Bacon

Creamy Potato Soup with Bacon Vinaigrette

by:
April 17, 2010
4
9 Ratings
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

I wrote this recipe when I was having a down day. Simmering the stock all day lifted my spirits. - OB Cookie —OB Cookie

Test Kitchen Notes

No wonder this recipe cheered OB Cookie up on a rough day. The soup itself is a bowl of comfort -- thick, creamy, and full of tang, and (best of all) made mostly from things that are probably sitting in your fridge right now. But the simple bacon and scallion vinaigrette really brings the dish to life. You might be skeptical, as we were, about not including some of the bacon fat in the dressing, but trust us -- this keeps the whole thing bright and perky. Of course, for you gluttons out there, it's always an option. - A&M —The Editors

Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
  • For the Soup
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 1 large carrot diced
  • 1 rib celery diced
  • 3 cloves garlic diced
  • 1 sprig rosemary chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 medium Russet potatoes (about 2 lbs.) peeled and diced into 1" cubes
  • 7 cups chicken stock or water
  • 1 cup low fat sour cream
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • For vinaigrette
  • 4 pieces thick cut bacon
  • 3 green onions finely sliced
  • 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • pinch salt
Directions
  1. Add butter to large pot on medium high heat and melt
  2. Add carrot, onion, celery, garlic, rosemary and salt. Saute veggies until onions are soft, about 10 minutes.
  3. Add potatoes and stock. Cook on medium high until potatoes are very tender, about 20 minutes
  4. Turn off heat, add sour cream and puree in blender or with immersion blender
  5. To make vinaigrette, cook bacon until crispy on medium high heat. Drain fat onto paper town and chop into small pieces.
  6. To small bowl stir onions, bacon, vinegar, salt. Add oil and put 1 tbsp of vinaigrette on top of each bowl of soup.
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

60 Reviews

Nde416 January 16, 2024
My family loves this potato soup. It is a different twist on potato soup, I like to call it my bougie potato soup recipe. My kids do not eat bacon so I substitute Morning Star Stripples. Its a hit every time.
Robert B. November 24, 2017
I made this tonight exactly as directed by my new hero: OB Cookie. The soup is creamy, silky and complex. The bacon vinaigrette provides a bright highlight because of the vinegar, but then the bacon adds a salty, umami kick. Thank you OB Cookie!
robin L. May 5, 2017
It's always good when a soup can 'go to eleven'! 8^) Did you just omit the sour cream?
Ryan C. May 5, 2017
This soup is the bombity bomb bomb. My wife and I be slurpin it all the time! She doesn't dig on swine, but I love it. And just when you think the soup is a 10, you add the vinegarette and you're like WOAHHHH, ELEVEN!!!!! But, also like... sour cream... no thanks. SO GOOD THOUGH!!
pattyrat March 14, 2017
I made this soup yesterday for the first time, so delicious! It hit the spot on a dreary day. The vinaigrette definitely makes it special, and I plan to try that on a spinach salad as well. I had to make a couple of substitutions to the soup because I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand - I only had 1/2 cup of sour cream so added 1/2 cup of heavy cream, and I used celery salt in place of the regular salt since I had no celery, and used dried rosemary. I look forward to making it again exactly as written.
Jennifer S. February 20, 2017
I didn't have enough potatoes so I added some parsnips, which gave it a nice earthy taste. Also used a few picked shallots in place of the green onions. Yummy.
susan March 9, 2016
Great recipe, I cooked crispy bacon for my daughter and sprinkled smoked paprika on mine
claudia January 5, 2016
This is just delicious! The vinaigrette makes the soup. I have a question.... anyone know if this will freeze well? We are two in my house and I made a full recipe. I would like to freeze and reheat with a fresh batch of vinaigrette. Thoughts anyone?
Ann June 13, 2015
I loved the flavor of this soup. It tasted of pure goodness. My market was out of low fat sour cream, so I used the full fat version and added additional stock because it was way too thick. Unlike everyone else, though, the vinaigrette just didn't work for me. I really wanted it too and was so excited to make it after all the thumbs up from other reviewers. Although delicious alone, I do think the soup could have benefitted from some interesting addition, but something was missing from that particular choice.
Dimply D. June 11, 2015
Everything I want in a soup. Delicious, easy and something my children will also eat! Thanks for the recipe. I'll be making this forever.
Adelucchi May 5, 2015
Made this to enjoy during a cool evening. Came out great! Substituted Greek yogurt for sour cream. Loved the tang! Used red potatoes from my CSA box. Plan to serve to a group of people gathering for a meeting tonight. Perfect for Cinco de Mayo since the potato originated in Mexico! Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Dianne J. May 4, 2015
Excellent soup. I made it with chicken broth. I would suggest a few more potatoes than called for, and go easy on the rosemary. It thickens a lot overnight, so I'd plan to make it a day ahead.
Meaney C. October 19, 2014
Made this soup for second time. Simply amazing recipe. So easy and so good. I swapped homemade pancetta for the bacon and a drizzle of the pancetta drippings over top.
Lynn March 30, 2014
This is the first potato soup that I love. I also love it because any well supplied kitchen will have all the necessary ingredients. I substituted a little sharp cheddar on top and it was delish! KUDOS to the creator!
pat A. March 17, 2014
Love this recipe-easy to make. After i cooked the bacon, I put the veggies in the bacon fat to soften.-yummy! Made for St. Paddy's Day!
Victoria January 29, 2014
I have all these things! Totally making this for dinner tomorrow, I can't wait :)
robin L. January 18, 2014
This is so delicious, thank you! I realized, toward the end of the cooking, that I didn't have the green onion that I thought I had. I chopped up more rosemary instead. Delicious soup, very rustic and comfy. Thank you! (I did use organic baby red potatoes b/c I didn't have russet, but still, I don't think I messed up your lovely recipe. Thanks again.)
Ashley M. November 19, 2013
Just made this - cannot express how incredibly delicious it was. My boyfriend said it was hands-down the best potato soup he's ever had. The bacon vinaigrette is a MUST if you're making it. Also, what I did, to save on having to clean another pan, was cook the bacon first in my soup pot, remove it to drain and use that bacon fat - instead of butter - to saute my veggies in.
oinky November 7, 2013
A beautiful soup, which itself is humble and comforting. The vinagrette elevates it to something wonderful. I made this after a long, blue, over-worked day- it truly is a bummer cure-all! Works with greek yogurt as a sour cream sub :)
LeeLeeBee July 23, 2013
This recipe is fantastic, and perfect for a cold and dreary winter day here in Australia. The only change I would make is to make a batch and a half of the vinaigrette; it was so good, we ran out before finishing the rest of the soup!
LeeLeeBee July 23, 2013
I forgot to mention that Australian sour cream is really thick, so I only used a half cup.