This Cheesy Potato Soup with lots of crispy bacon is ridiculously delicious. It's deeply savoury, thick, and hearty and will keep you warm and full all winter long.
Witchcraft teaches us that things that seem ugly can not only be powerful, but deeply beautiful and inspiring in other ways. From Baba Yaga to Nanny McPhee, witch mythology is full of tales of old, ugly hags who will astonish you with their power to nurture and love. You just have to work through your preconceived notions about "beauty."
Of course, thanks to Instagram, we now expect all of our food to be elaborate and beautiful as well. I know, I'm part of the problem. If I don't make every dish on this blog look sexy, no one will give the food a chance. But quite often, it's to brown and lumpy foods that carry the biggest flavor impact. The magic of flavor and aroma is hidden behind a mask of beige, and unless you're willing to give it a try, you'll never experience how deliciously powerful it can be.
What makes Cheesy Potato Soup so awesome?
So even though this Cheesy Potato Soup isn't winning any beauty contests, I'm here to tell you it's one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. Loaded with cheese and bacon, it's not exactly health food, but the pleasure is off the charts. Any recipe that includes sauteeing onions and potatoes in bacon grease is gonna be great. This soup is thick and hearty. The potatoes are smashed rather than blended, so it's got some serious texture. The combination of hearty potatoes, creamy cheese, and crispy bacon is phenomenal.
This soup is definitely a meal. I always serve it with bread because those are the rules in my house, but I rarely find I actually need it, except to scrape out every last drop of flavor from my empty bowl. It's perfect for a cold winter night when you're totally drained. If this isn't a spell for revitalization and comfort, I don't know what is. You could serve small portions as a first course for a gathering if you like, but you better have a show stopper to follow it up.
Magical Properties of Potatoes
Unsurprisingly, potatoes are deeply grounding. These delicious tubers grow underground, so they bring an earthy energy to any recipe. Their high water content also ties them to the moon, and they have been used in spells to absorb negative energy of generations. Some sources also have them tied to the Sun and Saturn. Use potatoes in spells to call in healing, luck, protction, and increased self-esteem. (Source: The Kitchen Witch's Guide to Healing & Self-Care by Maggie Haseman)
For more on the magical properties of the ingredients in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.
Ingredients
Here's everything you'll need to make this soup. The full details are in the recipe card below.
- Bacon - smoked streaky bacon to be precise
- Onion - yellow onions are easiest, but whatever you have on hand will work
- Celery
- Garlic
- Flour - all-purpose or plain
- Potatoes - you want starchy potatoes for this so that they'll break up into smaller pieces in the soup, so a Russet or Maris Piper would be good.
- Mustard powder
- Paprika
- Chicken stock
- Worcestershire sauce
- Hot sauce - Your favorite brand
- Cheddar cheese - I like a sharp or mature cheese for heightened flavor
- Half and half - or a combination of milk and cream if you can't get half and half
- Salt and pepper - You may not need more salt, but I definitely wanted lots of freshly cracked black pepper, plus a pinch of cayenne if you like a bit of heat
- Green onions - for freshness and crunch
Tips for making Cheesy Potato Soup
This soup is pretty simple. I know it seems like a lot of ingredients, but it's just adding layers of flavor. Start by cooking your chopped bacon in your soup pot until it's nice and crispy. Pull the bacon out and drain it on a paper towel-lined plate. If you have an excess of fat, you can drain some off, but leave enough to coat your pan to cook your veggies.
While the soup is cooking, you can add your onions, celery, and garlic to a food processor to chop them up nice and small. You can also cut your potatoes into smallish cubes. We're going to give them a smash later, but if they're smaller, they'll cook faster. Once the bacon is out of the way, sautee your aromatic veggies to soften. Then sprinkle in some flour and give that a good mix before adding the potatoes and tossing them in the bacon fat as well.
Stir in your spices, then the chicken stock, Worcestershire and hot sauce. The potatoes will be just barely covered. Bring it to a boil, clamp the lid on, lower the heat, and let your pot bubble away until your potatoes are tender. Then get in there with your potato masher to break up your potatoes and give it a bit of texture. You don't want it totally smooth, but we're also not looking for neat cubes of potato in this soup.
Finally, add in your cheese and cream and give it a stir to melt the cheese. Taste for seasoning and add whatever you think it needs. Remember, we're adding salty bacon to this as well, so don't oversalt now. Serve this up piping hot with a sprinkling of that crispy bacon, a bit of extra cheese, and some fresh green onions.
FAQ
I'd go for a sharp or mature cheddar, but not extra sharp. It should have a strong but not overpowering flavor. White or orange doesn't really matter.
I nice starchy potato that's good for mashing such as a Russet or Maris Piper will work great here. Waxy potatoes will be too firm.
If you love cheese, potatoes, and bacon, you're gonna go crazy for this Cheesy Potato Soup. It may not be beautiful, but it's definitely awesome.
Looking for more awesome soup recipes? Try this Tomato Soup with Cheesy Dumplings or some Creamy Parsnip Soup.
PrintCheesy Potato Soup
This Cheesy Potato Soup with lots of crispy bacon is ridiculously delicious. It's deeply savoury, thick, and hearty and will keep you warm and full all winter long.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 8 ounces smoked streaky bacon
- ½ onion, peeled
- 1 stalk of celery
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 pound starchy potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1-½ teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1-½ cups chicken stock
- 1-½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1-½ teaspoons hot sauce
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup cream (or replace milk and cream with one cup half and half if you can get it)
- Salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste (I didn't need to add any extra salt, so definitely actually taste it)
- 1 green onion, chopped
Instructions
- Put a soup pot over medium heat, and scissor your bacon into it. Cook until your bacon pieces are crispy, then remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. If your bacon has given up quite a lot of fat, you may want to spoon some out until you have only a couple of tablespoons left in your pot.
- While your bacon is cooking, roughly chop your onion and celery so that they'll fit into your food processor. Toss in the garlic clove and pulse until you have itty bitty bits of vegetables. Once your bacon is out of the pot, add about a cup of your blitzed vegetables into the hot pot. Give them a good stir and cook until they're softened, about five minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour over your vegetable mixture, and give it a good stir. Let it cook for a minute or two to get rid of the raw flour flavor.
- Next add your potatoes, mustard powder, and paprika. Stir to make sure everything is combined and your potatoes are coated in the spices.
- Add the chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce to the pot. Your potatoes will be just barely covered. Bring this up to a bubble, then lower your heat to low, put the lid on your pot with just a crack to let some of the steam escape, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Once your potatoes are soft, give them a quick mash. I like this soup with a bit of texture. The more mashing you do, the smoother it will be, obviously.
- Stir in the cheese, milk, and cream and let it cook while stirring for a minute or two until the cheese is melted.
- Remove the pot from the heat, taste for seasoning, and add some pepper and cayenne, as well as salt if you think you need it.
- Add your soup to the bowl, then sprinkle on some of the crispy bacon, and scissor some green onion over the top. Try not to eat the whole pot by yourself.
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