Baked Potato Soup

½ lb. Turkey bacon
6 large potatoes, scrubbed
2 TB butter
2 large onions, chopped
4 cans chicken broth (14.5 oz each)
1 c. flour
3 c. milk at room temperature
¼ c. fresh parsley, minced
1 tsp. Dried thyme, crushed
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
optional toppings: cheddar cheese, chives or green onions.

Cook turkey bacon until crisp (I usually use microwave) and finely chop.

Bake potatoes at 400 until soft – about 1 hour and let cool to room temperature; refrigerate. Remove skins (I usually leave some on) and chop. Put 1.5 cups of potatoes into food processor/blender with enough water to puree into a paste.

Melt butter in saucepan or dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook until soft – about 10 minutes – stirring frequently. Heat chicken broth in separate pan until boiling. Gradually mix flour into onions and cook – stirring constantly for 3 minutes. Don’t brown the mixture.

Slowly add boiling broth to onion mixture, stirring constantly. Add potato paste and stir well. Simmer uncovered - 30 minutes. Stir frequently to keep from scorching.

Add bacon, milk, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper and remaining potatoes. Cover, simmer for 30 minutes. Again, stir frequently to keep from scorching. Garnish w/ cheese & chives or green onions.


Kim Butler
Archivist/Associate Director of Archives