Best Potato Cheese Soup Recipe

5 from 1 vote

The Best Potato Cheese Soup. Really. Try it!

Prep Time40

Cook Time30

Total Time1 10

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Potato cheese soup

Servings: servings

Calories: 410kcal

Cost: $12

2 tbs Olive oil
1 large sweet onion diced
2 tsp garlic minced. about 4 cloves
1 quart Chicken Stock if boxed, use one large box.
1 quart of water
2 tsp salt
5-6 large potatoes Cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes. if Russets or baking potatoes, peel. If Red or Yukon Gold – no need to peel.
3 large carrots peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
1/3 Gallon whole milk
½ pint Heavy Cream
½ stick of butter
½ block American Cheese cubed (like velveeta)
2 Cups Sharp Cheddar shredded
1 C Parmesean grated
Salt and pepper to taste
Garnish – bacon crumbles chives, sour cream, shredded cheese.

In a large heavy stock pot, heat 2 tbs of olive oil. When hot, add onions and cook over medium heat until translucent – 2-3 mins. Add garlic and cook for another 1 minute. Add Chicken stock, water and salt to pot. Add potatoes and carrots to stock pot and bring to a boil. Boil until potatoes are fork tender.
Turn burner off and allow to cool until able to remove about ½ of the potatoes with a slotted spoon to a food processor or blender. Process until potatoes turn into a paste and then add back to the stock pot.
Place stock pot back on the burner and on medium heat, add milk, cream, butter and Velveeta cheese and heat until butter and Velveeta is melted. Do not bring to a boil – adjust heat to low as temperature nears boiling. Stir frequently with wooden spoon and scrape bottom of stock pot frequently to prevent sticking.
Add sharp cheddar one handful at a time, stirring each time. Add parmesean. Add salt and pepper to taste (will vary greatly depending on types of cheese you use – so add a little, taste, repeat).
Serve in bread bowl, soup bowl or mug. Garnish with bacon crumbles, chives, sour cream and shredded cheese.

If you like a creamier soup, mash up more of the potatoes . For a chunkier soup, mash less.

Using Russet potatoes will give a slightly different texture than using the waxy potatoes like red or yellow gold potatoes.

If you want to read more about using bacon in soups and foods, here's some interesting information from the USDA.