Loaded Baked Potato Soup

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Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Find all the flavours of a loaded baked potato, in this deliciously creamy and comforting soup!

Since it doesn't look like I will be returning to work anytime soon, I need to make plans to stay busy during the day. I mean don't get me wrong, I love being able to watch TV series I've heard about on Netflix, but it gets a little boring at times. On the up side, it gives me tons of time to get into the kitchen and make dinner every night.

Now that Christmas is over, I can focus on cooking great dinners again. The week before Christmas was dedicated to baking, cleaning, decluttering.... so quick dinners were on the agenda. And we enjoyed the bountiful leftovers that came with Christmas. But now it's time to get back into the kitchen and get some comforting, hearty, winter grub on the table.

We ended up with a huge dumping of snow over Christmas (seriously it was almost to my knees by the time we decided to dig ourselves out on Boxing day), so a hearty stick to your bones soup was the perfect way to warm up. With all the delicious flavours of baked potatoes, this soup is packed with sour cream, cheese, chives and bacon. Decadently creamy, savoury and salty, this soup is like heaven in a bowl.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
1 large leek, chopped and rinsed clean of grit
4 C chicken stock
2 C milk
4 large baked potatoes, peeled and chopped
6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
1 1/2 C shredded sharp Cheddar, divided
1 C sour cream
1/3 C chives, chopped and divided
1 tsp coarse sea salt
fresh ground pepper

In a large soup pot, heat oil and butter, until butter starts to sizzle. Add in leeks and cook over med-low heat, until they begin to soften. Add in chicken stock and cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add in baked potatoes and cook until heated through, about 10 minutes. At this point, if you like a smooth soup, take and immersion blender and puree potatoes into the stock and cream mixture. If you like a chunkier soup, using a slotted spoon, remove 3/4 of the potatoes and mash; adding them back to the soup, once mashed.

Stir in 1 C of shredded sharp Cheddar, until melted. Stir in sour cream, 1/4 C chives and most of the bacon; reserving a few pieces for garnish. Cook until bacon is warmed through; about 5 minutes. Serve while hot, garnished with additional cheddar, bacon and chives.