Believe it or not, it’s been a little chilly here in Southern California! And wouldn’t you know it-the week the weather finally cools down is the week our heater decides to stop working. In all fairness, we have been having issues with the blower unit for a couple of months now; it was just one of those things forgotten about until we wanted to turn up the heat. Needless to say, we have been freezing our hineys off over here. These nighttime temps in the 40’s are too cold for this California girl!
Fortunately, my handy husband knows what is wrong and the part he needs is very inexpensive. Unfortunately, it has taken him 2 days and trips to different hardware stores to locate the part (which, turns out, isn’t in stores but has to be special ordered online). The part should be delivered later this week. In the meantime…in with the space heaters, on with the fireplace, and lots of soup and hot chocolate to keep us warm!
I am a big fan of soup, so I’m not too bothered to add lots of soups into my weekly menu. When Jeff and I were first married, we lived by a Chili’s restaurant and often times, we would pick up our order “to-go” and have a little picnic in the living room. Those were the good ol’ days! My favorite thing to get was the sandwich and soup combo; in particular, the loaded potato cheese soup. I ordered it every time. It was so amazing!
Some time later, a friend of mine passed on a copycat recipe of Chili’s potato cheese soup. Of course I was in heaven! This recipe quickly became a family favorite in our house. I usually whip up a load of homemade bread to go with it. There’s nothing better than fresh, warm bread to go with a bowl of soup on a cold day!
This recipe is pretty easy, and you know how I like easy. I think the hardest part is peeling the potatoes; that’s not too bad!
Here’s what you need:
Start by peeling your potatoes and cutting them into cubes.
In a large pot, combine your chicken broth and potoatoes and bring the broth to a boil. Boil the potatoes until they are soft when you stick them with a fork. This will probably take about 20ish minutes.
Meanwhile, prep your other ingredients. Measure your milk and cut your velveeta cheese into cubes. Each small brick of cheese is two cups and you need 1 1/2 cups. You can add the extra cheese if you like. Sometimes I do, but sometimes I don’t want to overdo the velveeta so I leave it out. It’s up to you.
You can also cook some bacon while you are waiting for the potatoes to finish cooking; that is, if you want to top your soup with bacon. You want to top your soup with bacon. Bacon makes everything better. Except brownies; I have to draw the line there.
Grate your cheese, chop your green onion and cut your bacon. Set aside for garnishing later.
Chop your onion and celery very finely. Remember, the key to getting the kids to eat the veggies is to chop it up finely, ha ha. Plus it just gives it a better texture.
Melt your 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium sized pan. Saute your onion and celery for a few minutes, until it’s soft and translucent.
Once the potatoes are soft, add your celery and onion to the pot and give it a good stir. Add your milk and your cheese and stir it over medium heat until the cheese is melted.
Add your seasonings (garlic, salt, pepper and basil) to taste. You can use fresh or dry ingredients. If I have fresh on hand I will use it, but I always have dried basil in my cupboard and a jar of minced garlic in my fridge, so that’s usually what goes in.
Voila! That’s all there is to it! Your soup is done and ready to eat. Don’t forget to load it up with bacon, cheese and green onion. That is the best part!
Doesn’t that look amazing?
Try it out and let me know what you think!
| Prep Time | 15-20 mins |
| Cook Time | 25 mins |
| Servings |
people
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- 4 cups cubed potatoes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 TB butter
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 1 1/2 cups velveeta cheese
- basil, to taste
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- garlic, fresh or minced, to taste
- cheddar cheese, grated
- bacon cooked and chopped
- green onion, chopped
Ingredients
For garnishing:
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- Cut potatoes into bite sized cubes. In a large pot, boil potatoes in chicken broth until soft.
- Chop celery and onion finely. Melt butter in a pan and saute the celery and onion until soft and translucent.
- When the potatoes are soft, add the celery and onion to the pot. Mix together.
- Chop your velveeta cheese into cubes. Add milk and velveeta cheese until the cheese is melted.
- Season to taste.
- If desired, top with grated cheese, chopped bacon and green onion.
