The Perfect Cheddar Potato Bacon Soup

I’ve decided that 2013 is going to be the year that I finally dazzle my husband, family, and friends with my cooking abilities. I’ve become a little more adventurous in the kitchen over the past few months and it’s paid off! Prior to that I guess you could say that I’ve been .. ohh.. how do I put this? Lazy. I still have a long way to go on the path to becoming a great cook but I’m having a lot of fun getting there.. and I think Nate is enjoying himself along the way too! Soup is not exactly rocket science or hard to cook, but I do think there are a lot of people out there in search of the perfect cheddar potato soup! I know we were! Especially picky eaters who shy away from the word “onion” and those of us who have to search for recipes to cook for said onion haters. I made the perfect Cheddar Bacon Potato (onion-less) soup and I’m sharing it with you!

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What You’ll Need.

1 24 oz bag of Klondike Fingerling Medley potatoes
32 oz of vegetable broth
8 oz heavy cream
2 cups of shredded mild cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp pepper
3 pieces of cooked, crumbled pepper bacon
a dash of onion powder

Put your bacon in a cold oven and set to bake at 400 degrees for about 15-17 minutes. While your bacon is cooking – wash, peel, and cut potatoes into small pieces. Place potatoes in a large pot with the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Add a dash of onion powder. Reduce heat and cover for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Blend 3/4 of the potatoes and broth mixture in a blender in small batches and return to the pot. Add in the heavy cream, cheese, crumbled bacon, and pepper. Stir and allow cheese to melt completely over low heat.

*Yes, peeling the tiny individual potatoes is truly a pain in the you know what. You can use regular potatoes if you wish, but I think the medley made the soup extra delicious! The pepper bacon that came from our grocery store’s meat deli also gave this some extra oomph. Regular bacon would do the trick – but it wouldn’t be nearly as yummy! After Nate and I realized that the price comparison is almost nothing between regular ol’ packaged bacon and our deli’s specialty bacon – there’s been no going back! And we’ve been eating way too much bacon as a result. Also, you can leave out the onion powder but it passed Nate’s taste test – meaning it adds just the right flavor without showing up on the onion hater’s radar. Miracles happen.

**I like to add chopped green onions to mine because I love onions!