Loaded Baked Potato Soup Is the Comfort Meal We’ve All Been Waiting For

Winter is upon us and with that comes the perfect opportunity to make all the hearty, warm-up-your-insides meals that you’ve always loved. When grocery shopping, I often like to plan for one particular meal that can be eaten throughout the week as well as a few other meal ideas to fill in on the other days. Chili — whether a Texas version or vegetarian — is my usual go-to leftovers meal.

Soup, however, is an area I have been wanting to explore but have little experience in making on my own. Since I’ve been on the hunt for something a little different, I’ve stumbled across a few Instagram accounts that are helping me along my way, and Chef Renzo — the acclaimed chef behind the Instagram account @eatwitzo — is becoming one of my favorite people.

While I’m still making his recipe for Creamy Spinach Stuffed Salmon, his new recipe for Loaded Baked Potato Soup show us how to make something out of nothing. This recipe is perfect for an entry-level chef to try out and experiment with, and honestly, I can’t wait to try it.

To start, you’ll take a half pound of diced bacon and add it to your pot, cooking until it is nice and crispy. Using the grease from the bacon, add a half cup of diced onion and 1 tablespoon of garlic. Continue to cook until “the house starts smelling good” as Renzo says, then add 2 tablespoons of flour, 2 cups of chicken broth, and your potatoes. Next add black pepper, Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and a dash of salt. Mix in 2 cups of half & half and let it simmer for about 20 minutes — or until the soup is creamy and the potatoes are nice and tender. Finally, you’ll add a half cup of your preferred shredded cheese as well as your prepared bacon bits from earlier. For a little extra flavor, garnish with sour cream and chopped green onions to really bring this soup to life.   

While Chef Renzo posted the full recipe in the caption of the post on Instagram, if you’re looking to get his recipes all in one place, you can always pick up one of his cookbooks from his website. But if you’re still looking for more soup recipe like me, this Taco Soup recipe will rival your favorite chili, and this Stuffed Pepper Soup takes about an hour to make and can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Happy comfort eating!