Homemade Potato Soup

This yummy potato soup is perfect for a cold snowy day (like we are currently having in Fairbanks!) It’s my own creation and I very rarely measure any of the ingredients out. It’s more of an eyeball it recipe!

Serves 2 plus some leftovers

Ingredients:

About 4 to 5 medium sized potatoes, peeled & cut into 1-inch chunks. (I like to vary my pieces in size a bit because then some cook faster and towards the end of the cooking time I mash the smaller ones up with a fork to make the soup thicker)

1/2 an onion, diced (I use sweet, but a regular yellow onion would work too.)

2 large carrots, chopped.

3 to 4 cloves garlic or more if you like, diced.

About 4 strips Bacon (a good tip, if you are like us and never buy bacon just to have bacon and don’t want to have most of a package of bacon leftover just for this one recipe. Buy the bacon already cooked and crumbled at your grocery store in the salad bar area. Our Fred Meyer & Safeway both have salad bars; it’s quick, cheap, and easy.)

Salt and Pepper

Dried thyme

Vegetable broth (I use Pacific Natural Foods Organic Low-Sodium Vegetable broth in a carton)

Rice Milk (optional)

(You could add celery. My husband doesn’t like it so I don’t but it’s an option as well.)

***If you want to make this recipe vegan, just omit the bacon and use oil to saute the veggies instead. I make it this way a lot since we usually don’t have bacon. 

How to Make It:

{    Chop up the onions, carrots, garlic, potatoes and any other veggie you would like in the soup.

{    In a large saucepan, on medium-heat, fry up the bacon (or if you are lazy like me throw in 3/4 of the already cooked bacon) and cook for a few minutes until bacon is done.

{    If you cooked your own bacon, take the bacon out of the saucepan and let cool. (If you are using pre-cooked bacon, you can leave it in the pan.)

{    In the bacon grease add the onions, carrots (any other veggies), and potatoes and saute. (If you used already cooked bacon you, may need to add a bit of oil to the pan to saute the veggies. For this I use grapeseed oil or a spoonful of Earth Balance buttery spread, the dairy & soy-free kind).

{    Add about two to three pinches of sea salt, pepper, and thyme.

{    Saute until the onions are tender, but not mushy.

{    If you fried your own bacon, crush it up and add 3/4 of it now.

{    Add in the chopped garlic and saute just until you can smell the garlic. (You don’t want to over cook the garlic or it will taste bitter.)

{    Add enough vegetable broth to just cover the potatoes and veggies.

{    Add about 1/2 to 1 cup water (you could add some rice milk here if you like a creamier soup instead of the additional water).

{    Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes and veggies are soft. (You may need to add a little extra water, vegetable broth or rice milk if the liquid reduces too quickly; you want the liquid to cover the potatoes by about an inch or two.)

{    Take a fork and smash up some of the potatoes to make the soup thicker and add the rest of the bacon. (If the soup gets thicker than you like it, then just add a bit more water, vegetable broth or milk.)

{    Serve warm and enjoy!

***I like to add a bit of shredded cheese on top to garnish it in our bowls. (I use a brand of sheep’s cheese you can get at Costco. It is Kirkland brand and called Pecorino Romano. It is made entirely of Sheep’s milk and I have found my stomach can handle it since it is not made with cow’s milk. It is a bit like Parmesan cheese in texture.) But if you can’t have any type of cheese, then you could also add some chives on top if you have them! If you don't have any of these extras, no worries, this soup is perfectly tasty on it’s own!