Baked Potato Soup

I don't know about where you live, but here in Ohio it's a drizzly cold mess. At least it has been the past couple of days. I hate that it's almost winter. I think I'm meant to live in a more temperate climate.

When it's so yucky I crave soup and lots of it.

Pre-WeightWatchers I would definitely say my favorite soup was Panera's baked potato soup in a bread bowl. But that meal (sometimes washed down with a bag of their potato chips) clocks in at 820 calories, 13 grams of fat and 6 grams of fiber. The fat and fiber isn't awful considering, but 820 calories? Yikes. That's a little over half an entire day for me. And I could probably eat that entire thing.

So, over the years I've looked for a suitable swap in the baked potato soup department. And I think I've found the winner. This baked potato soup recipe is one of the top-rated soups at Cooking Light and I can definitely see why. It's so creamy and delicious, you won't believe it's only 329 calories per serving.

It says you get 8 servings out of the recipe, but I halved it and didn't nearly get 1-1/2 cup servings out of that. It was closer to a cup I suppose. So it's fairly pointy for just a cup, but it's so satisfying and rich tasting.

If halving it, you would use 3 cups of milk. I only had a pint of 2%, so I used 2 cups of 2% and a cup of skim. You might even be able to get away with 1 1/2 cups of skim and 2% if you're looking to cut calories. I also used center cut bacon instead of regular. And I would used more salt than it called for. For me, salt=taste.

This one's definitely going in the make again file.