This ranch cheddar potato soup with bacon will satisfy all of your ranch flavor cravings without requiring you to buy any little dressing mix pouches.
Sometimes I wonder if I post too many recipes with the word “ranch” in the title. I feel like ranch is the ultimate joke among people who consider themselves “foodies” or are into haute cuisine, like ranch lovers have not evolved past their childhood food loves or maybe even that ranch is a little bit redneck.
News flash: I don’t agree. The bottom is that ranch is delicious and I’m not gonna give it up because I heard someone make fun of people who like it. So there.
There are plenty of people who agree with my. My friend Stephanie of the blog Plain Chicken has an entire section of her blog devoted to “cracked out” recipes. Cracked out means that the recipe contains cheddar, bacon, and ranch…a winning combination if there ever was one. We don’t go for fancy, we just go for tasty.
Potato soup is the ultimate comfort food around here. I’ve been a potato soup lover since my mom used to make me the ultimate simple version with just cubes of potato boiled in milk with plenty of butter added. I haven’t made it that way in ages, but now I’m thinking that I may need to for a shot of nostalgia.
These days my potato soups (unless I’m making potato-leek soup) always start with onions in some sort of oil then have the potatoes layered on top and some sort of creamy thickening agent. In my opinion, potato soup must be creamy. A potato soup that isn’t creamy just feels…fraudulent to me.
The idea for this ranch cheddar potato soup started with a thought of a basic cheese soup with potatoes and ranch seasoning added, with bacon on top (duh). I figured that this cheddar potato soup should be a cross between a standard potato soup recipe and a homemade cheese sauce recipe…and I was right.
This ranch cheddar potato soup with bacon starts with diced bacon in a Dutch oven. I cooked the bacon till crisp and removed it from the pan, then added in the onions, cooking them until they were soft. I added flour, then potatoes, chicken stock, and milk. When the potatoes were soft, ranch seasonings were added (I never buy ranch packets these days…I keep all the dried herbs and spices I need in my pantry, so I just mix up my own version). I finished the ranch cheddar soup with plenty of cheddar cheese, of course, and a little bit of half and half to make it just a little more rich.
Served with crusty French rolls, this ranch cheddar potato soup with bacon was a perfect weeknight comfort meal!
Mary
Yield: 4-6 servings
10 minPrep Time:
25 minCook Time:
35 minTotal Time:
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Ingredients
- 4 strips bacon, diced
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 2 cups milk
- 4 ounces Cheddar cheese (1 cup), shredded
- 1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
- salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the ranch seasoning ingredients.
- Preheat a 4-6 quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook the bacon until crisp and remove to a paper towel lined plate. Add the onions and cook until softened.
- Add the flour. Cook and stir for about 1 minute. Add the potatoes to the pot. Slowly add in the chicken stock, stirring constantly. Add the milk and stir to incorporate. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil then lower heat to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are soft and liquid has thickened slightly.
- Add the cheese to the soup and stir until incorporated. Add the ranch seasoning and the half and half or cream. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, topped with crumbled bacon.
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