Hearty Potato Soup

I LOVE this soup. It has a whole comfort-food-on-a-rainy-day kind of vibe. It is easily adaptable to a plant-based version, which I do more often now for myself, but my family prefers the original recipe. Truth be told- it’s hard for me to resist at least a taste of the original! Hearty Potato Soup is delicious, but it’s also filling and economical. Serve with some fresh bread and a salad on the side.

Ingredients

3 large carrots

4 stalks celery

1 white onion

1/2 sweet red pepper

2 tablespoons dried minced garlic

7 medium potatoes

3 cups water

3 cups chicken broth (Vegetable broth for a plant-based version)

frozen corn

1 cup milk (water for plant-based)

1 cup flour

pepper to taste

salt to taste

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon dried parsley

Directions to Make Hearty Potato Soup:

Grab a pot and place it on medium-low heat, add about a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan.

Chop up red pepper, onion, carrots and celery. Add to heated pot. Sautee’ till veggies just start to tenderize.

Get to dicing up those potatoes while the veggies are cooking. Cut off and discard and yucky bruises or spots on your potatoes. Set aside.

Add water, broth and garlic to the pot. Simmer veggies, broth and water for about 45 minutes or until tender.

Add potatoes and continue to simmer till potatoes are tender. Add about 1 cup of frozen corn.

While the potatoes are simmering in the broth, combine milk and flour. ***(For a plant-based version, you can omit the milk and just use water mixed with flour to add to the soup as a thickener)

Add paprika.

Add milk/flour mixture and dried parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. Then add about 3 tablespoons of butter and stir till melted. ***(Omit butter if you are going plant-based)

That’s it! Serve hot with warm bread and salad! We love this for lunch, but it is hearty enough for dinner as well. The corn adds a nice ‘sweet bite’ to it and paprika add a slight ‘smokiness’ to it. Enjoy!