With the arrival of winter weather — including the first snowfall of the season — also comes the arrival of soup season. With how delicious and warming they are, soups match perfectly with the colder temperatures. And what better way to use the garlic from my roasted garlic recipe than in this pureed potato roasted garlic and sage soup?

Now, I’ve slurped my fair share of liquid lunches, but let me tell you, this isn’t just a soup; it’s a creamy embrace in a bowl. You’ve got your potatoes, buttery and comforting, your garlic, roasted to sweet nuttiness, and your sage, with its aromatic depth.

It’s like the three musketeers of flavor decided to have a pool party and you’re invited.

So grab your bowls and a ladle and dive into this witty bowl of culinary genius. Your taste buds can thank me later.

Ingredients for Garlic and Sage Soup

To get started, we’ll need to gather our ingredients. The veggies, the liquids, and the seasonings. These will fully combine together when we blend the soup, but not before we get them cooked.

Veggies

Onion, garlic, and potatoes. These hearty veggies, especially the potatoes, make up the bulk of the non-liquid ingredients used here.

The garlic is roasted beforehand. The onions are sauteed in butter with some of the seasonings. The potatoes are peeled, cubed, and cooked in the soup until soft and blendable. I recommend using a yellow onion and large Yukon gold potatoes. But feel free to substitute other varieties if they’re what you have on hand.

Liquids

It’s a bit hard to make soup without any liquid. Though I’m sure there’s some recipe out there that does, that’s not for us today. And we’ll be doing liquids in two batches – one pre- and some post-blending.

Pre-blending we’ll be using stock. A good stock is a rich, comforting base that elevates everything else. And it isn’t actually that difficult to make your own chicken stock. If you’re going the vegetarian route, though, a vegetable stock will do the trick just as well.

Post-blending is all about adding creaminess. Literally, with some heavy cream and milk. These help add a smooth, luxurious texture that’ll have your taste buds doing the tango. We add these and cook on low heat to keep them from curdling. Just enough to get things cohesive.

Seasonings

Now comes the exciting part – infusing our roasted garlic and sage soup with layers of irresistible flavor.

• Sage: First up is sage, the maestro of this herbal symphony. Its aromatic notes bring a delightful earthiness to the soup. As the sage melds with the creamy base, it creates a harmonious balance that elevates each spoonful.
• Thyme: Enter thyme, another herbal virtuoso that contributes a fragrant undertone to our soup. Its subtle presence adds complexity to the other ingredients for a nuanced flavor profile.
• Bay: Now, let’s introduce bay leaves—the unsung heroes of many savory dishes. These unassuming leaves bring a subtle yet distinct depth to the soup, enhancing its overall taste.
• Salt and Pepper: The basic seasonings that enhance the flavor of almost anything.

The Garlic and Sage of it All

Let’s face it, there’s nothing quite like the aroma of roasted garlic wafting through the kitchen. A good soup is like a warm hug – especially in the winter. And when you pair that with sage leaves sizzling in butter, you’re in for a treat. So buckle up, because we’re about to take your senses on a culinary joyride with the dynamic duo of garlic and sage.

Roasted Garlic Flavor

This is where the recipe all started for me. I made a lot of roasted garlic when preparing my roasted garlic recipe. Roasting garlic changes it from pungent to sweet, sharp to mellow. It helps to coax out their deepest, richest essences.

Raw, it’s bold, assertive, and a little bit punchy, but give it some time in the oven and it softens

So, don’t rush this step. Let those cloves roast until they’re golden, caramelized, and tender so you can spread them like butter. Make the roasted garlic before making this recipe. It takes a little bit of time, but not a ton of effort on your own part – most of it is sitting in the oven.

Sage Leaves in Butter

Adding in the buttery sage comes from another recipe on the site – one of the most popular. My brown butter sage sauce inspired this addition. I highly recommend trying out that simple recipe if you haven’t before.

But back to this roasted garlic and sage soup, make sure to use fresh sage leaves.

