Creamy Cheddar, Bacon and Potato Soup

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5 from 3 votes

Creamy Cheddar, Bacon and Potato Soup

The BEST ever creamy, comforting loaded potato soup with cheddar cheese, bacon, and green onion!

Prep Time10

Cook Time35

Course: dinner, lunch

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 631kcal

Author: Leigh Anderson

Ingredients

3 medium russet potatoes peeled and diced
8 oz bacon roughly chopped
2 tbsp butter
1 yellow onion diced
4 c chicken stock
1 c heavy cream
2 c grated cheddar cheese divided
3 green onions thinly sliced
salt and pepper
sour cream for serving optional

Instructions

Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the bacon and cook until crispy, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pot with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels. Leave about 2-3 tbsp of bacon fat in the pot.
Next, sauté the onion in the bacon fat until translucent and soft then add in the diced potato. Pour in the chicken stock, bring to a simmer then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes until the potatoes are completely tender.
When the potatoes are tender, pour in the cream and half the shredded cheddar cheese. Turn off the heat then use an immersion blender (or, a regular blender, working in batches) to blend the soup until it is smooth and creamy. Taste and season with salt if needed. Divide the soup between bowls, top with shredded cheese, bacon, sour cream, chopped green onion, and freshly cracked black pepper. Serve immediately!

Notes

How to Purée Soup – With or Without an Immersion Blender:

By far the easiest way to purée a soup is with an immersion blender. Place the blade end of the immersion blender into the bottom of your soup pot and puree until smooth. To avoid splatters, be sure the blade is completely submerged while blending. My immersion blender or “stick blender” is one of my holy grail kitchen appliances. It’s perfect for quickly blending together soups, sauces, salad dressing, aioli.. etc. It’s compact and easy to clean, if you don’t have one already I highly recommend this one by Kitchen Aid.
If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use a regular countertop blender but you need do so carefully and in small batches. Before getting started allow the soup to cool off on the stove, uncovered for 5-10 minutes. In batches, transfer the soup to you blender filling it no more than halfway, then place the lid on loosely leaving it slightly ajar so steam can escape then blend on the lowest/slowest setting until smooth and creamy. Repeat as needed until all of the soup is puréed.

Reheating Instructions:

To Microwave: Cover loosely with a paper towel and microwave for 2-3 minutes, or until hot. Stir halfway through.
For Stove Top: Pour soup into a pot or saucepan. Heat on medium/low, stirring frequently until hot. Do not boil.

Storing Leftovers: This soup will last in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for up to three months. Reheat over low heat in a saucepan or in the microwave. Add a few tablespoons of water to loosen up the soup as needed.

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