Creamy Bacon & Cheddar Potato Soup

Why This Creamy Bacon & Cheddar Potato Soup Works

Bacon cooks first so the fat melts out into the pot. That bacon fat, plus the butter, coats the onions and garlic. As they sit in the hot pot, the onions soften and turn a little sweet, and the garlic loses its sharp bite. By the time the broth goes in, the bottom of the pot is covered with tasty browned bits that loosen into the liquid.

Once the potatoes go into the hot broth, they slowly soften all the way through. As they cook, some of the potato starts to break down and cloud the broth. After blending, those cooked potatoes turn the broth into a smooth, thick base without needing flour.

When the hot potato soup meets the heavy cream and cheddar, the fat in the cream and cheese spreads through the soup and keeps it silky instead of gummy. The cheese melts into the hot, starchy liquid and stays suspended, so the soup feels rich and smooth. Crumbled bacon and chives on top add a little crunch and freshness against the creamy soup.

Mistakes To Avoid

Letting the potatoes stay too firm before blending leaves hard chunks that don’t break down, so the soup ends up lumpy and thin at the same time, with bits of undercooked potato floating in a broth-like base instead of a smooth, creamy bowl.

Pouring in the cream and adding the cheese while the soup is boiling causes the dairy to separate; the fat pulls away and forms greasy spots on top, and the cheese turns grainy instead of melting smoothly into the soup.

Cooking the bacon too fast on high heat burns the edges while the fat stays partly raw, so the drippings in the pot taste bitter and the base of the soup carries that harsh, burnt flavor all the way through.

Skipping the step of sautéing the onions and garlic in the bacon fat and butter means they soften in the broth instead; they stay a bit sharp and watery, and the soup base tastes flat and one-note instead of rich and rounded.