Healthy Potato Soup
What could be better than a bowl of creamy potato soup on a winter day? I don't know, but this healthy potato soup with variations for different special diets will warm and fill everyone up. There is even a potato-free version. Nutrient dense and simple to pull together, this is a family favorite!
Equipment
- 1 soup pot
- 1 immersion blender, blender, or food processor
Ingredients
- 1 package bacon optional (sort of)
- leftover grease from bacon or 2 T cooking fat
- 2 onions, peeled and chopped
- 3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 3-4 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 T minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
- 4 large Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped or a head of cauliflower, washed and chopped
- 2 C cottage cheese, thick yogurt, sour cream, or milk of choice with 2 T arrowroot or cornstarch whisked in
- salt and pepper to taste
- toppings: crumbled bacon, chopped ham, sliced green onions, chopped onion, shredded cheese, sour cream or thick yogurt, freshly ground pepper, chopped fresh herbs, etc.
Instructions
- Fry the bacon in a soup pot. Set aside and crumble when cool.
- Chop onions, carrots, and celery. Mince the garlic. Add to bacon grease in the soup pot. Cook until softened. (If not using bacon, heat cooking fat of choice in place of bacon grease.
- Peel and chop potatoes (or chop cauliflower). Add along with meat stock to the vegetables in the pot.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer gently until all the vegetables are soft.
- Add cottage cheese (if using), and blend the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. (Alternatively, you can pour the soup into a blender or food processor-- carefully-- and blend to smooth.)
- If not using cottage cheese, stir in your dairy option-- yogurt, kefir-- now. If you are using milk, whisk 2 T of arrowroot or cornstarch into COLD milk, then whisk the milk into the bubbling soup. Stir or whisk until it returns to a boil and thickens, then turn off heat.
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve with desired toppings.