Potato Pumpkin Soup with Bacon

This soup screams fall. A warm, cozy potato soup with pumpkin…what could be more fall-y?

This soup makes me want to curl up in a warm blanket and sit by the fireplace.

Not only is there bacon on top of the soup, but the roux (a thickener typically using a mixture of butter and flour) uses bacon fat instead of butter. Because of this, there is a delicious bacon flavor in each bite of this soup.

It is such a yummy combination of flavors. You start this soup off by peeling 5 Yukon gold potatoes and dicing them into approximately one inch cubes. It will end up being about four cups of diced potato.

Place them in a medium pot and cover them with cold water. Bring the water to a simmer and let the potatoes cook until they are fork tender. Try not to let the water boil, just simmer.

Meanwhile, heat a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat and chop your bacon into “lardones,” which is just a fancy french word for chopped up bacon…like this:

Put the bacon in the pot and cook until it is brown and crispy.

I love the smell and sound of sizzling bacon!

Remove the bacon from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer onto several paper towels so it can drain.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the bacon fat and discard the rest.

To the 1/4 cup of bacon fat, add 1/4 cup of flour and whisk together to form a roux.

Let the roux cook for a minute or so, just so the raw flour flavor cooks out.

Make sure you are checking your potatoes! When they are done, dump them out into a colander to strain out all of the water.

To your roux, add three cups of 2% milk and three cups of chicken stock. Whisk together.

Simmer this mixture until it is slightly thickened, and then add your cooked potatoes.

Using an immersion blender (or you could transfer it to an actual blender or food processor), puree the soup so it is smooth and potato-chunk-free :).

Add one teaspoon of salt and one half teaspoon of pepper.

Now for the pumpkin!

Add 3/4 cups of pumpkin to your soup and taste. I ended up adding 3/4 cups plus two tablespoons, but this will depend of how much pumpkin flavor you want in your soup.

And now you are ready to serve it up!! Just ladle some soup into a bowl, spoon on a small dollop of Greek yogurt, top with some bacon, and a little extra black pepper.

So cozy and comforting.

**If you want to make this recipe vegetarian, you can easily cut out the bacon topping, substitute the 1/4 cup bacon fat with 1/4 cup butter, and use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.**

Here is the recipe:

Potato Pumpkin Soup with Bacon

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Annie Chesson
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 6 bowls 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 5 Yukon gold potatoes (4 cups diced)
• 6 strips of bacon
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 3 cups 2% milk
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt
• Salt and Pepper

Instructions

1. Peel and dice your potatoes
2. Add them to a medium pot and cover with cold water
3. Bring to a simmer and let cook until the potatoes are fork tender (try not to let the water boil, just simmer)
4. Meanwhile, heat a dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat
5. Chop your bacon into lardones (basically just chopped bacon) and add it to your pot
6. Let the bacon cook until it is golden brown and crispy
7. Remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon and place on top of several layers of paper towels to drain
8. Reserve 1/4 cup of the bacon fat, and discard the rest
9. Put the 1/4 cup of fat back into the pot, and add 1/4 cup of flour
10. Whisk together until it is smooth, and let it cook for a minute just so the raw flour taste cooks out
11. Add the chicken stock and milk
12. Bring the soup to a simmer and let it cook until it is slightly thickened
13. Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
14. Once your potatoes are cooked, dump them into a colander and drain all the water off
15. Add them to your soup (once the soup is already thickened) and puree with an immersion blender
16. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a food processor or regular blender for this step
17. Whisk in your pumpkin puree. Start with 3/4 cup of puree, and add more to taste. I ended up thinking 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons was the perfect amount
18. Taste the soup and add any extra seasoning that you feel it needs
19. Ladle the soup into bowls, and top with bacon, a small dollop of Greek yogurt, and a little extra black pepper.
20. **If you want to make this recipe vegetarian, you can easily cut out the bacon topping, substitute the 1/4 cup bacon fat with 1/4 cup butter, and use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.**