Loaded Baked Potatoe Soup

Loaded Baked

Potatoe Soup

I've been seeing bread bowls loaded with soup and topped with cheese, so I just had to try making this for my family. I made the soup and had the bread ready for everyone to fill their bowl and top with their favorite toppings. Everyone really liked the bread bowls, but they said the soup was REALLY GOOD without the bread bowl.

Either way I hope you ENJOY!


Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter
1 Tbsp. bacon grease

1 large yellow onion chopped

2/3 cup flour

3 cups Chicken broth

3 cups 1/2 &1/2 or milk
2 chicken bullion,crushed (if your broth is salty, omit)

4 cups baked potatoes, 8 small-medium

3 green onions chopped
1/2 lb bacon cooked, crumbled and divided

8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated and divided

1 cup sour cream
Pepper Jack Cheese( to garnish)

In a large stock pot over medium heat melt butter and add bacon grease, and onion, cook for about 5 minutes, stirring about every minute.

 Add flour and continue stirring for 2-3 minutes.

 Slowly whisk in chicken broth and milk until smooth, making sure to continue whisking, the flour will get thick on the bottom of the pan.

Add the bullion and potatoes,1/2 of bacon,and continue to stir every minute, as the milk heats up the soup will become very thick.

 This takes about 10 minutes. 

I have a large paddle type spoon that I went around the pot and chopped the potatoes some, I wanted to break them up, and left some chunky.

After the 10 minutes it was thick and just starting to boil,

 DO NOT LET THIS COME TO A FULL BOIL,  turn the burner off, add the sour cream and 1/2 of the cheddar cheese. Stirring well to incorperate.

Laddle into bowls and garnish with cheese, green onions and bacon

I looked around and couldn't find the bread I wanted for my breadbowls, I ended up at Panera Bread, they had the perfect bread bowls. They are already cut about 2 inches down. I wanted them more hollowed out so I used a grapefruit spoon to dig more bread out, being sure not to go through the outside of the bread.

I had all the fixings for the top, everyone fixed their own, they put colored toothpicks in the side, to mark them. Put the bread bowls on a baking stone in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. The soup was extremly hot, let it cool for about 10 minutes before eating.

I cut the caps off the bread inserts, buttered and toasted them in the toaster oven while the bread bowls were in the oven.