Loaded Baked Potato Soup

After St. Patrick’s Day, I had a bag of leftover baked potatoes in the fridge. As I was trying to think of something interesting to do with them (not that I don’t love a simple baked potato, but I do adore transforming things), I recalled that stalwart standby, baked potato soup.

I really like baked potato soup, but – like clam chowder – too many versions of it are so rich that the base ingredient is lost in the cascade of cream and bacon and cheese. I wanted to make a version that was slightly lighter and really tasted of baked potato.

A recipe on Allrecipes caught my eye because it included basil, which suggested lightness of flavor. Besides, the stuff is going crazy in my Aerogarden – enough to make me desperate to use it, without being enough to make pesto. Naturally. 

It wasn’t until I was actually constructing the soup that I noticed they were calling for dried basil. (I am terrible about just skimming a recipe and then finding myself unprepared for the actual instructions.) I substituted some of my fresh herb, and it was nice, but I don’t recommend going out and buying any for this. The herbal flavor is just a hint of brightness, and I think dried would work just fine. A bay leaf might be good too.

Almost every baked potato soup recipe I saw online started with peeled potatoes, often raw ones. This would obviously not fly if the plan was to make a soup that really tasted like baked potato. Especially if, like me, you consider the skin to be the very best part. I determined immediately that I wasn’t going to throw away this incredible source of flavor for a lily-white, smooth soup. I was slightly worried about the texture of the peels in the finished soup, but I didn’t find them at all objectionable. The textural contrast was pretty nice, actually.

To keep the sweet, earthy flavor of the potato in the forefront, I used less chicken broth and added a little water. I also busted the cream down to half-and-half or milk.

The finished soup was just what I was looking for, with chunks of soft potato swimming in a rich (but not too dense) sour cream laced broth that tasted satisfyingly of baked potato. Arne declared it by far the best potato soup he’d ever had, and I can’t think of a better one either. 

Starting with pre-baked potatoes, this soup is pretty quick and easy to make. I recommend throwing the potatoes in the oven the night before, so you’re ready to go. A vegetarian version would be easily made, and still delicious, if you skipped the bacon and started off cooking the onions in a couple of tablespoons of butter.

In a large soup pot, cook the bacon until it is very crisp and has rendered almost all its fat. Remove bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate and set aside. Drain off all but 1 to 2 tablespoons of bacon fat and discard (or save it in a container in the freezer to use later).

Add the chopped onions to the hot bacon fat and saute until lightly browned about 10 minutes. If the bottom of your pot gets more browned than the onions, worry not – that residue is called “fond” by the French and is full of flavor. It will come off when the liquid goes in.

When the onion is lightly brown and well softened, add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper, and stir until the onions are evenly coated with flour. Pour in a half-cup of broth and stir until incorporated, then stir in the rest of the broth and the water. Bring to a boil; boil 3 minutes or so, then add the basil and the potatoes.

Cook, mashing the potatoes lightly with a masher or the back of a spoon, until everything is hot and the soup is the texture you like. Reduce the heat and stir in the milk, sour cream, and pepper sauce or cayenne. Heat thoroughly without bringing to a boil. Serve topped with reserved bacon, cheddar cheese, and chives.


Baked potatoes
Serves: Any number    Time: 65 to 85 minutes, almost all hands-off

One large russet (Idaho) potato per diner, plus two for soup
Salt, optional

Heat the oven to 425.

Scrub the potatoes well. For extra yumminess, rub the potato skins with about 1/2 teaspoon salt each. (This increases their crispness as well as seasoning them.) Poke each one several times with a fork or knife and place directly on the rack of the hot oven. Bake 60 to 80 minutes, until a knife meets very little resistance when inserted into a potato. 

Of course, if you’re baking something else, you can cook these at a different temperature and change the time accordingly.