I envisioned creating a brown butter sage sauce as the base, but it turned out a little different since I also included the onion when sauteeing the sage and it added enough moisture that it didn’t really brown the same way. But still added a ton of flavor.

Prepping the Potatoes

Potatoes are amazing. They’re versatile, they’re forgiving, and if you treat them just right, they can truly shine as the star of the show.

But to get them ready for showtime we’ll be peeling the potatoes. I think that leaving the peel on would lead to a grittier final soup. But if you want to give it a try, just be sure to scrub them well.

After peeling the potatoes, give them a little rinse in water.

Now start dicing the potatoes into about 1/2-inch cubes.

You don’t need to be exact but try to get similarly sized pieces. This will help them cook evenly in the next stage. So that all the pieces will be finished cooking when it comes time to blend. You’ll also be dicing up the onion before we start in on making the soup itself.

Making the Garlic and Sage Soup

With all of the ingredients prepped, it is time to finally start making the soup.

Brown Butter and Sage

Begin by melting the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the sage leaves and onion to begin sauteing. Stir it consistently to make sure it cooks evenly. The onion is cooked when it is mostly translucent – probably 3 to 5 minutes.

Add in the roasted garlic cloves and dried thyme. Stir it around and cook it for another minute or two to let the thyme bloom. Then add in the chopped potatoes, chicken or vegetable stock, and bay leaves.

Simmering

Turn the heat up to medium-high to let the soup warm up, stirring occasionally. Once it begins to bubble, turn the heat down and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.

The goal of the simmering is to fully cook the potatoes and to meld and extract all of the flavors. So, keep stirring occasionally as it simmers so that nothing sticks or burns to the bottom of the pot. Then, as it gets close to the 30 minutes, start testing the potatoes with a fork to tell if they’re cooked. The fork should easily pierce the potato without much force or resistance.

Remember to try and test the largest piece you can find.

Blend Until Smooth

With the potatoes cooked, we’re ready to puree this soup to a smooth texture. Turn off the heat.

I recommend using an immersion blender, but a regular blender could be used as well. An immersion blender will make it so we can just blend it up in the pot. The regular blender will likely take batches and require a lot of transferring back and forth. So, not preferred in my book.

Blend on high until smooth. Not just no big chunks, but smooth. If you think it’s close then just sample it with a spoon and see how the texture feels. Mine took a fair bit of time blending and moving around the pot to make sure it was fully smooth. If you really wanted to, you could strain it with a very fine mesh strainer to get it as smooth as possible.

Finishing the Soup

After blending the soup, we’ll be adding in some special ingredients to make sure it’s velvety smooth.

Add Milk and Cream and Warm on Low

Gently pour in the heavy cream and milk. Stir thoroughly to make sure everything is well combined.

Suddenly everything feels a bit more luxurious.

After adding the cream and milk, we’ll warm it up a little to make sure the soup is fully cohesive. But we need to be careful because the cream could curdle if heated too hot too fast. So just heat it on low for about five minutes. It shouldn’t have lost too much heat while blending it off the heat, so this shouldn’t take too long.

Taste and Adjust

Always always always taste your food before thinking it is finished. There’s usually at least something that could be done to change or adjust and make sure it is perfect.

Have a small taste of the soup and think of both the flavor and the texture.

Does it need a little more salt or a little more cream? Maybe it is a little thick – add a little more stock or water. Once you’ve nailed it down, you’re ready to serve it up.

Serving the Soup

Let’s chat about what to pair with our herby concoction. A soup can be a side or a main dish – it all depends on how much of it you serve and what you serve on the side. Remember, it’s not just about flavor; we eat with our eyes too!

What to Serve with Garlic and Sage Soup

Soup and bread are like peas in a pod – a true match made in heaven. Use some bread to dip in the soup or sop up every last drop when you’ve finished the bowl. A crusty loaf of bread. Freshly baked sourdough, with all its tangy glory. Pure bliss.

Take the bread idea a step further and make yourself a grilled cheese to have for dipping. I know they’re typically paired with tomato soup, but trust me they work with other soups as well.

