Broccoli Cheese Soup: Now With Potato and Bacon!

A week or so ago, I was catching up on my Pioneer Woman episodes off of my DVR. In one of the episodes Ree made Broccoli Cheese soup. It looked so delicous! I was very excited to make this, as I have finally gotten the husband to eat soup, which he always claimed to dislike. The White Bean and Collard Green soup I made was the first one he really enjoyed.

Anyway, I decided to scale Ree's soup down, mainly because I did not want to buy as much milk/half and half as the recipe called for. I was also not toally certain that my pot would be big enough for the whole recipe (it would have been fine.) Turns out that this soup is so yummy that I wish I had made a whole batch so I had more to freeze for later. Oh well.

I also made some changes in the form of additions to the soup. The husband and I love bacon, and it goes so well with broccoli and cheese. I also like to add potatoes to soup to make them a little more hearty. Thirdly, I used only whole milk because I was on a budget and it was cheaper to buy three cups of milk than to buy milk and half and half. Aside from that, the recipe is the same.

Before I give you the recipe, here is a shot of my lovely soup in my homemade bread bowl:

Ingredients

Approximately 3 strips of bacon*

1/2 and onion, diced

3-4 Tbsp Butter

Almost 1/3 cup flour

3 Cups Whole Milk

2 Heads Broccoli florets, chopped

2 Potatoes, cubed**

1 1/2 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot (I used a 7 quart stock pot) cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Place on paper towels to drain.

Add the butter, melt, then add the onions.

Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until translucent.

Sprinkle the flour over the pot and stir. Cook for at least one more minute until thickened.

Pour in the milk and stir to combine.

Add in potatoes and broccoli, stir.

Turn stove to low, cover, and simmer for 20-30 minutes*** or until vegetables are tender

In the last 10 minutes or so, add the bacon back to the pot

Add cheese and stir until melted. Taste and add salt and pepper.

Ladle into bowls or hollowed out rolls.

*I bought bacon ends from Albertson's so I cannot give an exact amount of bacon

**I used red potatoes and they were only ok. I would suggest white potatoes

***My potatoes took forever to cook (one of the reasons I would not use them again,) just keep checking your vegetables for doneness

Albertson's had this bread called "Mini Boules" looks about what restaurants use for bread bowls so I bought them. they were very tasty, but I think it made it too much food. I might use Kaiser rolls next time so as not to have any waste.

I will leave you with a close up of this delicious soup and hope you will all make it in the near future!