Creamy Baked Potato Soup + Relaxing Jazz

The weather this month has been all over the place. We have had near freezing temperatures at night all weekend. In the next couple of days, it is going to get to a high of nearly 80 degrees. This has lead to some foggy mornings. It was so pretty that I could not help but to take a photo. With the weather getting cold, it felt like a great time to make some soup. Today I am sharing my creamy baked potato soup recipe.

RELAXING JAZZ

Everything is better with the right music. Before making soup, my husband ran across a YouTube playlist called Bossa Nova Jazz. It is a jazz playlist that is slightly less than 7 hours long. I had it on while I was cooking. Later, I had it on while I tidied the house. The vibe chill background music. It is a playlist on YouTube, so you can access it on your phone or from your television. Click on the image or click here to enjoy.

CREAMY BAKED POTATO SOUP

The weather was one reason why I made creamy baked potato soup. The other reason was because I had a handful of potatoes with eyes starting to grow. The potatoes were still firm, but the countdown to losing them had begun. I needed to get through at least 6 spuds. Then I had the idea of soup. Yummy, creamy, yet savory soup.

Ingredients

• 6 potatoes peeled and chopped
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 3 cups of vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp of butter
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
• 1 tsp + 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder

Soup Toppings (optional)

• 4 pieces of bacon, cooked and chopped
• 2 cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 tbsp sour cream
• Chopped green onion or chives

The Recipe

1. Begin by washing and peeling your potatoes. You can absolutely leave the skins on your potatoes, if you would prefer.
2. Chop your potatoes into small pieces. Think bite size. There is no pressure to have each piece the same exact size. Any smaller pieces will essentially melt, adding to the creaminess of the soup. The larger pieces will give you the potatoes bites that make the soup so delicious.
3. Add warm water to a 5 quart or larger stock pot. Add 1 tbsp of salt to the water.
4. Add your chopped potatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. What you are looking for are potatoes to be of the texture you would need for mashed potatoes: soft if you push on them, but still holding their shape.
5. While the potatoes are cooking, in a separate large sauce pan (mine was 5 quarts), melt the butter on low.
6. After the butter has melted, mix in your flour. Mix with a whisk until smooth. About 1 minute.
7. Mix a few ounces of vegetable stock at at time, until all stock has been added.
8. Add the black pepper, remaining salt, granulated onion, and granulated garlic to your mixture. Stir to combine.
9. As your potatoes reach their desired softness, using a scoop, add about a cup of cooked potatoes to your soup pot and mash until the texture of the broth appears creamy.
10. Strain and add the remaining cooked potatoes. Keep about a cup of potato water and put to the side.
11. Add heavy cream.
12. Heat the soup to slightly boiling; this will help thicken the soup.
13. Taste your soup. If it is bland, add more salt, pepper, and/or granulated garlic. Add small amounts at a time until you reach the desired flavor.
14. If the soup is too thin, add a teaspoon of corn starch in a bowl with 2 teaspoons of cold water. Mix until smooth and pour into your soup. If the soup is too thick, add some of your potato water or more vegetable stock until the desired thickness is achieved.
15. Serve hot topped with a tablespoon of sour cream, a handful of cheese, a sprinkle of bacon, and a sprinkle of green onion or chives.

This soup makes enough to serve 4. We used two servings for dinner and then 2 additional servings for left overs. The soup was just as good when we ate it for lunch the next day. If you need to reheat the soup, I recommend doing so on your stove top instead of the microwave. You can slowly reheat the soup, adding more stock, milk, or heavy cream to bring it back to life.

What is something you have cooked lately that you have really loved? Let me know in the comments below.