Crock Pot Potato Soup

Since some friends have requested my recipe I decided to go ahead and type it up.  I don't often use recipes so my dishes come out different every time. This time the soup was awesome and I don't know that I would have changed one thing about it so I will share it with you.

This recipe is for a large 6 quart crockpot since I have a family of 5 including 3 teenagers (which often means extra visitors in the house too) so you will have to cut it down if your family is smaller.

I started the soup just before noon figuring that dinner would be served around 7 or so. Schedules around here are chaotic on Sundays because my daughter is a worship leader for her youth group and my husband works the lights during church services. That made this meal perfect since it could sit in the crock pot until everyone was home.

Start by putting your base ingredients in the pot.

1 standard carton of swansons chicken broth
1 3lb bag of potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 tablespoons of green onions or scallions diced (optional yellow or white onions chopped work as well )
1 tablespoon of chicken base (bouillon cubes would work too)
4 cups of water (or just enough to fill about 2/3 of the pot)

At this point I did some seasoning with garlic powder and onion salt, salt and pepper. Just remember that potatoes absorb all the salt in a dish so don't salt to much at this point. You WILL have to salt again.  I set my crock pot on high for 6 hours.

At the last 30-45 minutes I reset the crock pot on high again.  I used my blender to make my thickening mix. 

Thickening mix:
1 1/2 cups of milk,
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup of the potatoes from the soup
1 tub of Philladelphia Cooking Creme in the Savory Garlic flavor
1/2 cup of shredded cheese (I used a taco blend)

I blended the mix until smooth and then poured it in the crockpot with the soup. This pretty much filled my crock pot almost to the top. I mixed the soup until it started to thicken. Let it continue to cook for the last 30 or so minutes until it is the thickness you desire. At this point I salt and peppered one last time. Then I turned off the crock pot and it is ready to serve. I served with shredded cheese and oyster crackers on the side.

One note: don't add any dairy products too early in the cooking process; milk, cooking creme, sour cream etc. If added too early they will curdle in your pot.

It was a big hit with my family and our guest and my husband will be taking some for lunch tomorrow too. It's a great winter crock pot recipe!