Baked Potato Soup With Bacon, Green Onion, Broccoli & Cheddar

By á-8

If you don't have them already prepared, bake the potatoes and fry the bacon before starting this recipe.

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups whole milk
• 4 cups 2% milk
• 4 large potatoes, baked and cubed small (peeled, if desired)
• 1 pounds bacon, cooked and crumbled (about 1.5 cups)
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups frozen broccoli, cooked (microwave for 2 min is easiest)
• 1 cup light sour cream
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
• kosher salt
• ground black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Melt the butter in the bottom of a large pot over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk to combine until thickened. Whisking continuously, slowly pour in the milk and whisk until mixture is smooth. Be sure to get the corners of the pan.

Add all of the remaining ingredients and lower the heat to medium. Stir occasionally until the cheese is melted and the soup is warmed through. Be sure to scrape bottom of the pot as you stir so the soup doesn't burn.

Serve when warm and enjoy!

Additional notes:

• This soup can be cut in 1/2 and there would still be plenty for 4 people.

• When cutting potatoes, I'd recommend cutting even smaller than what you see in my photo, especially b/c they're already cooked.

• Slice bacon in pieces before cooking so you don't have to crumble later and get messy. You can put in a tablespoon or so of bacon fat into the soup when heating.

• On pre-baking your potatoes: Since this recipe uses potatoes that are already baked, you might want to toss a few in the oven the night before to bake them off ahead of time. Baked, they'll keep in the fridge for a week (easily), so dinner can be ready to go any night of the week!

• Microwave frozen broccoli for 2 min. before putting into soup w/remaining ingredients.