Easy Potato Soup with Smoked Gouda

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This Easy Potato Soup with Smoked Gouda is velvety, luxurious, and ready in a flash! While this soup is loaded up with goodness, it’s also lightened up, using evaporated milk and cottage cheese rather than whole milk and heavy cream. The result is a soul satisfying soup that will leave you feeling good after eating it!

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Creamy, dreamy, smokey loaded potato soup!

If you love a hearty and delightful bowl of stick-t-your-ribs potato soup, you’re going to go nuts over this Easy Potato Soup with Smoked Gouda! Loaded with rich and smokey flavor, and topped like a decadent baked potato- this soup packs a serious flavor punch. It’s still got it gong on, but with a little bit of a secret- there’s no heavy cream or full fat milk in this recipe! All the creaminess comes from low fat cottage cheese, evaporated milk, and the ooey-gooey cheese. So you can indulge, with less guilt!

Looking for more great soup recipes?

Why not try my Chicken Tortellini Soup with Leeks, Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup with Mushrooms, Ham, Bean and Bacon Soup with Dumplings, Creamy Orzo Soup with Chicken and Bacon, or Escarole Soup with Barley and Parmesan!

What goes into this creamy potato soup recipe?

To make this smokey and delicious soup, you will need:

• Peeled and chopped Yukon Gold potatoes. About 6 medium sized potatoes should do the trick.
• Thick-cut  bacon, cut into small pieces My preferred method is to cut the bacon with kitchen shears, right over the pot. You can cut all 6 slices at once, there’s no mess, and the bacon will separate as it is stirred and cooked!
• A small shallot.
• One medium carrot, You want to chop the carrot very finely, so it cooks evenly and softens.
• A rib of celery, If it has leaves, add them in!
• A couple bulbs of roasted garlic. Not sre how to make it? See my recipe here!
• Some hand grated smoked Gouda cheese. It melts perfectly, and imparts delicious flavor into the soup.
• Smoked paprika, garlic powder, dried thyme and salt and pepper.
• Low-sodium chicken stock.
• A can of evaporated milk.
• Some light/reduced fat cottage cheese.
• A couple tablespoons of butter.
• Gated parmesan cheese.

How to make the soup

This soup can be done start to finish in one large stockpot. You’ll start with crisping up some thick cut bacon in the pan. Once it’s crisp, remove it to a plate to drain, and remove most of the fat, leaving a couple tablespoons of the bacon fat to cook the veggies in.

Next, sauté the carrots, shallot, and celery, then add the potatoes and dry spices. Cook briefly to activate the spices, then add chicken stock and cook the potatoes for about 20 minutes covered, until they soften up.

Lastly, add the roasted garlic, cottage cheese and evaporated milk. Then you’ll blend the soup until its nice and smooth. You can do this either with an immersion blender right in the pot, or by transferring the soup (in batches if needed) to your blender.

Once the soup is well blended, you’ll add in the smoked gouda and parmesan, and cook a few minutes more, until its creamy, dreamy and deliciously cheesy.

Serving the loaded baked potato soup

While this smokey potato soup is perfect as-is, it is next level with some loaded potato toppings. I like to top my soup with the reserved crispy bacon, some grated cheddar (or more smoked gouda) and some thinly sliced scallions. A little dollop of sour cream never hurt anybody, either. Once you’ve added the toppings, it’s heaven in a bowl!

What are the best potatoes for potato soup?

For this soup, I prefer the creamy texture of a Yukon Gold potato. Yukon golds will yield the creamiest result, with the smoothest texture. Using a russet or red bliss would result in a grainier and looser texture.

Print Recipe

Easy Potato Soup with Smoked Gouda

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time55 mins

Total Time1 hr 10 mins

Course: Dinner

Keyword: cheese, potato, soup

Servings: 6

Equipment

• immerson blender or blender

Ingredients

Soup

• 6 strips thick-cut  bacon, cut into small pieces 
• 1 small shallot, finely diced 
• 1 medium carrot, finely diced 
• 1 celery rib, finely diced 
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 cups peeled and chopped (into 1”) Yukon Gold potatoes,  (about 6 small/medium potatoes) 
• 2 tsp smoked paprika 
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme 
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 32 oz low-sodium chicken stock 
• 2 bulbs roasted garlic (see below for recipe link)
• 1 12 oz can  evaporated milk 
• 1 1/4 cups light cottage cheese 
• 8 oz shredded smoked Gouda cheese
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

For serving

• sliced scallions
• shredded smoked gouda or sharp cheddar cheese
• sour cream or light sour cream
• reserved crisp bacon

Instructions

• Making the soup

  1. Heat bacon over medium heat in a large stock pot. Cook 8-15 minutes stirring occasionally- until crisp. Remove to paper towel lined plate to drain, and set aside.

  2. Remove all but 2 tbsp bacon fat from the pot. Discard excess bacon fat, or save for another use.

  3. Reduce heat to medium-low and add celery, shallot, and carrots. Season with salt and pepper.

  4. Cook 5-7 minutes, until slightly softened.

  5. Add butter to the pot and melt.

  6. Add cubed and peeled potatoes and seasoning. Cook 1 minute, until fragrant.

  7. Add chicken stock, turn heat up to high and bring to a boil.

  8. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low,, cover and simmer until potatoes are soft, 15-20 minutes.

  9. Once potatoes are easily pierced with a form, stir in roasted garlic, evaporated milk and cottage cheese.

  10. Bring heat to medium-high and cook, uncovered for 5-7 minutes – until slightly thickened.

  11. Blend soup with an immersion blender until desired smoothness is reached. This can also be done by transferring the soup to a blender (in batches as necessary).

  12. Once soup is well blended, add the grated smoked Gouda and parmesan and stir.

  13. Cook 3-5 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until smooth, and cheese is fully incubated.

  14. Serve hot with reserved crispy bacon, additional shredded smoked gouda cheese or sharp cheddar, sour cream and sliced scallions.
• How to make roasted garlic

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