Light Loaded Baked Potato Soup

My fall front porch. Not super into creepy Halloween decorations. 

The natural fall front porch is warm and inviting! 

Wreath made from materials from Hobby Lobby! Super easy. Corn stalks, pumpkins, and gourds from Horrocks. Flowers from our favorite local market, Speyers. Welcome mat (from last year) Target clearance! 

Light Loaded Baked Potato Soup

You'll need...

8 slices crispy bacon chopped

1 white onion chopped

1 tsp garlic powder

1.5 tsp fresh parsley, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)

2 tbsp flour

salt and pepper

4 cups chicken broth (low sodium), divided

1 bag of frozen potatoes or 3 cups of redskin potatoes chopped into 1'' pieces
1 cup of carrots sliced
1 cup of chopped broccoli 

3 cups reduced fat cheddar cheese, shredded and divided

1 can of fat free cream of chicken

2/3 cup low fat sour cream

2/3 package of light cream cheese

4 tbsp chives, minced
Crock Pot - Cook time (including prep) about 6 hours

Cook that bacon...crispy, baby. 

While cooking the bacon, I started my chopped veggies in the crockpot with the cream of chicken soup and 3 cups of chicken broth. Set crock pot to high. 

Leave some of the bacon grease in the pan (about 2 tbs) and put the chopped onion in there with the garlic powder. About 5 minutes...

In a small bowl mix flour and milk together. It will be clumpy at first but then add mixture into the skillet with the onions. Raise the heat of the pan to a boil, or until the flour mixture has dissolved. Continue to stir lightly until blended. I added in the other cup of chicken broth to this as well. Once it's to the desired texture  and all creamy looking, add it into the crock pot mixture (shown below).

Set aside your shredded cheddar, chopped chives, crumbled bacon, cream cheese, and sour cream. I refrigerated everything until I needed it again in a few hours.

I cooked this for about 3 hours on high at first and then 1.5 on low as I noticed the veggies were cooked, and it just needed to simmer for a bit. I added the cheese, sour cream, and cream cheese in then (so about 4 hours of cooking had occurred and all veggies were soft). You could cook it on low for 6-8 hours and add the cheese/sour cream in after. I had to whisk it a bit to mix the cheese and blend the soup.

Needless to say, this soup was delicious! It hits the spot on a cold night. :)

Add your bacon, extra cheddar, and scallions on top and it's a perfect meal or even starter soup before a meal! It really tasted like a loaded potato too. Hope you enjoy it!