Creamy Potato Vegetable Soup

It's a cold, snowy day in Colorado, the perfect weather for Creamy Potato Vegetable Soup. Though it has a rich flavor, it's heavy on vegetables and light on milk and cheese. It gets most of its creaminess from my not-so-secret ingredient: potato flakes.

This recipe makes enough soup to serve 8 people. It freezes well, which means I can make the full recipe and stick a couple of quarts of soup in the freezer for an easy dinner later in the month. Because it makes a lot of soup, you will need to use a large stock pot that holds at least 4 quarts. 

To make the soup, start by washing the carrots, potatoes, and celery. Then then peel the carrots and potatoes. Slice the carrots into 1/16 inch disks. 

Dice the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes.

Dice the onion.

Chop the celery by cutting through the end of the entire stalk and chopping until you have chopped about half of it. Then go over the pile of celery a few times with the knife, roughly chopping until the pieces are about 1/4 inch. 

Combine water, chicken bouillon, carrots, celery, red potatoes, onion, garlic, parsley, thyme, and salt in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn down to medium heat, cover with a lid, and let simmer 20 minutes. **Vegetable bouillon or stock can be substituted for the chicken bouillon**

Chop broccoli and then add broccoli and spinach to the pot. Let simmer 10 more minutes.

While the soup is simmering, in a separate sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat, then whisk in the flour to make a rue. Add milk, whisking continually, until smooth. Turn off the heat and add the shredded cheese, whisking until smooth. Set aside.

Test the carrots and potatoes. At this point they should be soft. If they are not, let simmer a few more minutes, then stir in the potato flakes until dissolved. 

Add the cheese sauce, stirring gently until the soup looks uniformly creamy. 

Serve with a slice of your favorite bread!

Be sure to refrigerate or freeze your leftovers. These are my favorite containers for storing leftovers. You can check them out here.

Creamy Potato Vegetable Soup - 15 minutes prep time, 30 minutes cooking time. 

2 1/2 quarts water

2 Tbsp chicken Better Than Bouillon

5 medium carrots, sliced into rounds

1/2 stalk of celery, including the leaves (or about 5 ribs) finely chopped

5 medium red potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp dried parsley

1/4 tsp ground thyme

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups broccoli (fresh or frozen), chopped

3/4 cup spinach (fresh or frozen), chopped

1 1/2 cups plain potato flakes

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp flour

1/2 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese

Combine chicken stock, carrots, celery, red potatoes, onion, garlic, parsley, thyme, and salt in a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn down to medium and let simmer 20 minutes. Add chopped broccoli and spinach. Let simmer 10 more minutes. 

In a separate sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat, then whisk in the flour to make a roux. Add milk, whisking continually, until smooth. Add the shredded cheese to make a cheese sauce. Set aside. 

Add the potato flakes to the soup to thicken it slightly, then stir in the cheese sauce. Enjoy! Serves 8.