Baked Potato Soup

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 2 medium potatoes (about 2 cups chopped)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups instant mashed potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/8 teaspoon thyme
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup crumbled cooked bacon (as a mostly-vegetarian, i would omit this) (optional)
• 2 green onions, chopped (green part only!)

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake the potatoes for an hour, or until done.
• 2 when potatoes have cooked remove them from oven to cool.
• 3 as potatoes cool, melting butter in large saucepan, and saute onion until light brown.
• 4 add the flour to the onions and stir.
• 5 add stock, water, cornstarch, mashed potato flakes, and spices to the pot and bring to a boil.
• 6 reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
• 7 cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out contents with a large spoon.
• 8 discard skin.
• 9 chop baked potato with a large knife to make chunks that are about 1/2-inch in size.
• 10 add chopped baked potato and half and half to saucepan, bring soup back to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer the soup for another 15 minutes or until it is thick.
• 11 spoon about 1 1/2 cups of soup into a bowl and top with about a tablespoon of shredded cheddar cheese, a 1/2 tbs of bacon (if you want!) and a teaspoon or so of chopped green onion.