Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup
Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup
Nothing beats a big pot of soup on a cold winter day.
All you need for this recipe is a big stock pot, immersion blender or blender, and a long spoon.
Ingredients:
1/2 pound of bacon
5 lbs of white potatoes (baking) peeled and cut
4-5 cloves of garlic minced
Chicken stock or bone broth (I use a combo of both) - I use between 3-4 cartons
Shredded white cheddar cheese (I use a whole block from my local store - pre-shredded doesn’t melt as easily)
1 bag of frozen broccoli or fresh
salt and pepper to taste
plain greek yogurt
My husband hates when I leave him instructions for a meal because I rarely measure anything with actual measurements. I use my kitchen witch wisdom. The good news is, it’s pretty hard to screw this one up.
Cut up your bacon in bite size pieces and place into your stock pot. I just take my kitchen scissors and cut the strips into pieces right over the pot. Allow the bacon to cook down to your desired liking. These will be our soup toppers. Don’t forget to stir and check on your bacon.
While your bacon is cooking peel and cut up your potatoes into medium sized chunks.
Once the bacon is done, scoop out the bacon leaving the bacon grease in the pot, and set bacon aside for later.
Saute your garlic in the bacon grease, keep an eye on it because it can burn quickly.
Drop in half of your potato chunks and stir the garlic and bacon grease with the potatoes.
Add the rest of your potatoes and pour in chicken stock/broth. Enough to cover your potatoes.
Place a lid on your pot and allow it to come to a boil over high heat. Once boiling turn down to medium heat and allow to cook until potatoes are soft. You might need to vent the lid a little to avoid a boil over situation.
Once the potatoes are soft, using an immersion blender or regular blender, blend the potatoes until smooth. *** If your soup is too thick for your licking you can add more broth or if you are using frozen broccoli the moisture from that can thin the soup some as well. If your soup is too runny for your liking you can add more cut up potatoes and cook those until soft reblend the soup or leave them for a more chunkier soup.
Turn heat down to medium low and stir in your broccoli. Allow to simmer until broccoli is heated through for frozen or soft for fresh.
Stir in your cheese in handfuls. Make sure each handful is melted before adding the next.
Once all the cheese has been added stir in several big spoonfuls of plain greek yogurt. I will use about a 1/2 a container of greek yogurt in a big pot of soup.
Taste your soup. Add salt and pepper to your liking.
Serve by topping each bowl with some bacon and a side of crusty bread with real butter!
To take this recipe up a notch you can skip the sauteed garlic and opt for roasted garlic cloves instead. This adds a depth and richness to the flavor of your soup.