Loaded Potato Soup {crockpot cooking}

We held our Refresh DNow (a discipleship weekend) this past weekend at church for middle schoolers and my mom was in charge of all of our meals.  Friday night was cold and windy and warm soups made for the perfect supper.  Students could choose between three different types of soup -- Taco Soup, Chicken Pot Pie Soup, or Loaded Potato Soup.  Honestly, I wasn't sure how they would take to the Loaded Potato Soup because let's just face it, middle schoolers can be weird, picky eaters. BUT . . . it was a favorite.  As a matter of fact, it was the most requested for seconds so next time we'll just have to make a bigger batch.  That's a good thing.

I only got to eat one small bowl of the soup last weekend due to taking care of "stuff" while all my students and leaders arrived and registered, so I decided to make a crockpot full for supper tonight. It's cold and rainy and I have two meetings tonight, so a meal I could put in the crockpot early and have ready for my family was just perfect.

As you can tell from the ingredients pictured below, I'm a Great Value shopper as much as I can be. The total cost for this delicious pot of soup was only $8.08 (not including the price of the sharp cheddar that I'll use as garnish since I bought the BIG bag.  It was $4.98 but I certainly won't use all of it for tonight's supper.  We use cheddar ALL OF THE TIME and I happened to be out.).  This pot will easily feed the 6 of us with leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.  I like that math.

Loaded Potato Soup

One bag of frozen diced hashbrowns
One box (32 ounces) of chicken broth
One can cream of chicken soup
One package of bacon bits
One block of cream cheese

Place all ingredients except for cream cheese in the crockpot.  Cook for five hours on low so that potatoes cook through.  Add cream cheese and cook one hour more so that cheese melts.  Stir well. Sprinkle sharp cheddar cheese on top of soup to garnish and serve.

Now I splurged and bought a loaf of French bread off of the bakery clearance rack.  60 cents total.  Not bad at all, if I do say so myself.

I'm sure you could make this with fresh chicken broth and fried, crumbled bacon, but the simplicity of throwing everything into the crockpot and walking away was just what I needed today.  If I were going to be home this evening, I might even have made hot cornbread, but crusty French bread will hit the spot, too.  I've got sweet tea ready and the kitchen smells yummy.

Take THAT cold, yucky weather.  Take THAT.




I'm linking up with two friends this week.
Jennifer is sharing a #SouperBowl2015 Linky Party and Lisa is sharing on Try a New Recipe Tuesday.  For more great recipes and Super Bowl fun, visit both of my friends.  They have some really great recipes to try. Pin It Now!