Hello chilly temps, chunky sweaters and delicious comfort food!

I just love a creamy potato soup at this time of the year, but I don’t love that there’s not much nutritional value in a potato soup. They are usually made with lots of potato (duh) which means lots of starch which turns to glucose/carbs and doesn’t include much of anything else that’s nourishing to your body. Potatoes themselves are not unhealthy, but we tend to eat so much potato as it is (fries, pot roasts, hash browns etc). So one of my missions this fall was to create a comforting potato soup – adding nutritional value while keeping the yum factor 🙂

Soups are a great way to sneak in some extra ingredients that you may not notice but add protein and/or more veggies. Unless you’re eating veggies as snacks every day, it can be hard to get all your veggies in for the day.

So how did I do it? I still used potato of course, but instead of using all potato, I substituted some for leeks, cauliflower and broccoli. I also love adding plain, tasteless collagen powder to my soups for the added health benefits. You can learn more about the benefits of collagen powder and where to get it here.

Instead of using cream or milk, I used non-fat plain greek yogurt to make it creamier, thicker and add more protein. This ingredient is so versatile and can add lots of low fat protein to your meals. One serving of non-fat plain greek yogurt has 22 grams of protein!

Healthy Loaded Baked Potato Soup

 

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Author: The Nutty Pear

Cuisine: Soup

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 cups leeks chopped (about 2 medium leeks)
• ½ cup chopped yellow onion
• 1½ cups riced cauliflower
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt
• Olive oil or avocado oil for cooking
• 4 cups chicken, vegetable or bone broth
• S&P; to taste
• Optional: 4 scoops collagen powder – where to get
• Toppings:
• Bacon
• Fresh chives
• Steamed broccoli
• Shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. STOVE TOP
2. Heat a dutch oven or large pot over medium / high heat and add 6 slices of bacon, if using as a topping. Turn every couple minutes until cooked.
3. Remove bacon from pan and set aside. Keep the bacon grease in the pan over medium / high heat and add chopped onion and leeks. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute.
4. Add the potatoes, riced cauliflower (can be frozen), broth and salt and pepper (keep in mind that the broth, bacon and cheese all add saltiness).
5. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Check the potatoes to makes sure they are soft. Turn off the burner and take the top off the pot. Add butter and mix it in. Let the soup cool a little for at least 5 minutes.
7. Using a ladle, remove one big scoop of the “chunky stuff” (potato, leeks etc without much broth) and set aside.
8. Put the rest of the soup into a food processor and add greek yogurt and collagen powder if using. Blend for one minute or so (you can also use an immersion blender but I find the food processor works better).
9. Return the soup to the pot and add the scoop of chunks you set aside
10. Serve topped with broccoli, crumbled bacon, chives and shredded cheese.
11. SLOW COOKER / CROCK POT
12. Add all ingredients except for greek yogurt, butter and toppings to the slow cooker.
13. Set the crock pot according to its settings and the desired cook time (4, 8 hours etc)
14. Once cooked and potatoes are soft, take off the top, mix in butter and let cool a little while you cook the bacon in a pan and set aside.
15. Remove one ladle of the “chunky stuff” (potatoes leeks etc without much both) and set aside.
16. Add the rest of the soup to a food processor along with the greek yogurt and collagen powder if using. Blend at least 1 minute (you can also use an immersion blender but I find the food processor works better).
17. Return to the pot with the scoop of chunks you set aside earlier.
18. Serve warm topped with bacon crumbles, steamed broccoli, chives and shredded cheese.

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