Potato Soup with cheats

Loaded Potato Soup

(with my cheats)

Several years ago (the 1980's to be exact) at a brunch of creative friends, someone made this soup.  I was smitten from that day on!  Through the years when time was a commodity I was lacking in, I' "tweaked"it just a tad. The original recipe called for baking the potatoes one day, and chilling in the 'frige overnight, then making the soup the next day. Who has time for that anymore?  Enter hash browns (the cubed kind) from the frozen foods section at the grocery store.  What a game-changer.  

You can make it the "old fashioned" way if you have the time. And when I want to brag on myself, I do.  But this way is a great alternative. Oh, and about the bacon... I buy the bag/packages of already cooked, real bacon (NOT Bac~O's!) instead of frying up those strips of bacon. As for how that equals out to be 24 strips of bacon, I use two large-ish bags)  I'll let your conscious be your guide...

Loaded Potato Soup

(this recipe is doubled)

1 1/3 cup butter

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

14 cups milk

1 bag frozen cubed potato hashbrowns

8 green onions, sliced

24 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled * ( I opted for the pre-packaged bacon pieces) *

2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

16 oz. sour cream

2 teaspoons salt

2/3 tsp black pepper

Melt butter in large pot, stir in flour.  Heat and stir until smooth.

Gradually whisk in milk.  Stir constantly until thickened.

Add potatoes and onions.  Bring to boil, stirring constantly

Reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and stir until cheese is melted.