And for those who crave a bit of crunch, a side of roasted veggies wouldn’t go amiss. Think golden-brown parsnips or glazed carrots, their edges caramelized to perfection.

Or try a salad like any of the following:

• Apple Cider Fall Harvest Salad
• Sesame Soy Chopped Salad
• Apple Walnut Spring Mix Salad
• Homemade Caesar Salad

Garnish the Roasted Garlic and Sage Soup

Garnish is mostly for show. But remember that the eyes are how you first take in the food, so it can really affect how we enjoy it. To garnish the soup, ladle it into the bowls that you’ll be serving. Then try any of the following:

A drizzle – Try drizzling a small bit of olive oil or heavy cream on top of the soup. Get fancy and give it a little swirl while you drizzle. Pour them down close to the top of the soup so that there isn’t much force and it stays on the surface. The drizzle helps to break up the monotony of color that soups can sometimes suffer from.

A dollop – Top it off with a little bit of sour cream or a dollop of prepared aioli (just make sure that the flavor pairs well with the potatoes, roasted garlic, and sage). Gently place a spoonful atop the soup for a fun presentation.

A sprinkling – Finally, sprinkle some chopped or whole fresh herbs, parmesan cheese, or bacon on top. Whole herbs will be for show and removed or eaten around. Try it with sage, parsley, or chives. And everything is enhanced with parmesan and bacon so… give that a spin if you want. You could even have garlic and sage soup with croutons on top for a nice crunchy texture.

Now, remember, while it’s easy to get carried away with the garnish, keep it classy. You don’t want to overshadow the star of the show – the soup itself. I hope you enjoy the soup and let it warm your home this winter!

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this roasted garlic and sage soup! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Pureed Potato Roasted Garlic and Sage Soup

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: Soups, SidesDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

45

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

Savor the velvety blend of pureed potatoes, aromatic roasted garlic, and earthy sage in this comforting soup recipe that’s perfect for any cozy winter night!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds large Yukon gold potatoes

• 3 tablespoons salted butter

• 20 sage leaves

• 1 yellow onion

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 10 cloves roasted garlic

• 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock

• 2 dried bay leaves

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1 cup milk

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

• Peel and dice the potatoes, and finely chop the onion.
• In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat, add in the sage and chopped onion, and cook about 5 minutes until the butter takes on a golden hue, and the onion becomes translucent – stir frequently
• Stir in the thyme and roasted garlic, cooking for 2 minutes allowing their fragrances to meld with the sautéed mixture.
• Pour in the chicken stock, potatoes, and bay leaves, turning the heat to medium-high until it begins to bubble
• Cover, turn down the heat, and simmer for approximately 30 minutes until the potatoes are fork-tender, stirring occasionally to ensure even cooking
• Turn off the heat when the potatoes are cooked through
• Using a stick blender, blend the soup until smooth – alternatively, pour it into a blender and blend it in batches
• Add cream and milk to soup in the pot and return to very low heat for 5 minutes until heated through, stirring occasionally

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The post Pureed Potato Roasted Garlic and Sage Soup appeared first on Do You Roux?.

Butternut squash season is in full swing. So what better time to make a fall-themed recipe that features this fun gourd? Grab a big old spoon and scoop yourself some of this roasted butternut squash soup.

A while back I bought a whole batch of Williams Sonoma e-cookbooks. One of their series is the 365 recipe series where they have one recipe for every day of the year related to the general book topic. In their Soup of the Day book of the 365 series, the October 22nd recipe caught my attention.

It was a pretty basic squash soup recipe. It seemed like a good starting point. But I wanted a little bit more than what their recipe showed.

So, I souped up this recipe and added a little more complexity to the dish. More herbs, more flavor. And some notes on garnishing the soup to really bring it to its full potential.

Making a Pureed Soup

Start off by roasting the squash alongside some other aromatics like garlic and onion. Then saute a bunch of herbs and spices in butter. The aromas wafting through your house will be mouthwatering.

