*Updated on 01/14/10*
My dad owned a restaurant pretty much my entire life and this restaurant had the best potato soup, by far. I almost never went there without ordering it. Of course, it was loaded with butter and cream so I haven't had it in years.
Yesterday, I decided to attempt to remake the soup into a low fat version at home. I was really wary of how it would taste because of the fact that I was cutting out basically all of the important fats. I honestly thought that I might end up throwing away a couple of pounds of potatoes, along with a lot of onions and other ingredients. Amazingly, the outcome was creamy, rich, and delicious! The fat free half and half actually worked as a substitute, along with the low fat buttermilk. The toppings made all the difference too, the turkey bacon on top was the perfect flavoring to add that little extra "something" to every bite. I definitely recommend this recipe. It was so good that in two days, the huge pot is practically gone. I thought I would be freezing half of it, but there is barely any left!
Ingredients for Soup:
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large white onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup fat free half and half (any brand that doesn't have mono & diglycerides, like Publix)
- 1 cup 1% buttermilk (McArthur)
- 1/2 cup of Nonfat Greek yogurt (Oikos)
- 2 pounds Idaho potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes (I only had Yukon Gold), washed, peeled and cubed into large bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/4 tsp hot sauce (Cholula is our favorite)
- 32 ounces of Organic Chicken Broth
Ingredients for Toppings:
- Fat Free Cheddar Cheese, shredded (Kraft of Lifetime)
- Nonfat Greek Yogurt (Oikos)
- Green onions, chopped
- 98% Fat Free Turkey Bacon, chopped and cooked
Peel and chop the onions and set aside. Wash, peel, and chop the potatoes into large bite-sized cubes. This soup is not creamed at all, so the chunks cannot be too large to eat.
Heat olive oil over medium low heat. Toss the onions in the olive oil and saute for a few minutes until soft and translucent. Add the flour to the onions, stir to coat the onions and then saute for 5 more minutes. After that, add the chicken stock, half and half, buttermilk and yogurt and stir continuously until smooth. Finally, add the spices, hot sauce, and potatoes. Stir some more and then cover the soup and simmer on low for 45 minutes to an hour, until the soup has thickened and the potatoes have cooked. Stir the soup occasionally and check the flavoring before serving. Add more salt or hot sauce if necessary.
While the soup is simmering, cook the bacon. Chop the bacon and saute in a nonstick pan with some canola oil cooking spray until browned and cooked through and set aside. Chop a couple of green onions and set aside as well.
Serve the soup hot with toppings. Enjoy this amazing and hearty soup!