Cooking: Slow Cooker Crock Pot Loaded Baked Potato Soup (Gluten Free)
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Behind the Recipe
Let me just start by saying, I LOVE potatoes in all shapes and forms - fries, scallops, hash browns, baked, mashed, roasted.... and I also love potato soup - and if it's on the menu at a restaurant, I will order it most days without fail.
Potatoes are a very versatile food, and potato soup is super easy to make if you know what to do and you do it right. I've had my fair share of potato cooking mishaps, one time where I decided to make crock pot soup, and left the potatoes cooking in the cooker for waaaaaaaaaaaay too long (seriously, potato soup is hard to mess up, but somehow I did it). My soup turned out grainy with a burnt flavor, and took a lot of cream to lighten it up from the dark brown that it wasn't supposed to be....and it didn't taste good at ALL.
I also am trying to cook with my crock pot more often, because more often then not (especially now that I'm unpacking from my apartment) I just want to come home to dinner already made and no effort having to be made on my part, so that I have time to get other stuff done. I haven't cooked with my crock pot very often in the past, but now that I have the counter space to set it out and the desire to do more with it, I've been trying to come up with new recipes that I can try (mostly so I can be lazy when I get home).
I finally hit the jackpot with this recipe experiment. It turned out extremely well and was super flavorful. Also, it's really hard to mess up as I mentioned before - and you can make it as creamy or as chunky as you want! Give it a go - and let me know how it turns out! :)
Ingredients
- 7-8 potatoes, (russet or red, I prefer red potatoes)
- 1 medium sized sweet vidalia onion
- 1 carton (32 oz) chicken stock or broth, (I like Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock)
- 2-3 tablespoons minced garlic, to taste (I like to use lots of garlic)
- 1 stick butter, (I prefer salted sweet cream butter)
- 1 tsp each salt and pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream, (or half and half if you don't want as much fat)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, (and a little extra for garnishing)
- 1/2 cup sour cream, (and a little extra for garnishing)
- green onions, for garnishing
- bacon, for garnishing
- chives, to taste
- Wash your potatoes, skin them if you prefer (I leave the skins on) and chop them up into about 1 inch sized cubes. Add them to the crock pot.
- Peel and chop the onion and add it to the crock pot. Add the minced garlic and the salt and pepper.
- Pour the carton of chicken stock over the ingredients in the crock pot and stir everything together. Cut the butter into slices and place on top of everything in the crock pot.
- Put the crock pot on low and cover. Then go about your daily activities while letting it stew for 8 hours. If you have the ability during the day, you may come back to stir it occasionally - if not, totally fine!
- At the 7 to 8 hour mark, you will see that the potatoes have absorbed a lot of the chicken broth. Take a potato masher and mash everything together until it is your desired texture.
- Add the cheddar cheese, heavy cream, sour cream, and chives and bacon if desired. Mix everything together.
- Spoon the soup into bowls and garnish with your desired garnishes. I usually do sour cream, crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese, and fresh parsley!
- For quicker soup, place your crock pot on High and it should cook in about 4 hours as opposed to 8.
- Do not cook for longer than 8 hours - you will know if your potatoes are overcooked when they are a dark brown and basically disintegrate if you stir them. They may also smell funny.
As always, I love to hear your thoughts on my recipes and what you did differently. If you loved this recipe, or you have recommendations, post a comment below and let me know! Have a great day! :)
About the Author
Victoria is a 22 year old obsessive DIYer, living in the beautiful city of Charlotte, North Carolina with her two cat babies, Oliver and Zeus. She loves the outdoors, writing, and swimming. A year and a half ago she started an addiction by taking a Scuba diving class through Scuba Schools International, and now she can't get enough of it and has obtained her advanced certification, with more classes to follow. She is also very interested in home décor and loves to experiment with color. Another huge area of interest is gluten free cooking. Check out some of her recipes here:
