Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup

No Photo

Have you made this?

By Cherie Martin
@intellighter

I made this for the first time for Easter as it was just my husband and I for dinner and we did not want a big meal. He absolutely loved it and said, "This is a keeper...we WILL have this again." :)

Rating:

★★★★★ 1 vote

Serves:

8-10

Prep:

45 Min

Cook:

1 Hr

Ingredients

5 lb: russet potatoes
1 lb: bacon
1 large: yellow onion (diced finely)
1 medium: stalk of celery (diced finely)
1 lb: cheddar cheese (shredded)
8 clove: fresh garlic
1/4 c: real butter
3 tsp: salt (divided)
1 tsp: pepper (divided)
3 Tbsp: corn starch
5 c: milk or fat free half & half
5 c: chicken broth
1/8 c: olive oil (extra virgin)

How to Make Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup

Step-by-Step

1Sautè bacon in skillet on Medium Heat until crispy (Drain well but Reserve 2 T of bacon grease & place Bacon in Crock Pot)
2Finely dice the Celery & Onion & put in skillet used to cook bacon. (I use all of the celery including the leaves)
3Add Bacon Grease, Olive Oil (1 t of Salt) & (½ t of Pepper) (Sauté until Onions are golden & Celery is soft-about 20 minutes)
4Place in Crock Pot on High Heat with Bacon & stir in Butter & mix well.
5In an extra large skillet or large stock pot put in Diced Potatoes (I use an extra large deep skillet)
6Add remaining Salt and Pepper and Garlic Cloves
7Add Chicken Broth and bring to a boil on Medium High Heat (Let boil for 15 minutes - stir and mash potatoes with potato masher until most of the potatoes are creamy (about 2/3 but not all of the potatoes-leave some chunky)
8Mix Cornstarch into the milk with a whisk and whisk until completely blended with no lumps showing
9Add milk and continue mashing until mixed well
10Add to Crock Pot and stir well into the Bacon, Onion and Celery mixture
11Add Cheddar Cheese and mix well
12Cook on High Heat in Crock Pot for 1-2 hours or until bubbly hot