Name: Pepper Jack Potato Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Ingredients: 5 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced; 1 med onion, chopped; 2 cloves of garlic, chopped (you can substitute canned garlic, if preferred); 2 stalks celery, diced; 8 oz pepper jack cheese; 8 oz sour cream; 1 cup milk; bacon, for serving (you can substitute bacon bits); milk, to finalize desired consistency; salt and pepper

Potato soup is the perfect meal for those cold, blustery, winter days. Add a little spice via Pepper Jack cheese and you’ve got a real winter winner! This is a recipe I got back in 2011 from a friend of ours, Kim. It originally came from her sister, Martha, and we’ve just sort of adopted it as our own. So, let’s make some pepper jack potato soup, shall we?!

Basic Ingredients

You’ll need potatoes, onion, garlic, celery, pepper jack cheese, sour cream, milk, chopped bacon, and salt and pepper to taste. We love pepper jack cheese! Maybe it’s because we love hot food…that’s deep. The recipe said you could add fresh jalapenos, but I didn’t want to give the kids too much heat – so I put those on the table and we added them to our bowls. Kim says it’s great when you add hot sauce, but I didn’t try that. Here’s a tip – if your nose isn’t running, it’s not hot enough.

Let’s Make Soup!

Grab a big soup pot or dutch oven and boil your potatoes just until they’re soft enough to mash. While the potatoes are boiling, sauté your onions and celery until they’re softened. When they’re almost done, add your garlic and give it a stir. I was feeling sorta lazy, so I didn’t use fresh garlic – I used the canned stuff. Sue me.

When your veggies are softened, add one cup of milk, the sour cream, and the cheese. Dice your cheese up first so it will melt faster. Stir it around a bit and let everything blend and melt. Don’t boil it! Milk and sour cream do funny things when they boil. They look gross.

When your potatoes are done, drain them…and steam up your glasses so you can’t see. I’m blind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! False alarm. Grab your potato masher and semi-mash the chunks. You don’t want them totally mashed…leave some chunks for texture. To your mashed potato mixture, add the melted cheese mixture and give it a stir. It’s going to be VERY thick. I wasn’t even able to stir because it was so thick.

Finish Things Off

Add milk to get the consistency that you desire. If you want it really thick, add less milk. If you like thinner soup, add more milk. Pretty complicated, right? I put the lid on mine and let it warm up for about 15 minutes.

We’re almost done! Add pepper and salt to taste. I probably added a tablespoon of salt and just put in some fresh ground pepper. Always use FRESH pepper when you can. It will totally change your life. You’re welcome.

Serve with bacon on top, because bacon makes everything better.

Bonus tip: This will get sorta thick in the refrigerator, so when I reheat it I just add a bit of milk and stir. It will probably need more salt after that too…but I like salt. Lots of salt. Please pass the salt.

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