Loaded Potato Soup With Cheesy Tots Food

CREAMY CHEESY TATER TOT CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 and spray the bottom of a 7" x 11" casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, mix the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, melted butter, garlic powder, and onion powder.
• Fold in the Tater Tots and stir until they are all coated with the mixture.
• Pour the mixture into the casserole dish.
• Sprinkle the cheese, potato chips, and bacon bits over the top.
• Bake for 45 minutes.
• Serve hot.

CHEESY POTATO SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spread the Tater Tots on a baking sheet and bake, tossing halfway through, until crisp, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with 1 cup cheese and continue baking until melted, about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until just softened, about 1 minute. Add the potatoes, chicken broth, 3/4 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the potatoes are tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a small skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
• Puree the soup with an immersion blender, thinning with up to 1/4 cup water. (Alternatively, puree the soup in batches in a blender, then return to the pot.) Stir in 1/4 cup sour cream and the remaining 2 cups cheese until melted. Ladle the soup into bowls. Top with the Tater Tots, bacon, chives and remaining 1/4 cup sour cream. Season with pepper.

LOADED POTATO SOUP WITH CHEESY TOTS

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 425 F.
• Spread your tots on a baking sheet (I like to line mine with parchment paper) and bake until crips, about 20 minutes. For extra crispy tots you can shake the pan at the 10 minute mark to move them around a bit, totally optional. When they're hot and ready, add 1 cup of cheddar cheese on top and return to the oven for an additional 4-5 minutes to melt.
• While your oven crisps the tots, wash, peel, and dice your potatoes and grate your cheeses. Freshly grated cheese works best here. If you haven't yet, measure out all your ingredients and set them aside.
• Heat the butter in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender. Once softened, add your garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.
• Next add your potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer once boiling. Cover and cook until potatoes are tender, 10-12 minutes.
• If you're using fresh bacon here (skip for the veggie version) cook in a skillet on med-high heat unit crisp. Drain on paper towels.
• Remove soup from heat, and puree the soup with an immersion blender. Alternatively you may allow the soup to cool a bit and puree in batches using a blender or food processor. In a pinch grab a potato masher and a whisk for an extra chunky potato soup! An additional 1/4 cup of broth (or milk) may be added to thin the soup as desired, but I love mine thick!
• At this point feel free to add any additional salt and pepper you desire. Add half the chives and stir in half the sour cream, remaining 1 cup of cheddar cheese, and parmesan cheese until melted.
• Ladle soup into bowls and top with cheesy tots, bacon of choice, chopped chives, remaining sour cream, and any extras your heart desires! Enjoy! This soup is great the first day and stellar the next, so feel free to save yourself a bowl for lunch tomorrow!

FULLY-LOADED CHEESY POTATO SOUP WITH GINA'S SPINACH SALAD

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, carrots, celery and onions, and cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour into the saucepan to toast the flour, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the stock, and then the milk and beer. Stir in the potatoes and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup until the potatoes are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Remove the saucepan from the heat and, using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. Return the soup to low heat. Add 1 cup of the Cheddar, a handful at a time, stirring until melted and smooth after each addition. Add additional chicken stock if necessary to adjust the consistency. Sprinkle with hot sauce, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Divide the soup among bowls and top with the remaining Cheddar, sour cream, bacon and chives. Serve with Gina's Spinach Salad with Spiced Pecans.
• For the pecans: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in all the spices and the pecans. Stir and toast the pecans for about 5 minutes. Transfer them to a plate to cool.
• For the salad: Whisk together the balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard and shallots in a small bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil in a continuous stream, whisking to emulsify. Season with a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper.
• Add the spinach to a large serving bowl. Toss the greens with the prepared dressing, the bacon, blue cheese, cherry tomatoes and spiced pecans.

LOADED POTATO SOUP

Steps:

• Set a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy, 6 to 8 minutes; remove to a plate. When cool, crumble and set aside for garnish.
• Add the onions and garlic to the pot, and cook in the rendered bacon grease until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the flour and some salt and pepper, and stir until combined. Cook for 3 minutes, so the raw flour taste cooks out. Add the chicken broth and heavy cream, whisking to remove any flour lumps. Add the potatoes and cook over medium heat until tender, about 10 minutes.
• With a potato masher, break up the cooked potatoes¿this will yield a thick and chunky consistency. Whisk in sour cream and then the shredded cheddar; let it melt through.
• Serve garnished with crispy crumbled bacon and sliced scallions.

LOADED POTATO SOUP

Steps:

• Place sliced potatoes into a stockpot and completely cover with 1" of water. Season with ½ tsp salt and cook 8-10 minutes or until potatoes pierce easily with a knife then drain.
• Meanwhile, saute bacon in a dutch oven until crispy then transfer to a plate, reserving 1 Tbsp bacon grease in the pot.
• Add 4 Tbsp butter and chopped onions then sautee until tender. Add garlic and cook another minute until fragrant.
• Quickly whisk in the flour. Slowly add 2 1/2 cups milk and 2 1/2 cups broth, whisking constantly then bring to a soft boil.
• Add drained potatoes and season soup with 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper or season to taste.
• Stir in 3/4 cup sour cream, 1 cup shredded cheddar, and half half of your cooked bacon (reserving the rest for serving). Bring to a boil then remove from heat and serve with your favorite toppings.

LOADED POTATO SOUP

Steps:

• In 12-inch skillet, cook bacon over medium heat 6 to 7 minutes or until crisp; drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon; set aside. Reserve 2 tablespoons drippings in skillet. Cook onion in bacon drippings over medium-high heat 6 minutes or until almost tender.
• In 6-quart Dutch oven, mix onion, broth and potatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cook 10 minutes or until potatoes are very tender.
• Meanwhile, in same skillet, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour with whisk until smooth. Cook and stir 1 minute. Gradually stir in 2 cups of the milk. Pour milk mixture into potato mixture. Add remaining 2 cups milk, the salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with whisk, until mixture is thickened and bubbly.
• Stir in ham, half of the bacon, the sour cream, 2 cups of the cheese and 1/2 cup of the green onions. Cook until thoroughly heated and cheese is melted. Evenly top individual servings with remaining bacon, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/4 cup green onions.

LOADED BAKED POTATO SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Wrap potatoes in aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven until potatoes are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool potatoes until easily handled and cut into cubes.
• Place the bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on paper towels and crumble.
• Combine milk, cream, sour cream, processed cheese, and Cheddar cheese in a large pot over medium heat; cook, stirring frequently, until cheeses are melted, about 10 minutes. Add potatoes and bacon to milk mixture and simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until potatoes begin to dissolve into soup, about 20 minutes; season with onion salt and black pepper.