Lisa's Famous Potato Soup

Patti asked for the recipe for Lisa's Famous Potato Soup. Drop what you are doing right now and go make this. I promise you won't regret it.

This is my message board friend, Diana's soup. Lisa is her husband's cousin, and she owns a restaurant up in Canada, Eh?

This is by far our favorite potato soup. We have been eating it since Diana first posted it, 5-6 years ago. When I make it on Tuesday, I will post a better picture. Until then you are stuck with this one.

As posted, many years ago:

Lisa's Famous Potato Soup

8 cups coarsely chopped, peeled potatoes (you can leave the skins on well-scrubbed taters)
1 chopped onion
1/2 pound bacon, crisped, drained & crumbled
1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
5 & 1/2 Cups water and 2 Tbsp. chicken soup base, or the same amount of stock
1 can cream of whatever soup
Salt & Pepper to taste.

You need at least a 4 quart crock pot for this recipe.

In your crock pot, stir together the potatoes, onion and crumbled bacon.

In a mixing bowl, combine softened cream cheese, broth and cream soup. Add salt & pepper now, and more later if you want. Sometimes, I add a few drops of hot sauce, or a sprinkle of that beloved Chipotle powder.

Pour the wet mixture over the tater mix in the crock pot. Cover and heat on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 4-5 hours. When done cooking, mash some of the potatoes with a hand blender or the back of a wooden spoon for a thicker soup.

I serve in a bowl with shredded cheddar cheese and a few croutons, or a sprinkling of bacon on top if I've fried up the whole pound, which you'll most likely do anyway.

It's even better the next day, but it does form a "skin" that needs to be stirred back in.

By the way... I made this for my vegetarian SIL with vegetable broth and without the bacon. I also made it when I was a vegan with vegetable broth and soy cream cheese and home-made white sauce. Both were just as good as the original.