Hard Rock Cafe Potato Soup

Soooo...I sort of took the summer off from sharing recipes. This has been pointed out to me by various people...I had no idea anyone at all read this blog, but now that I know I have an audience, I will have to do better! My initial goal was to post a recipe a week. Maybe that is a little unrealistic for my life, but I'm thinking maybe once every other week would be doable. But, I have a little catching up to do now, so you're going to get a two-fer tonight!

This is hands down my most favorite potato soup recipe, ever. My mom dug it up years ago off of one of those copy cat recipe websites. She would make it with bacon cheese bread and bring it to me and my roommates at college. Heaven. It's definitely worth sharing, and I know you will like it if you try it!

Hard Rock Cafe Potato Soup

8 slices bacon, fried crisp
1 c diced yellow onion
2/3 c flour
6 c chicken broth
4 c diced peeled baked potato (HUGE TIME SAVING TIP..I used three cans of diced great value brand potatoes. So much faster than baking, peeling, and dicing potatoes, and you can't tell a difference in taste at all.)
2 c heavy cream (you can use half and half to lighten it up a bit)
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley (I use about 1 T of dried parsley)
1 1/2 T garlic powder
1 1/2 T dried basil
1 1/2 T tabasco
1 1/2 T pepper (If you put the full amount of pepper and tabasco, it will be very spicy. Adjust amounts of pepper and tabasco if you are not a spicy fan or are cooking for kids who aren't spicy fans.)
1 c grated cheddar cheese
1/4 c diced green onion

Cook and chop bacon. Set aside. Cook onion in drippings over medium high heat until transparent. Add flour, stirring to prevent lumps. Cook for 3-5 minutes until mixture just begins to turn golden. Add broth gradually, stirring constantly with whisk until thickened. Reduce heat to simmer and add potatoes, cream, bacon, parsley, garlic, basil, tabasco, and black pepper. Simmer 10 minutes. DO NOT BOIL. Add cheese and green onions. Stir until cheese melts. YUMMY!