Loaded Baked Potato Soup- A Family Favorite!

Happy 2024, friends! I hope you had a fantastic New Year’s Eve & are loving this Bowl Game Season!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup is a rich, creamy soup the whole family will love! Every bite tastes just like a loaded baked potato…..only better! This is a FANTASTIC alternative to chili on game days.

If you are tired of chili for larger game day gatherings, build a topping bar for Loaded Baked Potato Soup! It’s a nice alternative for family and friends who shy away from spices.

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup : The Ultimate “Send-Over” Meal!

Springtime & summer usually mean a rise in new babies & new friends moving into the neighborhood. This meal is great to send over to them!

I usually make one batch for us (see the picture below, ours is in the CorningWare French White casserole dish) and froze the other two so we could have meals on busy nights. Note: I bought this casserole dish in 1997…it is 26 years old!

My favorite thing about Loaded Bake Potato Soup is that it freezes beautifully! Pour leftover soup into quart size freezer bags and reheat when you are ready for another meal! This is the soup I love to send to new mothers who are looking to stock their freezers before the baby arrives. It’s also a nice “welcome to the neighborhood” meal for new friends!

I have a surgery set for early this spring, and in preparation I’ve loaded our freezer with GALLONS of this soup to help my hubby make dinnertime a snap.

This soup…it is my friend! (It’s his friend, too! 🙂 )

Put on a big pot of Loaded Baked Potato soup when family arrives for Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Because it is not spicy, kids love this! Let them build their own toppings by providing small bowls of shredded cheese, chopped bacon & green onions!

The recipe is from Southern Living’s One Dish Meals 1995 cookbook. Below is my hardcopy; I always note dates of preparation for our favorite recipes. Do you do this too? Below you can see I made this on Labor Day weekend in 2019 during Hurricane Dorian!

Note: You will need a large, heavy pot to make Loaded Baked Potato Soup. This is the one I use…yep, the color is Island Spice Red!

Follow me on Pinterest right here for more tailgate & send over meal ideas!

 

 

 

The Playbook: 

• Keep stirring! Stir without ceasing! It will seem like it takes forever for the milk/flour/butter mixture to thicken, but it WILL thicken!
• You can either bake your potatoes in the oven or in the microwave. We do both and have always had great success with either method.
• Fat free sour cream and skim milk will not yield the best results – save those for other recipes!
• Margarine does not work in this recipe – use real butter!
• Bacon. BACON! You will want to use real bacon….if you don’t have any on hand, just wait & make this recipe when you do! Store bought “bits” just don’t do the soup justice.

Shopping List for Loaded Baked Potato Soup

• Russet potatos
• Butter, flour, milk, cheese
• Bacon…lots of bacon!
• Sour cream & green onions

Dessert is a breeze for this meal – keep it simple! Try cupcakes with French Buttercream Frosting or M & M Peanut Butter Blondies to end your “souper” meal!

Enjoy!

SHOP THE TAILGATE!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup- A Family Favorite!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 4 Russet potatoes, baked & cooled
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter (not margarine)
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 6 cups full fat milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 8-10 slices bacon cooked & chopped
• 5 green onions rinsed & chopped
• 1 8 ounce container sour cream (not fat free)
• Dashes salt & pepper

Instructions

 

• Remove pulp from baked potatoes. Discard skins.
• In a large pot, melt butter over low heat. Add flour and stir well until thoroughly blended. Continue to cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring consistently. Add milk, 2 cups at a time, and cook over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture is bubbly. This last step can take 10-15 minutes!
• Remove from heat. Turn down heat to low.
• Add potatoes, cheese, 1/2 of the bacon, seasonings and half of the green onions. Stir and put back on the burner. Let mixture heat thoroughly but do not over cook. Stir in sour cream.
• Serve with remaining bacon & green onions on top of soup, if desired. Additional cheese can be added.

Notes

This soup freezes well. Prepare as directed, then let cool. Pour soup into freezer bags and seal. To serve, defrost in refrigerator and re-heat.