Loaded Baked Potato Soup is packed with potatoes, bacon, cheese and green onions. It’s creamy and absolutely delicious!
A creamy base made of mashed potatoes and milk is filled with generous amounts of potato chunks, bacon, cheese and green onions.
Garnish with even more bacon, cheese and green onions, plus a dollop of sour cream.
This soup is better than any restaurant soup you’ve ever tasted. So good!
How to make Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Like all really great recipes, this one starts with a pound of bacon! You know you’re in for a treat when that’s the first ingredient on the list.
To start, dice a pound of bacon (I find this easiest do with kitchen scissors) and cook in a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat until crisp.
Remove bacon with a slotted slotted spoon, place in a paper-towel-lined bowl (to absorb the grease) and set aside.
Drain all but two tablespoons of the bacon grease from the pot and add a diced onion. Cook for about 5 minutes, until tender.
Boil & mash the potatoes
Next, you’ll add five peeled and cubed Russet potatoes to the pot along with 3 cups of chicken stock which you’ll bring to a slow boil.
After the potatoes have simmered for about 20 minutes, until fork-tender, use a slotted spoon to remove a few scoops of potatoes. Put them in and mash, then set aside. This is key part of this recipe as it really helps to make the soup extra thick and creamy.
Make a roux
The next step is to make a roux in a small saucepan. You’ll do this by melting some butter, stirring in some flour and cooking until the flavor turns a pale golden brown.
Then, you’ll slowly stir in one and a half cups of milk, stirring/whisking the whole time. Bring the milk just to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened to a gravy consistency. Since milk has a tendency to scald quickly, be sure to keep a close eye on it and stir frequently.
Once the milk is thickened, you’ll slowly stir it into the soup pot to thicken the soup and stir back in the mashed potatoes that you set aside.
Finish it off
Next, stir in a 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, 3/4 of the cooked bacon and one and a half sliced green onions. Season with salt and pepper.
Stir everything together and let the soup finish cooking for 5 minutes.
Serve the Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Ladle the soup into individual bowls and garnish each bowl with some more shredded cheese, bacon, sliced green onions, and salt and pepper, to taste. You can also add a dollop of sour cream to the top of each bowl if you’d like.
Serve with some fresh, homemade bread, like my Maple Oat Bread or English Muffin Bread, for a delicious dinner that will warm you up, fill you up, and delight your tastebuds!
FAQs
You can easily make this recipe vegetarian. To do that, just replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock and omit the bacon. You can add some french fried onions as part of the garnish for a similar crunch and salty kick.
You can freeze this soup, but be aware that the texture will not be the same when you reheat it. It will still taste just as delicious though, so if you aren’t concerned with texture, go ahead and freeze it.
Otherwise, leftovers will stay good in the fridge for 2-3 days. If you are saving some for leftovers, I recommend setting aside the garnish as well and then topping the soup after it has been reheated.
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound Bacon (diced)
- 1 Onion (diced)
- 5 large Russet potatoes (peeled and cubed)
- 3 cups Chicken stock
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- 3 Tablespoons Flour
- 1 1/2 cups Milk
- 3 Green onions (sliced)
- 3/4 cup Shredded cheddar cheese (divided)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper
- Sour cream for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, cook bacon until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain and set aside. Drain all but 2 T. of bacon grease from the pot. Cook the onions in the remaining bacon grease for about 5 minutes, until tender.
- Add potatoes and chicken stock to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer about 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender. With a slotted spoon, remove a few scoops of potatoes. Place in a bowl and mash with a fork. Set aside.
- In a small sauce pan, melt butter. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk, bring to a boil and simmer until thickened. Slowly stir in to stock pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer. Stir mashed potatoes back into pot.
- Add 1/2 c. shredded cheese, three-fourths of the bacon and half the sliced green onions to pot. Add salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Cook an additional 5 minutes.
- To serve, ladle soup into individual bowls and top with some shredded cheese, bacon, green onions and optional sour cream.
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