Slow Cooker Potato Soup

Every year I call it quits on cooking certain things. It’s kind of a beautiful thing in a way. Meaning, the seasons of Wisconsin are a true delight. It feels like a true winter, spring, summer, and fall. Some folks around the country do not get to experience those seasons which is kind of a bummer, and trust me there are times when I question living in Wisconsin, but with those seasons come different food experiences. The winters bring on slow cookers, stews, and warming and filling delights while summer brings on grilling and fresh garden produce. I’ve declared winter to be over, however there have been several cold days which make you question the state of Wisconsin again, and as I wrapped up the season, I decided to make a few more warming meals before saying farewell. One of those dishes is this slow cooker potato soup, and gosh was it great. Too great not to share.

This was about a 6 hour slower cooker dish that is simply thrown together. We had an abundance of potatoes, that even though I stored properly, were time to be used, and this is a perfect dish to use up a few pounds of potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 6-8 russet potatoes, peeled, then cut into medium chunks
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature, torn or cubed
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tsp salt, to taste
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper,  to taste
• cooked bacon, crumbled, optional
• hash browns, cooked, optional
• shredded cheddar cheese, optional
• chopped chives, optional

To your slow cooker, add the potatoes, chicken stock, butter, and onions. Give a stir, place on the cover, and go do whatever you need to do for the next 6 hours.

Take the lid off, and what I like to do is use a stick blender and run it through the soup. This blends all of the potatoes and onions. I only do this briefly as I like some slight texture in the soup.  You blend to your hearts desire, but again it doesn’t take much as the potatoes will be ultra soft.

Once you have your desired texture, add in the cream cheese, milk, salt and pepper.  Stir and cover for about 30 minutes. During this time, prepare your optional ingredients. This will make the soup ‘loaded’.

When you are ready to serve, ladle into a soup bowl, garnish with any toppings, and enjoy.  As you can tell I like mine loaded, and with a twist. I place a whole hash brown on mine (and most likely will from here on out), along with cheese, bacon and chives. This one warms the belly and feeds the soul. Things we need right now as we say goodbye to winter in Wisconsin and continue moving through this strange 2020.