Combine everything from the roasting pan with the sauteed herbs and spices. Then pour in some stock and bring it to a boil. Let everything simmer together for a bit. We want everything to be fully cooked so that it will blend up easier in the next step.

When everything has had time to cook together, it is time to puree.

For the smoothest soup possible, I recommend using a very powerful blender. Though I admittedly own 3 different blenders, I used the Vitamix to tackle this soup. In my experience, most stick blenders will not have enough power to make a super smooth soup. Also, make sure to blend your soup in batches so that you don’t overload the blender and create a mess.

Top and Serve Butternut Squash Soup

Though this soup is delicious all on its own, you can take it to the next level with some toppings.

After serving the soup into individual bowls, drizzle a little brown butter sage sauce or heavy whipping cream over the top. Or do like I did and add both into the same bowl.

Then add some shaved parmesan and toasted walnuts to the top of the soup. And if you’d like, gently place a few small sage leaves or sprigs of thyme on top for a fresh look.

To serve alongside your tasty soup, try making a simple grilled cheese sandwich with a sourdough loaf and some sharp cheddar cheese. Or serve it with some homemade rolls.

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this roasted butternut squash soup! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Silky Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SoupsDifficulty: Intermediate

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

50

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

20

minutes

This silky smooth roasted butternut squash soup features one of fall’s favorite gourds and a lot of herbs and spices to taste the season in a bowl

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash (2.5 to 3 lbs)

• 1 large carrot

• 1 small white onion

• 8 cloves garlic

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

• 2 stalks celery

• 1 spring fresh rosemary (1 teaspoon minced)

• 3 sage leaves

• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

• 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger

• 4 tablespoons salted butter

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 3 to 4 cups vegetable (or chicken) stock

• For garnish: heavy whipping cream, brown butter sage sauce, toasted walnuts, shaved parmesan

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C)
• Peel and cube the squash into 1/2-inch pieces, chop the carrot into 1-inch sections, chop the onion to 1/2-inch pieces, and peel the garlic
• Spread the squash, carrot, onion, and garlic onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, drizzle it with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and put it in the center rack of the oven
• Roast for about 30 minutes until the squash is fork-tender
• While the squash is roasting, chop the celery, rosemary, sage, thyme, and ginger
• When the squash has finished roasting, melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat
• Add the celery, rosemary, sage, thyme, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg to the butter and saute for 3 to 5 minutes until the celery begins to soften
• Add the roasted squash, carrot, onion, and garlic to the pot along with the vegetable stock
• Turn the heat to medium-high, bringing the pot to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium and let it simmer for 10 minutes
• Blend the soup in batches in a blender on high power until completely smooth
• Return the blended soup to the pot over medium heat until it begins to simmer, stirring occasionally
• Serve the soup in bowls and garnish as desired

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The post Silky Smooth Roasted Butternut Squash Soup appeared first on Do You Roux?.

It felt so fancy to walk up to the meat and seafood counter and ask for three lobster tails. I don’t know why but it seemed lavish. I hadn’t cooked lobster before making this lobster bisque recipe. In fact, I hadn’t had much experience with lobster at all before this.

So don’t be scared if you haven’t cooked it before either. It isn’t too complicated to cook the lobster correctly, so you don’t have to be afraid of messing it up.

Whenever I say bisque, I can’t help but think back to a comedy sketch all about bisque. Give it a watch for a quick food-related laugh. Mostly about the restaurant owner over-pronouncing bisque. You’ll never hear the word bisque the same again.

History of the Dish

I did not realize how much variety there is to a lobster bisque recipe. There are a lot of ways you can cook the lobster, make the stock, blend it up, thicken it, etc.

From my understanding, the word bisque comes from French meaning twice cooked. This makes sense since the general method is to cook the lobster, remove and reserve the meat, and then cook the shells further to build flavor in a stock to be used as the soup base.

Bisque first came to be known as a crustacean soup in 17th century France. In a truly authentic bisque, the shells are ground to a fine paste and added to help thicken and flavor the soup. We will not be going that traditional with our recipe today.

Instead we will use two of the common methods for thickening a bisque – rice and heavy cream.

