Recipe: Baked Potato Soup

I found this recipe in The Best of Cooking Light cookbook. If you don't have it, I suggest you get a copy. It's chock full of great recipes that are both tasty and healthy (or healthier, in any case). I have another recipe for Baked Potato Soup that includes a lot more fat and calories, but this one is the one I make most often.

The main thing keeping the fat and calorie content down is cooking the bacon separately. If you don't care about that, you can make this all in one pot (cook the bacon in a large dutch oven, then drain the grease. Add the flour and continue on from there). This will add a lot of flavor (who doesn't love bacon?). Or you can do it the way the Cooking Light way. You still get the bacon flavor, but it isn't as intense.





Baked Potato Soup
(Adapted from The Best of Cooking Light)

4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
Cracked black pepper (optional)

I also add:

1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon no salt seasoning

Preheat oven to 400°.

Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). - The key here is to stir it continuously. If you don't, the flour will clump and you take the risk of scorching the milk, which is very bad.

Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, cumin, no salt seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil).

Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Garnish with cracked pepper, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 329
• Calories from fat: 30%
• Fat: 10.8g
• Saturated fat: 5.9g
• Monounsaturated fat: 3.5g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 0.7g
• Protein: 13.6g
• Carbohydrate: 44.5g
• Fiber: 2.8g
• Cholesterol: 38mg
• Iron: 1.1mg
• Sodium: 587mg
• Calcium: 407mg

 This is a great fall recipe. It's easy enough to do on a weeknight (especially if you bake your potatoes ahead of time and store them in the fridge). I serve it with warm bread and call it a meal.