Outback Potato Soup Recipe (Slow Cooker or Stovetop)

1. In a large soup pot, Instant Dutch Oven, or large skillet, over medium-high heat, crisp the diced bacon, and then remove bacon bits with a slotted spoon or spider to a paper towel lined plate, set aside for later. Reserving about 3 tablespoons bacon grease.
2. In the same pan you crisped the bacon, over medium heat, saute diced onions in the bacon grease (adding tons of flavor) until golden brown and caramelized about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. During the last minute, add garlic and stir until fragrant.
3. Add spices and stir to bloom for a second. Pour in chicken broth, deglazing pan by scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. If making in a regular crockpot, pour mixture carefully into slow cooker. (see notes if you can't be bothered with sauteing the onions.)
4. Add diced potatoes, stirring to combine. Cover, follow instructions below based on method of cooking.

Instant Electric Dutch Oven Method

1. You can make the whole soup right in this appliance! Turn to saute, heating for a few minutes, then cook the bacon until crispy, remove with a plastic slotted spoon, reserve. Keep about 3 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pot and saute onions for about 7 minutes until golden, stir occasionally. Add garlic for 2 minutes stirring until fragrant. Add spices, stirring to bloom.
2. Deglaze the pot with chicken broth, using a wooden spoon to scrape brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add diced potatoes, cover and bring to simmer (on saute) for about 20 minutes until potatoes are soft. OR cover and turn to MANUAL, set temp for about 180 degrees and slow cook for 4-6 hours, until potatoes are tender. See finishing instructions below.

Stovetop Potato Soup Instructions

1. After crisping the bacon, sauteing the onions and garlic, and deglazing the pan, then bring potatoes to a simmer, over medium-low heat, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until very soft, about 15-25 minutes (hint, the smaller you dice your potatoes the quicker they will cook).See finishing instructions below.

Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup Instructions

1. If desired, you may just toss all of the ingredients up to the potatoes without sauteing* into a crockpot or slow cooker. *You will still need to crisp your bacon, or at least purchase real bacon bits. Or proceed with cooking bacon (set aside after cooking), add onions, garlic etc. in a skillet, add to the crockpot, then deglaze the skillet with 1 cup of chicken broth to get that flavor, pour into crockpot. Add potatoes and rest of chicken broth, cover, cooking on LOW 6-8 hours or HIGH 3-4 hours until potatoes are soft. See finishing instructions below.

How to Finish Potato Soup Recipe

1. Once potatoes are fork tender, almost falling apart. Using an immersion blender, blend potatoes to desired smoothness or blend in small batches in a blender (leave the spout off the top and cover with a clean tea towel, so it doesn’t explode on you). I like to make it mostly smooth leaving some chunks for texture. If you are worried about making it too smooth, use a slotted spoon and pull out a cup or two of potatoes before blending. If using a blender, pour blended soup back into the pot. Stir in heavy cream, soft butter and sour cream. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, I added 1 teaspoon of chicken bouillon for a kick of flavor at the end, just what it needed!Alternatively you may also use a potato masher to get the soup to desired consistency, this will yield a chunky soup.

Toppings

1. Add a generous amount of crisp bacon (you can stir the crisp bacon into the whole soup if you prefer, but that will soften the bacon), I prefer to serve at the table with a bowl of crispy bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, a little dollop of sour cream and some chopped chives or green onions. Serve with crusty bread, or these easy yeast rolls and a crisp green salad.