We always host friends at our house for the NFL playoff games—especially if the Chiefs are still in the race—and the recent AFC Championship game was no exception.
Along with having folks over to yell at the TV with us, we try to put out a good spread of food for everyone to enjoy. While we were shopping for the party, Joey announced that he was going to get a big pack of bone-in chicken thighs to cook on the smoker and that I might want to think about a soup to make with the end result.
Challenge accepted.
I landed on a chicken potato chowder recipe that turned out to be absolutely fabulous—especially because Joey not only deboned the chicken thighs for my soup, he also boiled the bones to make a great stock for the recipe, too.
So, if you or someone else in your household are good at smoking meats, I highly recommend trying that process for the chicken for this recipe.
But even if that’s not in your wheelhouse, cook up some chicken on the stove or grab a pre-cooked rotisserie and still give this a try. You won’t be disappointed.
This recipe comes from the blog “Fearless Dining” by Sandi Gaertner. You can find the original post at https://www.fearlessdining.com/chicken-potato-soup-recipe/. I added extra seasonings in my version.
Chicken Potato Chowder
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion diced
- 6 slices bacon cut into half-inch pieces
- 5 cups potatoes cut into one-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup flour
- 4 cups chicken broth or stock
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- black pepper to taste
- 2 to 3 cups cooked chicken cut into one-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup cheese I used Monterrey jack and colby
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven with a lid, heat the oil over medium heat. Add in the onion and bacon and saute until the bacon is cooked through and the onions are soft.
- Add the potatoes to the pot, along with the flour. Mix to evenly coat everything with the flour.
- Add the chicken broth, salt, celery salt, garlic powder and black pepper, and stir to combine.
- Stir in the cooked chicken and place the lid on the pot. Let it come to a slow boil and leave it for about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook for another 10 minutes (with the lid still on).
- Stir in the heavy cream and simmer for five more minutes with the lid off.
- Remove the pot from the heat and blend about one to two cups of the soup with either an immersion blender or by pouring that portion into a traditional blender. (The goal is to get more of a chowder consistency at this point while still having nice big chunks of potato and chicken.)
- Stir in the shredded cheese until it is melted, and serve immediately.
We made this the day before our get together and then reheated it in the crockpot for the game, and let me tell you: it was delicious. We had a big loaf of Italian bread to go with the chowder, and it was hearty and such a great belly-warmer for a cold day. Also, it reheated really, really well again for more leftovers.
And, on top of the great food, we watched the Chiefs advance to the Super Bowl. If you make this soup for your own sports get-together, I can’t guarantee it will result in a win for your team, but either way, your stomach will be happy.
This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 2, 2023.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
