Baked Potato Soup

This is one of my favorite dishes! You don't need too many ingredients here that you can't buy at Target or Walmart. I am not a big soup fan but I could eat this soup for days and not get sick of it! This soup works well for our family when my brother-in-law visits. My brother-in-law is a vegetarian so we keep the bacon out of the soup and in a separate bowl to use as a garnish at the table, versus in the soup, which makes this an easy meal to fit everyone's dietary needs. On the surface you would think this is a dish I would never be able to have but those are my favorite to cook and prove wrong! Before Lola's soy allergy, I would use soy sour cream but I made a version of this soup today that tastes pretty good despite no sour cream. 

If you do not need to avoid dairy you will want to put in twice the cheese. This dairy free cheese is pretty strong so you don't need as much. Not all bacon is free of allergens. I used Farmland's Hickory Smoked Lower Sodium bacon today because it is labeled gluten free and MSG free.

Baked Potato Soup

Yield 4 Servings

1/2 pound bacon

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon Soy Free Earth Balance Butter Spread, divided

1/3 cup brown rice flour

4 cups almond milk

2 large baking potatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup Daiya cheddar cheese wedge

4 green onions, chopped

Directions: Chop bacon into bits. Bacon that is almost completely frozen will be easiest to chop. Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until brown and completely cooked. Place bacon bits on a paper towel covered plate to catch the grease and set aside. Dice onion and place onion and one tablespoon of butter in a soup pot. Cook onions until soft and caramelized. Remove onions and place in a separate bowl to set aside. Chop green onions and set aside. Wash, peel and dice the baking potatoes. Now put brown rice flour and 1/3 cup of butter in the soup pot and cook over medium heat until butter is melted and the mixture creates a paste. This only takes about a minute. Then slowly whisk in the almond milk and mix until the flour and butter paste is completely blended. Next add the potatoes, salt, pepper, cooked onions, and garlic powder. Cook over medium to high heat, bringing the mixture to a light boil, until potatoes become soft and a fork easily passes through the potato. How long to cook will depend on how big the potatoes are cut. Reduce heat to low and add in the chopped green onions, cheddar cheese and bacon bits. Cook for an additional 5 minutes or until cheddar cheese is completely melted. Remove from heat and serve immediately. Top soup with additional shredded Daiya cheese if desired.

Disclaimer: It is always important to read labels because brands frequently change their ingredients. These ingredients and brands work for my family but some may be processed in the same facility as wheat, soy, dairy and/or eggs and therefore depending on your severity may or may not work for your family.