The Best Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe

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Who doesn’t love loaded baked potato soup to warm up with on a cold day?! I’ve had this recipe for years and am frequently asked for the recipe which is always a good indicator that it’s a crowd pleaser! It’s also great for pot lucks. Make a big pot and bring toppings so everyone can tweak it to just the way they like it!

I first found this recipe on allrecipes.com here but over the years tweaked it to our taste and found some time savers in the process. I find so many great recipes on their site.

Onto the soup: The first step is baking potatoes. I usually use the shortcut method of just baking them in the microwave. While they are baking I put a sheet pan of bacon in a 400° degree oven. When the potatoes are done cooking, cut in half so they are cooler to handle.

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While the potatoes cool, chop up toppings and if you didn’t buy shredded cheese, shred your cheddar. Then scoop potatoes out of their skin and chop. Measure out the milk into a microwave safe container and microwave it for 3 minutes or until warm (preheating the milk will save you from stirring for what feels like an hour once you add it to your pot – I always use this shortcut for white sauce/bechamel too.) While milk is heating, melt butter in a large pot, add flour and whisk together until smooth. Add warm milk gradually and whisk constantly until thickened. (Optional: I add in two whole pieces of bacon and 2 whole green onions during this process as it gives flavor without adding chunks of things that will prevent my kids from eating the soup.)

Once soup base is thickened, I pull the green onions and bacon out. Then add in potatoes and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. To make soup even thicker, remove a scoop of potatoes with a slotted spoon and mash with a fork then add back to the soup. If the soup is too thick, adding some chicken broth will thin it out.

Add in cheese, salt, pepper and sour cream. Note: occasionally the soup has been too hot for the sour cream and the sour cream takes on a curdled appearance. It still tastes just as great, but visually is not as appealing. If that will bother you or if you’re making it for guests, you could add some of the soup to the sour cream in a separate bowl to temper it before adding to the soup, or just save the sour cream for topping.

Speaking of toppings, I’m all about toppings! They just add freshness texture color all the things! This is, after all, loaded baked potato soup, so load it up! My favorite topping to serve with this soup are:

• Crumbled bacon
• Green onion, diced
• Sharp cheddar
• Sour cream
  

Get creative though, what do you like to top your baked potato with? Add it to the list!