It’s a potato soup kind of night.
This is comfort food of the highest level for me and it always brings back warm memories whenever I fix it. Growing up, my mother used to make this almost every Saturday for lunch, and my dad and I were her biggest fans. I’m not sure how she made it back then, but this is the way I’ve been making it for years.
For your benefit, I forced myself last night to actually measure the ingredients, because I’ve been making it for so long I just throw it all together and it always works perfectly. To see the potato corn chowder version of this soup, go here.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 4 medium size russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth or water (or enough liquid to cover the potatoes)
- 2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon salt, more or less, depending on saltiness of chicken broth
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese, optional
- More butter for finished soup (optional)
- Paprika to sprinkle on top of finished soup (optional)
Directions:
Melt the butter with the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook them until they are golden brown. Add the flour and cook it with the butter for a minute or two. Add the chopped potatoes and enough water or chicken broth to cover. Stir well. Bring the soup to a simmer, cover it and turn the heat down to low. Let the soup simmer until the potatoes are tender (about 10 minutes or so), stirring occasionally to keep from sticking to bottom of pan. If you like a less-chunky soup, break up some of the potato pieces with the back of your wooden spoon.
Add the milk and grated cheese, and gently stir over low heat only until the cheese melts and soup is hot. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of butter on top of each bowl and sprinkle with paprika.
