Try this Easy Potato Soup Recipe recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 4 cups peeled and cubed potatoes - i cook these quickly i let them cool completely and then peel and cube.
- 1/4 cup minced onion - i would saute this in the pan used
- 1 (8oz) package of cream cheese at room temperature cut into chunks
- 6 slices of cooked bacon cut into small pieces
- Carbohydrate 0.0408957331730769 g
- Cholesterol 920 mg
- Fat 184.738057091346 g
- Fiber 0.0167217548076923 g
- Protein 228.166909555288 g
- Saturated Fat 52.8699517227564 g
- Serving Size 1 1 -6 (1227g)
- Sodium 1149.37943108974 mg
- Sugar 0.0241739783653846 g
- Trans Fat 15.7014216746795 g
- Calories 2637 calories
Step-by-step
- Combine broth, potatoes, sauteed onion and spices in a large pot
- Boil on medium heat for about 20 minutes - smash just a few of the potatoes to release the starch and thicken the soup
- Reduce to low heat and add cream cheese and bacon
- Stir frequently until cream cheese melts - It melts easier/quicker if you mash the cubes with your spoon
- Let soup simmer for 20 to 25 minutes and serve warm
Operating within a strict 45-minute total window requires thermal efficiency, particularly when extracting starch from cubed tubers without a separate roux. Broth temperature must reach a rolling boil to soften the cellular walls of the potatoes within 20 minutes, allowing mechanical smashing to release internal starches directly into the liquid. Onion should be sweated in the primary vessel beforehand to caramelize natural sugars, yielding depth before the chicken stock is introduced.
Emulsification and Dairy Stability
Cream cheese introduces both milk fat and casein proteins that require controlled heat management to prevent curdling. Temperature control is paramount; dropping the cream cheese into a low-heat environment rather than a rolling boil keeps the dairy proteins from tightening into grainy granules. Stirring frequently while physically mashing the cheese cubes accelerates the dispersion of fat droplets into the aqueous broth phase. Bacon pieces contribute rendered animal fats and sodium chloride, which season the emulsion while adding contrasting texture.
- Grainy dairy texture usually indicates the soup was boiling when the cream cheese was added; reduce heat to a bare simmer before incorporating dairy.
- Insufficient thickening stems from under-cooking the potatoes or failing to mash enough cubes to release amylose starches into the broth.
- Scaling quantities requires doubling the broth and potato mass proportionally while maintaining a standard 8-ounce cream cheese package ratio to prevent excessive fat saturation.
