Beef & Cheddar Potato Soup

A bag of potatoes that I hadn’t found a use for sat in front of me, and I thought why not make it into soup? I mean, the holidays are over, so I’m kind of over eating mashed potatoes right now (I LOVE mashed potatoes, but after several holiday related meals it gets old, if you get what I’m saying).

Anyway, it’s still winter, so I thought that making soup out of these spuds might be a good idea. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy something warm and filling on a cold January evening, right? I sure do, and so does my hubby, so BAM! Soups it is!

First I peeled and quartered 3 pounds of Yukon gold potatoes (I originally bought these for mashed potatoes, but they work wonderfully in soup as well!). This is probably the most annoying part of working with potatoes, but I am so glad to have done it and made the soup! It’s kind of like exercising, once you are done you’re happy to have done it, am I right?

Potatoes peeled and quartered & ready for cooking!

Next I added a quart (32 oz/4 cups) of beef stock that gives this soup so much hearty ‘stick to your ribs’ flavor. I used just the beef stock itself  along with only 1/2 cup of water to cook the potatoes, so that way the potatoes would absorb the flavor of the stock. I think it was a tad on the salty side, so next time I may try to do half water and half beef stock (2 1/4 cups of water and 2 1/4 cups of beef stock) to cut down on the sodium!

Potatoes cooking in the beef stock and water.

Then after 20 minutes of cooking, I added 1 cup of ranch dressing, 2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese (but you can substitute whatever cheese you have on hand), 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) salted (or unsalted) butter, cubed,  1/3 cup sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt), & the seasonings (pepper, onion flakes, and garlic powder to taste).

Here are the other ingredients, other than the potatoes themselves of course!

And then I mixed everything in with a hand mixer, right in the pot on low heat. Be careful not to turn the mixer on too high at first or you will get splattered with some beef/potato mixture and it is hot, not fun! I did this and I even had the mixer on a lower setting!

Mixing the other ingredients into the potato soup!

And although I did this recipe with beef stock, I am sure it would also taste great with vegetable stock or chicken stock, so if you prefer those they would work well too. I’ve done cheddar potato soup with chicken broth and stock and it tastes great too! So really whatever broth/stock you have and whatever cheese you have will work, it’ll just have a slightly different taste to it!  ^_^ I also garnished it with green onion, since they always make your soup look so picture worthy and tasty, don’t they?

Here’s the lovely bowl of soup with its green onion garnish. So yummy!

Here are the ingredients:

Beef & Cheddar Potato Soup   (serves 5-6)

• 3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes
• 1 quart (32 oz) beef stock
• 1/2 cup water (or 2 cups water and 2 cups stock/broth to cut down on sodium)
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you like!)
• 1 cup ranch dressing
• 1/4 cup (1/2 of a stick) salted (or unsalted) butter, cubed
• 1/3 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt (not pictured)
• Black pepper (to taste)
• Onion flakes (to taste)
• Garlic powder (to taste)
• Green onion, chopped (optional garnish for cooked soup)

Instructions:

1. Peel and cube 3 lbs of Yukon gold potatoes
2. Put potatoes in a large pot with beef stock (or whichever stock/broth you’re using) and water and cook on high heat
3. After potatoes come to a boil turn down your burner to medium/high and cook for 20 minutes, or until you can stab them with a fork easily.
4. When potatoes are done cooking, turn heat down to low (do not drain your broth/stock) and add all the other ingredients (except green onion): 2 cups shredded cheese of your choice, 1 cup ranch dressing, 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick) cubed, 1/3 cup sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt), and seasonings (pepper, garlic powder, onion flakes).
5. Mix everything together with a hand mixer in the pot until there are no potato lumps and the other ingredients are all mixed in.
6. (Optional) Garnish each bowl of soup with chopped green onion tops.
7. Enjoy!

I hope you all enjoyed this recipe, and please let me know what you want me to write about next! I hope to have a homemade toothpaste recipe up soon, as well as some healthy (and tasty) beverage ideas. I also may be posting more about my upcoming novel soon. I’m all over the place lately, and I really want you to know that this blog is about creating a balanced and successful life, where I talk about money issues, homemade recipes, tips to be more green, and ways to be more healthy and happy (in relationships, work, and life)! Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you on Monday!