Everybody loves this soup. It really does taste like a loaded baked potato. You can leave out the 
bacon,cheese, sour cream and green onions and serve them as toppings but I prefer them in the soup because the flavors meld and make it rich tasting.
This soup was a Soup Festival winner one year.
bacon,cheese, sour cream and green onions and serve them as toppings but I prefer them in the soup because the flavors meld and make it rich tasting.This soup was a Soup Festival winner one year.
Recipe By : Sitara
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :2:00
Categories : Soups
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion -- chopped
2 stalks celery -- chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup parsley flakes
2 quarts chicken stock
3 pounds potatoes -- diced
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons real bacon bits
1/2 cup green onion -- chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
potato pearls if needed
1. In your heavy soup pot, cook onions in butter till translucent
2. Add stock, celery, parsley, pepper, and potatoes and simmer till potatoes fall apart. Help the potatoes to further disintegrate by whisking or stirring. Leave a few chunks for texture though.
3. If soup seems too thin add potato pearls a little at a time till of desired consistency.
Add cream.
4. Add Cheddar and sour cream, and green onion. Stir till cheese and sour cream is incorporated.
Tip: Boxed, prepared potato pearls are a good thing to keep in your pantry. Sometimes a soup that has potatoes in it doesn't thicken up as much as you would like and it's easy to just add some potato pearls a little at a time and stir them in till they are incorporated to bring the soup to the desired consistency. Use the simple boxed potato pearls, the ones that are basically just dehydrated potatoes, not the ones with all that 'stuff' in them.