Willy's Loaded Baked Potato Soup(Rich cheesy potato soup with bacon and chives to warm a cold winters day. My daughters favorite.)

Preparation Time: 1/2 hour
Number of Servings: 8

Ingredients:

4 to 6 medium sized potatoes

1/2 pound smoked bacon

1 medium onion

2 large celery stalks

1 can cream of celery soup

4 cups chicken broth

2 cup milk, cream, or half and half

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 tbls dried basil (fresh if preferred)

1/4 cup dried chives (fresh if preferred)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Boil potatoes ahead of time until tender, drain, let cool, then cube. Chop bacon into small pieces and then fry in a soup pot until crispy. Remove the bacon from pan and save to sprinkle on top of soup. Reserve about 1 tablespoons of the grease in the pan and add butter. Chop the onion and the celery into small pieces and fry in the grease and butter until the onion is translucent. Stir in the flour, cook briefly and then add the basil and chives. Add the chicken broth slowly until bubbly but not boiling and then add the can of soup, mix thoroughly. Bring to a very low bubble but not boiling. Add the milk. Soup should coat the spoon but be fairly thin at this point. Add the cheese and stir until all cheese is melted. Soup will thicken up with the addition of the cheese. You can play with it at this stage by adding small amounts of milk or chicken broth to thin or more cheese to thicken to get the soup to the thickness that you like. Spoon soup into bowls and sprinkle with the bacon pieces. You can sprinkle more chives or add some fresh chopped parsley on top for garnish.

Submitted By: Keith Williams
Email/Web Site: williams8445@comcast.net
Original Source of Recipe: O'Charley's
Date Submitted: 6/12/2015 9:19:52 AM