Cheesy Bacon Ranch Potato Soup

I didn't know traditional creamy potato soup could get any better! I love a warm bowl of homestyle potato soup, which is why I decided to give it an upgrade. I grew up eating a lot of meat and potato meals. I don't think my mom ever missed a Sunday dinner of roast beef and mashed potatoes (and NEVER the instant potatoes, I didn't even know they existed growing up). So, basically potatoes are one food I could never part with. One of my favorite dinner sides is Twice Baked Potatoes. 
The inspiration for this soup came from those incredibly delicious Twice Baked Potatoes, those dreamy, creamy potatoes that are loaded with Cheddar cheese, sprinkled with browned crispy bacon and chopped green onions then they're finished off with a generous drizzling of creamy Ranch dressing. Yeah, all of that in soup form and this soup better be good right? It's definitely my new favorite potato soup, I'm not sure if I'll be able to eat the traditional plain old potato soup anymore. This stuff is just too flavorful and cheesily delicious to look back to that soup again =). 

This recipe may seem a little different, I didn't make a roux to add the flour, rather I whisked it into the milk. I didn't want to add butter because the mayonnaise already replaced the fat and creaminess of what butter would do. I also chose to use sharp cheddar cheese because in my opinion when you use sharp you can use less cheese (then if you were to use mild or medium) and therefor you're adding less calories (don't get me wrong this isn't a low calorie soup, I just try to lightly reduce calories where I can). I decided to leave the carrot and celery out of this recipe so it's more like a loaded or twice baked potato but if you really wanted to you could add them.
If you want even more of a ranch flavor you could drizzle the top of the soup with additional ranch, made according to the directions on the package. I hope you love this soup as much as I do and make it often this upcoming fall and winter season! There's nothing like a perfect bowl of soup to warm a cold fall evening. Enjoy! 

Cheesy Bacon Ranch Potato Soup
Yields about 6 servings

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 Tbsp dry ranch dressing mix

3 lbs Russet potatoes, peeled and diced into about 3/4-1" cubes (about 8 medium potatoes)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup diced yellow onion (about 1 small onion)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth*
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, divided (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 oz. finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped (or crumbled if you like it extra crispy)
3 green onions, chopped

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, 1/4 cup milk and ranch seasoning mix. Cover bowl and refrigerate. 
Heat olive oil a large cast iron dutch panggangan over medium high heat. Add onion and saute about 4 minutes until golden, add garlic and saute 1 more minute. Add chicken broth and diced potatoes and bring mixture just to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, cover pot and cook 15 - 20 minutes until potatoes are very tender. 
In a mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups milk with 1/4 cup flour (whisk very well to break up flour) and pour mixture into soup. Increase temperature to medium high heat, and bring mixture just to a boil, stirring constantly (stirring constantly will help break down the potatoes a bit). Once mixture reaches a boil, reduce heat to low, add ranch dressing mixture from refrigerator, 1 cup (4 oz) grated Cheddar cheese, grated Parmesan cheese and season with black pepper to taste. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently (note, if you want smaller potato chunks in the soup you can simply mash the soup with a potato masher to break them down a bit more). Serve warm, sprinkle each serving with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, chopped bacon, and chopped green onions. 

*you can use low sodium chicken broth if you prefer, for this recipe I just used regular and didn't add any salt to the soup. If you use low sodium you may want to add additional salt to the soup.

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