Friday, January 8, 2010

Potato Soup

This soup is incredibly satisfying. It evolved over 4 years, and it went through many, many variations. The final recipe is fast, simple, and delicious. I especially love it because it uses left-over mashed potatoes, and I love my "2-fer" recipes (recipes that use left-overs from other recipes; 2-fer--you know, 2 for 1...2-fer...). 2-fer recipes require you to plan, but that's a good thing. Put some thought and planning into your meals and you'll be happier and healthier. I usually serve this with something like Chicken Cesar Wraps for a quick meal.

Potato Soup
Printable Recipe

1/3 cup butter
1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk (1%, 2% or whole)
4 cups left-over mashed potatoes
1/2 cup sour cream (I used light)
sliced green onion, if desired
cooked, crumbled bacon, if desired
shredded cheddar cheese, if desired

1. Heat a medium pot over medium heat until hot. Add the butter and let it melt. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until it's starting to brown, 5-8 minutes. Add the chicken broth and milk, and scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.

2. Add the mashed potatoes and stir/whisk the soup gently to "melt" the mashed potatoes into the liquid. Bring the soup to a simmer, reduce the heat, and gently simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the sour cream and heat it through. Don't let the soup simmer after adding the sour cream because it will separate and your soup's texture and appearance will suffer. **I want my soup to be able to stand up to the toppings. If your soup seems too thin after simmering for 5 minutes, go ahead and simmer it a little longer, just make sure you do it before adding the sour cream.**

3. To serve, top individual bowls with the cheese, bacon, and green onion.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Note: you can probably tell from the pictures that I didn't fry up and crumble slices of bacon. I don't make bacon just to eat (well, almost never), so I don't have it on hand. We do eat bacon on things though, so I keep bags of bacon crumbles in the fridge. There are good brands and brands that aren't edible, so be careful. The two I like best are Oscar Meyer, and the Kirkland brand from Costco.

6 comments:

  1. This is one of our family favorites! But I often don't have left-over mashed potatoes to use. I just make the potatoes and then turn it into soup. But whenever we have leftover mashed potatoes (Thanksgiving and Christmas), I always make this soup.

    Do you ever use instant potatoes with this recipe? I've only ever used real potatoes for this soup.

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  2. Jolynne, lol...I have to plan for the soup, and make a ton of potatoes. Then I take out what I'm going to use *first*, before we eat dinner. Otherwise I end up without enough for the soup. I've never used instant; I don't like the aftertaste instant potatoes have, and with so few ingredients, for sure the flavor would come through in the soup. Yuck!

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  3. It is ten below zero out my patio door right now. I'm pretty sure this would warm me very quickly.

    Hmmm, I would have to remove the mashed spuds before eating also-if there is a scoop left in the pan, I have to eat it :)

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  4. This is my new favorite soup! I made the Braised Beef Chuck Roast (which was delish!) last night and lots of mashed potatoes to be sure I could make this today. It certainly did not disappoint and I will plan on making this everytime I make mashed potatoes. :)

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  5. Made this last night for family & neighbors! It was a big hit. My 6-year old ate three bowls and wanted more. Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Yay! I am so glad you liked it--Thanks so much for letting me know! :D

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