Soups American

Twisted Loaded Baked Potato Soup

A slow-cooker potato soup with carrots, onion, garlic, herbs, half-and-half, cheese, chives and turkey bacon. The original title says loaded baked potato, and the garnish list clearly took that as a personal challenge.

Twisted Loaded Baked Potato Soup

What It Is

This is a thick slow-cooker potato soup. Some of the cooked vegetables are mashed directly in the cooker to build body before dairy, cheese and herbs are stirred in.

Origin

Loaded baked potato soup is a fairly modern North American diner and casual-restaurant invention, essentially a baked potato reimagined as something you can eat with a spoon.

Fun Fact

Potato skins contain fibre and nutrients, though the source recipe itself does not specify whether the potatoes are peeled. Leaving clean skins on is an option if you like the texture.

Prep
20 min
Cook
3 hr
Temp
Slow cooker HIGH
Total
3 hr 20 min
Servings
6 hearty bowls
(double it if teenagers are involved)
Difficulty
easy
Gluten-Free Nut-Free High-Protein
Diet
Gluten-Free, Nut-Free, High-Protein
Away Mission
100 min walk
(the Enterprise burns more than this just idling in orbit)
#cheese #comfort-food #loaded-potato #potato-soup #slow-cooker #turkey-bacon

Ingredients

  • 6 large potatoes, diced
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 tsp salt and pepper
  • ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
  • 6 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • ½ Spanish onion, diced
  • 4 tbsp minced garlic
  • 2–3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp mixed Parisian-style herbs
  • 1 tsp tarragon, basil and dill
  • 1½ cups half-and-half
  • 1½ cups low-fat cheese
  • 2 tbsp chives, chopped
  • For garnish: low-fat sour cream, cooked crumbled turkey bacon, green onions, chives and paprika

Steps

  1. Spray the slow cooker and set to HIGH.
  2. Add potatoes, chicken broth, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
  3. Sauté carrots in olive oil for about 3 minutes. Add onion and cook until translucent.
  4. Add garlic and sauté 30 seconds, then add the vegetable mixture to the slow cooker.
  5. Cook on HIGH for 2–3 hours, until potatoes are soft.
  6. Mash the vegetables lightly in the slow cooker only a few times to thicken the soup.
  7. Stir in herbs, half-and-half, cheese and chives.
  8. Once the cheese melts, serve with sour cream, turkey bacon, extra cheese, chives or green onion.

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Notes

The source lists 'Parisien Bonnes Herb' and then tarragon, basil and dill. The wording is preserved generally as mixed herbs rather than pretending this is a standardized blend.

Nutrition Facts
Per 1 hearty bowl
Calories 440
Burning this off: a brisk argument with a Costco parking lot.
% Daily Value*
Fat 19.0 g 25%
Saturated + Trans 8 g 40%
Cholesterol 60 mg
Sodium 1190 mg 52%
Carbohydrate 44.0 g
Fibre 6.0 g 21%
Sugars 8.0 g 8%
Protein 24.0 g
Potassium 1320 mg 28%
Calcium 370 mg 28%
Iron 3.6 mg 20%
*5% or less is a little, 15% or more is a lot. Sodium levels calculated in a country with universal healthcare — and it's free, so don't worry about it too much.
A genuinely respectable nutrition profile. No red flags here — go ahead and feel a little smug about it.

Substitutions

Use vegetable broth for a vegetarian base and omit bacon. Use regular bacon instead of turkey bacon. Swap half-and-half for milk or a dairy-free alternative. Add green onion, paprika or extra cheese.

Storage

Refrigerate in a covered container for up to 3 days. This one doesn't freeze especially well — the potato and dairy base tends to separate on thawing.

Freezing

Freeze before adding dairy for the best texture. If freezing finished soup, expect some separation and stir well when reheating.