Mashed Potato Soup

The last time we had relatives over for dinner, I grossly overestimated the amount of mashed potatoes we'd need. It's always better to have too many than not enough, but after a week of eating leftover mashed potatoes with every meal, the three of us were more than ready for the container to be empty. I turned to Google to see what to do with leftover mashed potatoes. I was intrigued to see recipes for mashed potato soup.

I read through the various recipes, rejected each for various reasons, and decided to make up my own. I'm happy to report that it was fantastic! And I used up every last bit of the mashed potatoes.

Mashed Potato Soup

                                 4 slices bacon                                                      2 c. leftover mashed potatoes

                                 1/4 c. finely chopped onion                              1/2 c. shredded cheese

                                 1 can (14.5 oz) vegetable broth                       chives

Slice bacon into 1/2 inch pieces. Cook in a large pan over low heat to render fat. Remove bacon, leaving approximately 1 T of bacon grease in the pan.  

 

Add onions to hot grease. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently until onions are soft and golden brown. Pour in broth. Add mashed potatoes. It will look like this:  

 

After about 2 minutes of stirring, it will look like this:

 

Turn heat to high. Stir constantly until the soup reaches a boil, then remove from heat. The soup should be creamy and smooth, without any lumps.

 

Ladle into bowls, then garnish with cheese, bacon and chives.

I should mention that I made my mashed potatoes with butter, sour cream, and a little bit of cream. Obviously, these all helped make my soup so good. If you start with plain mashed potatoes, you'll want to stir in a little bit of one (or more) of these to the soup right after you take it off the heat.

Bon appetit!