Short Cut Potato Soup

Back when I was in junior high and high school, Megan and I would often make dinner during the week. At some point, we got a cookbook called Mr. Food Cooks like Mama to try out some new recipes. As I recall, we tried out a number of recipes, but this soup was one of my favorites. I may have to find a copy of the cook book to test other recipes.

Now, one reason that Mr. Food called this a "short cut" potato soup was because he used dried potato flakes to quickly thicken the soup. When Meg and I made this soup, we used potato flakes. I prefer to not use potato flakes, but rather, dice the potatoes into smaller pieces then use a blender or just a fork to mash them up at the end of cooking. Also, the original recipe calls for using some milk and some water, but I usually just use water when actually cooking the soup. But, I do sometimes use milk when reheating the soup, because it does tend to thicken too much when cooled. So the recipe below reflects the changes that I have made.

Short Cut Potato Soup 

• 1 1/2 cups diced onion
• 1/4 cup margarine or butter
• 4 cups diced (half inch cubes) potatoes 
• 1 carrot, coarsely grated
• 3 to 4 cups water
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. dried dillweed

In a soup pot, brown the onion in the butter. Add the potatoes, carrot, water, pepper and dillweed. The water should just cover the potatoes. Cook on low until the potatoes are creamy, about 45 minutes. Mash up the potatoes using a fork or by transferring portions of the soup to a blender. The final soup should be mostly creamy, but with some potato pieces. Enjoy!