If you are serving it as an appetizer, then it is commonly served in a mug so that you can sip it straight from the dish.

Tools for the Lobster Bisque Recipe

This recipe is a bit involved. It’ll take some time and work on your part. Though some of that time will just be the stock or soup simmering in the pot.

You will want a large, heavy-bottom pot. We will cook the lobster, build the stock, and cook the final soup all in that same pot. I like to use a large Le Creuset enameled cast iron dutch oven. But any large pot would probably fit the bill.

For straining the soup, you will need a fine mesh strainer. This will get the majority of the stuff out of the stock – the rest will get blended up in the following steps. If you want to make sure that even more is strained out, then you can line the mesh strainer with cheesecloth. That is what I typically do when making my homemade chicken stock.

Bisque is a blended soup. So you will need something you can blend everything together with. And you will likely need to work in batches to get it done because it is a large pot of soup after all. For this, you can use an immersion (stick) blender. But I highly recommend a powerful blender, like the Vitamix I have, to get the smoothest soup possible.

Having Bisque

My wife and I had the opportunity to travel to the New England area in 2016. The goal was to hit up six of the seven remaining states that my wife had yet to visit. And then later we would cap it off with a grand trip to Alaska. But that’s for another time.

While in Boston, my parents told us we had to make a stop by Legal Sea Foods. Specifically to try the lobster bisque. So we did.

We ordered a cup of the bisque, along with a few other items from the menu. The food came to the table and we started to dig in. I began with the bisque. It was great – though I think probably my first experience with the soup itself. So I did not have many comparisons by which to judge it. My first or second spoonful had a large chunk of lobster.

I thought, ‘Great, this is a nice chunky soup. They did not skimp.’

And then my wife had some soup. And could not find a single other large piece of lobster. It seems we had only one chunk. There were some small scraps of lobster meat floating around, but nothing like the first chunk.

So, unlike that experience where I had to apologize to my wife for accidentally eating all of the lobster out of the soup, we will make one with lobster spread through each bowl.

Traditional Lobster Bisque

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SoupsDifficulty: Hard

Servings

10

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

50

minutes

Total time

2

hours 

20

minutes

Silky-smooth, full-flavored, sippable bisque that is worth the effort and attention to make

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter, divided

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp pepper

• Three 4-ounce lobster tails

• 2 cups sliced celery, divided

• 2 cups sliced carrots, divided

• 2 cups chopped white onion, divided

• 5 tablespoons tomato paste, divided

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 sprig oregano

• 2 sprigs thyme

• 5 leaves fresh tarragon

• 5 sprigs parsley

• 2/3 cup white wine vinegar, divided

• 10 cups chicken stock (or seafood stock if you have some)

• 1 cup sliced leek

• 3 tablespoons long grain white rice

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

• Melt 4 tablespoons butter with the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat
• Add the garlic, salt, pepper, and lobster tails top-side down to the pot and sauté for 2 minutes
• Flip the lobster tails over, cover the pot, and cook an additional 5 to 7 minutes until the shell is bright red and the lobster meat is no longer translucent
• Turn off the heat and remove the lobster tails from the pot and set them aside to let cool until they can be handled, leaving the butter in the bottom of the pot
• Once it is cool enough to handle the lobster, remove the meat from the tails by cutting down the center of the tail, spreading it apart, and pulling out the meat
• Store the lobster meat in the fridge for later, break apart the shells, and add the shells back to the pot
• Build the lobster stock by adding 1/3 cup each of the celery, onion, and carrot to the pot and sautéing on medium heat with the shells for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Add the bay leaves, oregano, thyme, tarragon, parsley, 1/3 cup of the vinegar and all the chicken or seafood broth to the pot
• Let it come to a simmer, then reduce heat and cover to let it simmer for at least an hour, stirring occasionally
• Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl and set aside, tossing all of the things you strained out
• Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the pot on medium heat and add in 1/3 cup of the reserved stock you just strained
• Add the leek and the remaining 1 and 1/3 cups celery, carrots, and onion to the pot to sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently
• Pour the rest of the strained stock into the pot and bring it all to a simmer
• Add the rice and remaining 3 tablespoons of tomato paste and 1/3 cup vinegar to the pot and let it cook until all of the vegetables and the rice are soft and almost mushy, about 30 minutes
• While the soup is simmering, take the lobster meat from the fridge and roughly chop it for topping the soup
• When the rice and vegetables have finished cooking in the soup, add 1/3 to 1/2 a cup of the chopped lobster meat into the soup
• Blend the soup up in a powerful blender, in batches, until the soup is very smooth, and then return it to the pot
• Stir in the heavy cream until thoroughly mixed
• Serve the bisque in bowls or mugs and top it with the chopped lobster meat

