Creamy Potato Bacon Soup

Always a favorite with my family; this creamy thick and satisfying soup is perfect for helping warm you up on chilly fall and cold winter days. Served with fresh from the oven bread, this soup makes for the ideal comfort food on those days when lower calorie meals just aren't good enough.

Be prepared, though, for the hefty carb and calorie count, because this delicious and creamy potato soup contains bacon, butter, and real cream! But in my opinion, if you alter the recipe to try and make it lighter, you're going to lose some of this delicious creamy flavor.

I like to make this soup in a large electric skillet, this way, you end up only using one pan instead of two. And it helps save a little time on clean up.

1/2 pound crispy cooked bacon
3 Tbs. bacon drippings
1 large onion chopped
1/2 tsp. minced galic
5 lbs. red potatoes peeled and chopped into small chunks
32 oz. chicken stock
16 oz. cream
1/2 stick unsalted butter
* sea salt and freshly ground pepper

First chop your potatoes and onions, then you can fry the bacon until crispy and remove from pan. Add your onions to 3 tbs. of bacon grease and cook until translucent.

Then slowly add your chicken stock and potatoes to the bacon grease and onions. Reduce heat cover and allow to simmer until the potatoes are tender. After the potatoes are tender you can then mash them lightly with a potato masher or blend in your blender. I like to leave mine slightly chunky so I just use the potato masher.

Next add your butter, cream , garlic, chopped bacon and seasonings to the soup. Serve hot with crumbled bacon and or green onions for garnish.