Potato soups are one of the ultimate comfort foods, but they can be notorious for being loaded with extra calories and saturated fat. This High Protein Loaded Baked Potato Soup has all of the traditional ingredients, but with a few healthy additions and swaps, we’ve taken this popular recipe and turned it into the perfect lightened up version that the whole family will love!
It’s cozy, creamy, and oh so comforting. And the best part? It can be made in under 30 minutes AND it makes for great leftovers!
And, if you like this soup, you'll want to check out our macro-friendly Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup recipe as well!
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3 Reasons Why You Will Love This High Protein Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe
- This recipe is quick to make. This recipe can be made in under 30 minutes start to finish. If you’d like to make it even faster, you can use some shortcuts, such as buying pre-minced garlic and pre-chopped onions to save a few minutes of preparing your produce.
- It makes great leftovers. This recipe is perfect for those who like to prepare their meals in advance. The flavors come out more as it sits and tastes wonderful even a few days after making it. Simply reheat in the microwave or over the stove for an easy and quick lunch or dinner!
- It’s high in protein. Many cream based soups are high in calories and saturated fat and low in protein. This recipe has a few swaps and additions including Greek yogurt, bone broth, and cauliflower to add more nutrients to your day without even noticing!
Ingredients
The ingredients to this soup are all pretty straightforward. You might even have a lot of these ingredients on hand!
- Yellow potatoes (or any potato of choice)
- Frozen cauliflower (or fresh)
- Chicken bone broth (or any broth of choice)
- Butter (or ghee/oil of choice)
- Onion
- Green onions
- Flour
- Salt and pepper
- 2% milk (or milk of choice)
- Sharp cheddar cheese (or cheese of choice)
- Greek yogurt
- Turkey bacon
Kitchen Tools Required
One of the best parts of this recipe is that it doesn’t require a lot of tools and utensils, which makes for a quick and easy cleanup. All you need is a cutting board, knife, large soup pot, and a blender. You can also use an immersion blender instead of a standing blender, but I find using a standing blender is less time consuming. You will also need to use whatever appliance/tools you prefer to use to cook your frozen cauliflower and turkey bacon. I find doing both in the microwave is the easiest and makes for simple clean up.
How to Make High Protein Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Step 1: Prepare all produce and toppings, as described in the recipe card.
Step 2: Boil potatoes.
Step 3: Saute onion, green onion, and garlic.
Step 4: Blend ½ cooked potatoes, cauliflower, and bone broth.
Step 5: Once onions are cooked, add the flour, and spices. Stir until combined.
Step 6: Stir in milk, cheese, and Greek yogurt until fully incorporated.
Step 7: Serve warm and garnish with additional toppings, if desired.
Swaps or Alternatives
Butter, ghee, or oil
A small amount of butter, ghee, or oil is needed for sautéing the onion, green onion, and garlic. I used butter in mine to help give it a slightly richer taste, but any form of fat would work great!
Produce
Most potato soups keep it really simple when it comes to produce and only include potatoes, onion, green onion, and garlic. In this recipe, we added some additional nutrients by also adding in cauliflower. If you are inspired to get creative, feel free to swap these out for any veggie and experiment with something new! For the potatoes, we used yellow potatoes, but any potatoes would work just fine. Nutrition tip: leave the skin on! This is where a lot of the nutrients and fiber are hiding out!
Spices
Salt and pepper. That’s it! There is so much flavor that comes from the other ingredients that no other spices are needed. Although, if you like some heat, topping with hot sauce is always super tasty.
Liquids
Cream based soups usually contain heavy cream, but this lightened up version uses milk instead. I used 2%, but any milk or cream will work just fine. This recipe also calls for chicken bone broth, which helps to increase the amount of protein and nutrients. If you can’t find bone broth, any broth or stock will work too. If you are following a dairy free and/or vegetarian diet, you can simply swap the milk with a dairy free milk and the chicken bone broth with vegetable broth. If you use dairy free milk, that may alter the thickness, resulting in a thinner soup.
Additional Thickeners
Most cream based soups use flour to help with thickening. This recipe does use flour, but a much smaller amount than most traditional recipes. And the best part is that it didn't have any impact on the thickness! This recipe also calls for Greek yogurt. Adding Greek yogurt helps with the thickness/creaminess, while providing extra nutrients and protein. If you are following a dairy free diet you can swap the Greek yogurt with a dairy free yogurt of choice.
Cheddar Cheese
This recipe calls for sharp cheddar, but feel free to experiment with any cheese of choice. If you are following a dairy free recipe, you can simply swap with dairy free cheese or replace with nutritional yeast.
NOTE: Pre-shredded cheese contains a coating to help it not stick in the package. This coating may impact how the cheese melts. Therefore I recommend buying a block of cheese and grating/shredding it yourself. It only takes a few extra minutes and is worth it!
Quick Tip(s)
When starting this recipe, take out your Greek yogurt and cheese from the refrigerator. They melt better when they aren’t so cold coming right out of the refrigerator. Also, as mentioned above, pre-shredded cheese contains a coating to help it not stick in the package. This coating may impact how the cheese melts. Therefore it is recommended to buy a block of cheese and grating/shredding it yourself. It only takes a few extra minutes and is worth it!
Macros & Nutrition Information
- 352 calories
- 26g protein
- 26g carbs
- 16g fat
High Protein Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Equipment
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Large soup pot
- 1 Blender
Ingredients
- 1 lb yellow potatoes, cut into bite size pieces
- 12 oz frozen cauliflower, microwaved according to package
- 2 cups chicken bone broth or broth of choice
- 2 tbsp butter, ghee, or olive oil
- ½ medium onion diced
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped and divided*
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 cups milk of choice (I used 2%)
- 6 oz freshly-grated sharp cheddar cheese, plus more for garnishing**
- 1 small container Greek yogurt (I used a 5.3oz individual container of Fage 5% plain greek yogurt)
- 8 oz cooked turkey bacon, chopped (I used Applegate)
Instructions
- Prepare all produce and toppings by cubing the potatoes, microwaving the cauliflower, dicing the onion, chopping the green onions, mincing the garlic, and cooking/chopping the turkey bacon.
- Fill a large soup pot with water, add potatoes, and bring to a boil. Cook 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain, rinse, and add to blender (to cool).
- In the same pot, add butter, ghee, or olive oil. Once melted/fragrent, add the onions, stems of the green onions, and garlic. Saute for 5-8 minutes until the onions are translucent and fragrant. Once onions are cooked, add the flour and spices. Stir continuously for 1-2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add ½ the cooked potatoes, the cooked cauliflower, and the bone broth into a high speed blender. Blend until smooth and transfer into soup pot.
- Stir in milk, cheese, and Greek yogurt. Stir continuously until cheese and Greek yogurt are melted and fully incorporated into the soup.
- Serve warm and garnish with green onions, turkey bacon, and additional cheese and Greek yogurt, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- *When dividing the green onion, use the stems (white part) for sautéing and the green part for garnishing.
- **It is highly recommended to use freshly shredded from a block instead of pre-shredded cheese
What do you do with the other half of the potato’s? Put them in the soup whole not blended?
Yes!
Is the weight of the bacon after it’s cooked?
Yes!