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In sickness and in health, chicken noodle soup is there for you. It’s a soup that is also a warm, comforting hug.

Piping hot broth brimming with hearty vegetables, tender chicken, and plump noodles make this soup come to life. Kids, adults, grandparents, and teens all love the simple goodness of a great chicken noodle soup.

You can even make a huge vat of this and store it for eating later. And it is indispensable to have this soup on hand in the freezer for when anyone isn’t feeling well. I love storing mine in these quart-sized deli containers either in the fridge or freezer. Then just defrost if needed and reheat on the stovetop and it is as if you made it fresh. It can store for 3 to 5 days in the fridge and 2 to 3 months in the freezer.

Ingredients for Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken – This recipe is great for using leftover chicken or just pulling the meat off of a rotisserie chicken. If you are using leftovers, make sure that whatever flavor used on the chicken will work with the soup. I’m not sure if chicken smothered in bbq sauce would work with all these other flavors.

Noodles – Thick, wider egg noodles work great for this soup. They soak up that flavorful broth and give a great consistency for everything. Looking for the noodles at the store, you may need to look towards the very top or bottom of the shelves to find the egg noodles. For this batch, I used noodles I bought from the store, but if you are feeling ambitious you can make your own from scratch.

Chicken Stock or Broth – I highly recommend making your own chicken stock for chicken noodle soup. The depth of flavor in a homemade stock is so much better and is awesome for soup. Think about it, the chicken stock is the base for this whole thing. The noodles will cook inside the stock and soak up whatever flavor it has. And you will be sipping it with every spoonful. So make sure it is as good as possible.

Herbs – The fresh parsley and thyme add some bright notes to the soup. The bay leaves lend flavor to the chicken stock as it slowly simmers. You can try experimenting, adding different herbs for a little bit of a new vibe. Rosemary, sage, or dill would be some great additions.

Vegetables – Celery and carrots are classic for chicken noodle soup. So that is all I have tried. For me, it just doesn’t feel right doing anything else. But you can feel free to test out some other vegetables. Let me know how it goes if you try something different.

Simply Chicken Noodle Soup

Course: SoupsDifficulty: Moderate

Servings

9

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

45

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

5

minutes

Homemade chicken noodle soup for when you’re sick, or it is cold, or whenever you need comfort.

Ingredients

• 3 large celery stalks

• 4 large carrots

• 1 large onion

• 2 cloves garlic

• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme

• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 9 cups chicken stock

• 2 bay leaves

• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 2 cups wide egg noodles

Directions

• Slice the celery and carrots to about 1/8″ thick, chop the onion, and mince the garlic, thyme, and parsley
• Add the olive oil, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, thyme, and parsley to a large stockpot and sauté on medium-high heat for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently until carrots and celery have softened
• Pour the chicken stock into the pot, place the lid on top, and bring it to a boil
• Once it has begun to boil, turn heat to medium-low, add bay leaves, chicken, lemon juice, and noodles, and cook about 20 mins until noodles are cooked through, stirring occasionally
• Serve immediately, top with fresh parsley if desired

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Ham and dill potato cream cheese soup is dangerous. I always go back for seconds… and too stuffed to eat any more but still slurping down soup thirds. You have been warned, proceed at your own risk.

