Potato Spinach Bacon Soup

5 from 25 votes

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

_{Potato Spinach Bacon Soup is a classic, flavorful belly-warming comfort food recipe at it’s finest. It is combining red potatoes, leftover mashed potatoes, fresh spinach, and other veggies with hickory-smoked bacon in a cloud of delicious creaminess.}

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Leftover Mashed Potato Soup, Potato Soup, Potato Spinach Bacon Soup

Servings: 8 People

Author: hmccallum

Ingredients

6-8 slices thick-sliced bacon cooked until crispy
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion
2 ribs celery very finely sliced or diced
½ cup matchstick carrots may sub with very finely diced carrots
4 cloves garlic smashed or minced
3 cups chicken stock may sub low-sodium chicken broth
4 medium Red potatoes diced may sub with Yukon Gold or Russet
4 cups leftover mashed potatoes may sub with an equal amount of instant potatoes in a pinch only
2 cups half and half creamer + more if needed to thin
1 teaspoon Cajun Seasoning optional
Kosher salt to own taste
½ teaspoon white pepper or to own taste
1-10- ounce bag of fresh spinach washed

Instructions

_{Add the thick-sliced bacon slices to a soup pot over medium heat and cook the bacon until crisp and fat is rendered off the bacon. Remove the bacon from the pot and set it aside. Empty the grease from the soup pot. Do not wash.}
_{Add 2 tablespoon of unsalted butter to the same soup pot and let melt before adding sliced celery, chopped yellow onion and garlic, cook until the veggies are softened. Leave in the soup pot.}
_{Next, add three cups of chicken stock to the soup pot, bring up to a good simmer, then add diced potatoes and matchstick carrots. Simmer for about 15-18 minutes or the diced potatoes are fork-tender yet still firm. reduce heat to low.}
_{Add four cups of cold leftover mashed potatoes to the soup pot and slowly add the 2 cups of half and half creamer. Do not increase the heat under the pot.}
_{Once the soup pot warms up, season the ingredients with kosher salt, Cajun seasoning, and white pepper. Taste the soup base and adjust seasoning to your own taste.}
_{Next, slowly add the fresh spinach a little at a time, stirring as you go and once all the spinach is in the pot, cover the soup pot and turn off the heat to let spinach only slightly wilt. Do not overcook the spinach.}
_{Immediately ladle the soup into soup bowls and add the crisp bacon crumbles to the top.}