My favorite baked potato soup ever!!!

Before I get into this recipe, I wanted to mention that it turned out the Special K package I got in the mail, they wanted to give the same thing to one of my readers! So, I picked a number from one of the comments left that day and Shelley won!! Congrats Shelley!!!

I love this soup so much, it always surprises me that I don’t make it more often. In fact, when I was making it last night, my kids were even saying “How come you haven’t made this more for us?”

I don’t know what it is about this soup. It’s creamy, comforting, and very healthy! The best part is there is no butter or oil, just flour, milk and potatoes really.

The first step is to just cook the flour and milk for about 8 minutes. It will look like this:

On top of the soup when its done, you can put a little diced bacon on top. This is the first time I tried to bake the bacon and its so easy. I just put a cookie sheet on the bottom (make sure it has raised sides) and put the bacon on top of a cookie rack.

On top, I put a little green onion, cheddar cheese and 1 piece of bacon which has been chopped… I am sorry to say that between the 5 people in my family, the whole pot was gone, so sadly I have no leftovers for lunch today!

This recipe comes from Cooking Light. The only substitution I made was I didn’t have any sour cream, so I used 3/4 cup of fat free cream cheese instead.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups soup, 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon)
Ingredients
4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
Cracked black pepper (optional)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°. * Or to save on time I baked mine in the microwave!!

Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Garnish with cracked pepper, if desired.

Nutritional Information
Calories:
329
Fat:
10.8g
Protein:
13.6g
Carbohydrate:
44.5g
Fiber:
2.8g
Cholesterol:
38mg
Sodium:
587mg
Calcium:
407mg