Baked Potato Soup

This time of year, my cooking-related thoughts turn to soups & comfort foods. The recipe I'm sharing today is one of my favorite, and is both a soup and a comfort food! It comes together easily, and makes a big batch pretty inexpensively, so it's good for a crowd. It also freezes pretty well.

And I realize that it's called "Baked Potato Soup" and I use mashed potatoes. It's all in the interest of convenience. If you are baking potatoes anyway and want to make some extra to use in this soup, then do so, by all means. But you don't have to bake potatoes for the soup to taste great - it tastes the same either way!

Baked Potato Soup

4 large potatoes, chopped, boiled, and mashed
(You can peel the potaoes if that makes you feel better. I leave the peels on.)
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup butter
6 cups skim milk
salt and pepper to taste
2 green onions, chopped
2 cups crisp-cooked, crumbled bacon
1 cup fat-free sour cream
5 ounces low-fat cheddar cheese (shredded)

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Slowly blend in flour with a wire whisk. Gradually add milk to the mixture, whisking constantly. Whisk in salt and pepper, and simmer over low heat, stirring constantly. When milk mixture is very hot, whisk in mashed potatoes. Add green onion, sour cream, and bacon, whisking well after each addition. Heat thoroughly. Add cheese a little at a time until all is melted in.

When serving, if you feel inspired, you can put a small dollop of sour cream on the top & garnish with cheese, bacon, & green onion. There are no rules with this soup.

For more yummy recipes, visit Saturday Stirrings at FiddleDeeDee!