Loaded Baked Potato Soup

In the past couple of weeks my family has spent a lot of time on the road.  A 16 hour drive across a few states (and back...), 2 nights in a hotel, some awesome time with family- and LOTS of meals on the road (remember those sandwiches I wrote about?)

 

I was starting to go through cooking withdrawals- I needed to get back in the kitchen!

So yesterday, as my family settled back into our home and rested, I made soup.

Is there anything more comforting on a cold day than a warm bowl of soup?

I had a hodgepodge of ingredients in the fridge after our trip and didn't want to leave the house to go to the store.  I had pretty much exactly what I needed for this and it came out wonderfully!

This is definitely an adaptable recipe, pretty much any veggies you have on hand would work well.

Take advantage of all of this cold weather and make up a batch!  I've included the recipe below, or you can click on the picture to see the recipe on Allrecipes.com!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

1 Tbsp butter 

1/2 onion, chopped 

1/4 C butter, melted 

1/2 C flour 

2 C milk 

2 C chicken broth 

1 1/2 tsp sriracha 

1 tsp black pepper 

1 tsp worcestershire sauce 

¼ tsp red pepper flakes 

¼ tsp garlic salt 

¼ tsp celery seed 

2 C broccoli florets 

2 C carrots, finely chopped

3 C cheddar cheese, shredded 

2 large potatoes, roasted and cubed

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1. Melt 1 Tbsp butter in soup pot. Stir in onions and cook over medium-low heat until softened.

Beautiful countryside in Texas :-)

2. Add melted butter to pot. Stir in flour until well combined. Slowly add milk and chicken broth to pot until mixture is smooth.

3. Add sriracha, black pepper, worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic salt, celery seed, broccoli, carrots, cheese, potatoes, and bacon. Continue to heat over medium heat, stirring often, until vegetables are cooked through and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes.