Ari's Autumn Potato Soup

Future kids, by the time you're reading this you must be aware that my first love was not a person, but soup. There is no food in this world I love more than soup. I mean of course I would love a big fat steak any day of the week, but when it comes to my comfort foods, my staple foods, and my favorite foods, soup will always top the list.

Last week I had dinner at a girlfriends house and in the spirit of inviting autumn, she made an awesome crockpot potato soup. Now I will be the first to say that the thing I cook most is soup, but it is also the food that I am most likely to screw up. Until that day at Ari's house, I had never heard the word "roux." Surprisingly, I not only heard it for the first time that week at her house, but when some other friends came over Saturday to make dinner, my girlfriend Jenna made a "roux" for our cheese sauce as well! Consider my mind blown when I realized the staple and key ingredient missing from all of my soups was this so-called "roux." I was a tad mortified that in all my years of reading recipes and watching the Food Network, I'd never stumbled across this delightful mixture of fat (butter) and flour that thickens and perfects even the thinnest of broths. Once I got over the initial shock, I knew my life in the kitchen had changed as I knew it.

For the potato soup, she served it hot from the crockpot and topped with freshly grated cheddar cheese, green onions, and homemade bacon bits. It was delicious. I had to make it for my husby, so here, in Ari's own words, is her delicious recipe:

What You'll Need:

Bacon (maybe four slices, depends how much you like!)

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

Dry packet ranch 

1 tbsp flour

4 cups broth

3 lbs cubed potatoes

1 cup milk or cream

1 cup sour cream

"I cooked the bacon and removed it from a skillet. Then cooked an onion and 3 cloves of garlic in the bacon fat. When the onion was translucent I added a dry ranch packet and a tablespoon of flour. To thicken, I whisked a cup of broth into the mixture until combined. Then I added 3 cups of broth to a crockpot along with 3 lbs of cubed potatoes and the skillet mixture. I put it on high for about 4 hours. 

Remove potatoes w a slotted spoon and mash with about a cup of milk (lighter than cream). Return mashed potatoes to crock pot with a cup of sour cream. Mix and allow to warm for about 10 min. Serve with grated cheese green onion and bacon from earlier."

This is the perfect potato soup I have been trying to make for ages, and I'm so lucky to have a friend who taught me to do it! I use what I had on hand, so my soup was made with red potatoes instead of russet (these make for a chunkier soup), 1/2 packet onion soup mix instead of ranch, and a tiny bit of butter instead of sour cream because we were out! It came out super delish. This is definitely a new staple in our home. Thanks Ari!

Note- this can totally be made paleo with a gluten free flour and just the broth instead of milk. Doesn't have to be so thick!