There’s this great Irish pub across the street from where we used to live that serves phenomenal potato soup. It’s the perfect flavor and consistency. We used to go there a lot, but now that we’ve moved, our visits are far less frequent. Actually, I don’t think we’ve been there since we moved in August. To say that I really miss the soup would be an understatement. So when I saw soup recipes circling the blogosphere this week (due to the cold temperatures that are happening every where but here), I knew that potato soup would be our new recipe to try this week.
I broke out my trusty, dusty crock pot and started looking for recipes…but like normal, I couldn’t find one that screamed out to me. My biggest concern was that the soup be thick enough, because thin potato soup isn’t my favorite. I also wanted it to have bacon in the soup because (a) bacon is awesome, and (b) that’s the only thing that is missing from the Irish pub’s soup. I ended up finding several recipes that I liked, and decided to combine pieces of them to make what ended up being a delicious potato soup!
You will need:
5 pound bag of potatoes, cut into 1-2 inch cubes
1 onion, diced
2 tsp minced garlic (I used the pre-minced jar kind, but if you are going to do it yourself, you’ll need 4 cloves of garlic)
10 strips bacon + extra for topping, cooked and crumbled
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 quarts chicken broth
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground pepper
2 8oz blocks of regular cream cheese
Cheddar cheese, shredded
Chives (optional)
Step 1 – Place potatoes, onion, garlic, bacon, cream of chicken soup, cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, sea salt, and pepper in the crock pot. Cover and put on “low” setting. Simmer for 8 hours while you go about your normal day.
Step 2 – Open crock pot and stir. Check to make sure potatoes are tender. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until soup is smooth.
Step 3 – Place 2 blocks of cream cheese in the center of the crock pot and turn on “high” setting. Let simmer for approximately 1 hour until cream cheese dissolves (make sure you use regular, plain cream cheese because rumor has it low fat varieties will not dissolve), stirring occasionally.
Step 4 – Put in a bowl and sprinkle with cheese and bacon (and chives if you wish, but I’m not a chive-y kinda person, so I skipped them). Enjoy! 
How much does make? It sounds fantastic but I’m probably the only one that would eat and 5 lbs of potatoes is a lotta potatoes!
I used to put portions on the recipes, but then someone blogged about how I said that my recipe only made 11 muffins instead of the stated 13 muffins (oh, the horror!) and I stopped doing it. So with the disclaimer that all serving sizes are approximate…
Honestly – a TON. Easily 4-6, probably more if they aren’t having huge servings like my husband and I were having…we’re soup people. I think you could cut this recipe in half and have leftovers for lunches and dinners. I would just recommend using 1 quart of the broth instead of 1 1/2 quarts – while half would be 3/4 a quart, I’m afraid that wouldn’t be enough to get the right consistency. Just my initial thought though.
Ahhhhh, this looks delicious! Yum…Yum..,.Yum.
I wanna try it! My hubby will love it! Thanks so much for the recipe. I pinned it! I hope you don’t mind.
I love baked potatoes and potato soup so this is the best of both worlds. I always have tough time finding good potato soup recipe too, especially for crock pot. The last one I made was way too thick so am definitely bookmarking this! Thanks for sharing.
I pinned this, looks like the perfect thing on a cold day. I love recipes that can be made in the crockpot. Thanks for sharing!
Yum! We also have a favorite local Irish pub that serves an amazing potato soup and I’m always on the lookout for similar recipes to try at home!
This soup is perfect for this time of year! With a nice fresh baguette…. oh I am hungry now… Will be trying your recipe this week!
I have been eyeing some of these potato soups and now I think I have to make some. Hope my family loves it as it looks amazing.
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