 oz freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese divided
- 1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
- chopped chives or green onions for garnish
Instructions
For the Baked Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees then line a half or quarter sheet pan with foil and place an oven-safe, wire cooling rack on top (alternatively you can bake the potatoes directly on the oven rack). Scrub the potatoes clean then prick them all over with a fork. Place the potatoes on the wire rack then bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a knife can be easily inserted into the centers, flipping the potatoes over with tongs halfway through.
- Let the potatoes sit for 10-20 minutes, or until they’re cool enough to handle – I like to slice them in half after taking them out of the oven to speed up the cooling process. Use a spoon to scoop the flesh away from the peels then add to a large mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until they reach your desired consistency — chunkier potatoes will result in a chunkier soup. Measure out 5 loosely-packed cups of mashed potatoes to use in the soup then set aside. The remaining potatoes can be saved for another use.
For the Soup
- Set aside half the total amount of shredded cheese to use for topping each bowl of soup with.
- Add the chopped bacon to a large soup pot or Dutch oven then turn the heat to medium. Cook until the bacon is crisp then scoop it onto a paper towel-lined plate to drain and set it aside. Remove all but 2 Tablespoons bacon fat from the pot – just eyeball it.
- Add the butter to the pot then, once melted, add the onions, season with salt and pepper, and saute until tender, 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic then saute until very fragrant, 1 minute.
- Sprinkle the flour over the onions and garlic then whisk until smooth. Cook while whisking for 1 minute to remove the raw flour taste then slowly add the chicken stock while whisking to create a smooth sauce. Add the milk then whisk to combine. Season with pepper then turn the heat up to medium-high to bring the soup to a simmer — NOT A BOIL — while whisking slowly yet constantly. Once simmering, turn the heat back down to medium or medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer then cook while whisking until the soup has slightly thickened, 3-4 minutes.
- Turn the heat under the pot OFF. Add half the remaining shredded cheese then whisk until smooth. Add the remaining shredded cheese then whisk until smooth. Add the sour cream then whisk until smooth. Add half the mashed potatoes then whisk to combine. Add the remaining mashed potatoes then whisk to combine. Add 2/3 of the cooked bacon then stir to combine. Taste then add more salt and/or pepper if necessary. If the temperature of the soup has been brought down too much by adding the cheese, sour cream, and mashed potatoes, turn the heat to medium-low then reheat while stirring until the soup is hot again.
- Ladle the soup into bowls then top with the reserved cheese, bacon, and chives or green onions, if using.
Notes
- Tips for avoiding grainy soup:
- DON’T BOIL. A milk/cheese-based soup should never go above a gentle simmer. Too high of heat can cause the milk proteins to separate and curdle.
- Go slow. Adding shredded cheese too quickly and/or at too high a temperature can cause the cheese proteins to separate and coagulate. Whisk the shredded cheese into the soup in two additions (vs all at once) with the heat OFF.
- Remove the chill. Let the milk, shredded cheese, and sour cream sit on the counter for a least 20 minutes before adding to the soup so you’re not adding cold dairy to a hot pot/broth.
- Grate fresh. Bags of pre-shredded cheese contain anti-caking agents to prevent the shreds from sticking together, which means they don’t melt into soups as easily and smoothly as freshly-grated cheese.
- Reheat gently. Re-warm the soup on low or medium-low while stirring constantly.
- You can use 5 loosely packed cups of leftover mashed potatoes instead of making them fresh.
- Photos and recipe updated 10/25
Nutrition
READ: Loaded Baked Potato Soup
iowagirleats.com (Article Sourced Website)
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