A comforting mix of ham, dill, potatoes, and cream cheese simmers in a velvety broth-based soup with a touch of cream that pairs perfectly with rolls. This silky soup will warm you up on even the coldest of nights.

The recipe here is made possible by a restaurant chain in Arizona called Wildflower Bread Company. There is a location at the Chandler Fashion Mall that my family would frequent. When dining in, they would serve the soup in a bread bowl. So you can do that if you want here, but it is a lot of extra work and the soup still tastes amazing in a non-edible bowl.

The restaurant bills their dish as potato cream cheese soup. But that is a terrible name because it has a lot more going on and I don’t think it lets you imagine the soup properly. My name for it is a bit of a mouthful, so it may not be much better, but it does paint a better picture.

Soup Traditions

When my mom was growing up, grandma would make clam chowder for their Christmas Eve dinner. Mom loved the tradition but didn’t really love the clam chowder. However, making the clam chowder did introduce her to the steps of making a roux. But she still wanted to keep up the tradition and share it with her own family, so she would make either broccoli cheese soup or three clam chowder without the clams (so, zero clam chowder?).

Then one pivotal day my mom ate at Wildflower Bread Company and tried out their potato cream cheese soup. She enjoyed it enough to try making a copycat recipe at home. Then it became the traditional meal served for our family’s Christmas Eve dinner.

When I first started cooking for myself, I asked my mom for some of our family recipes and this one was included in the mix. So I learned how to make it. Then I lost the actual recipe but generally remembered what went into it and how to make it. Every once in a while I would text my mom a list of the ingredients and ask her if I had forgotten anything. It slowly evolved into how I make it and has become this recipe.

To this day I generally keep up with the tradition. I don’t necessarily always have it for Christmas eve, but I always make it within the week leading up to Christmas. And many other times year-round because it is so good.

Potato Cream Cheese Soup Recommendations

Ham – For a while I used a pre-cubed bag of ham. Now I like to get ham from the deli, cut extra thick, and then cube it myself. Or, wait until you have made a large spiral cut ham and have tons of leftovers – and use the leftover ham for this soup.

Dill – Fresh dill is best – especially homegrown fresh dill that you just clipped from the garden. But that isn’t always possible. So if you don’t have any in season or can’t find any in the produce section, then you can use dried dill in a pinch. It isn’t quite as good, but it works. Just remember to cut the amount of dill used in half if using the dried stuff.

Rolls – This soup is best enjoyed with some freshly made rolls. My mom (or in later years my sister) would always make a huge double-batch of the family roll recipe when we were having this soup. You can also try some saltines, pita chips, or even some goldfish crackers. Basically, this soup is good with some salty carbs.

Ham and Dill Potato Cream Cheese Soup

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SoupsDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

35

minutes

Total time

50

minutes

A comforting mix of ham, dill, potatoes, and cream cheese simmered in a velvety broth and cream-based soup that pairs perfectly with rolls

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound ham

• 1 large onion

• 4 stalks celery

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1/4 cup flour

• 1 package (30 ounces) frozen shredded hash brown potatoes

• 12 cups chicken stock

• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese

• 1 cup sour cream

• 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped (or 1/8 cup dried dill)

• 2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp pepper

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

• Cube the ham, chop the onion and celery
• Melt the butter in a large stock pot on medium heat, add the celery and onion, and sauté for 5 minutes until softened
• Stir in the flour and let cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Remove the onion/celery/flour mixture from the pot and set aside in a bowl for later
• Pour the chicken stock and frozen has brown potatoes into the pot, turn the heat to high, let it come to a boil, and boil for 5 minutes until the potatoes are softened
• While waiting for the pot to boil, place the cream cheese and sour cream into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 2 minutes, until softened and stir together with a fork
• When the potatoes are ready, mix in the sour cream/cream cheese mixture, the onion/celery/flour mixture, and the ham
• Stir together while it simmers until there are no more clumps of cream cheese or flour
• Turn the heat down to medium and add salt, pepper, dill, and cream
• Let it cook for at least 5 more minutes together and then serve and enjoy

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