Normally I make my Potato Soup with Bacon in my slow cooker, but I got this gorgeous Le Creuset Dutch oven for Christmas, and I’m loving it for soups. It’s snowing outside, I have a 5th grader willing to be my sous chef, and dinner isn’t a rush tonight.

So stove top Potato Soup with Bacon it is.

We start with a pound of bacon. Now, if you have bacon vultures living at your house like I do, you’ll either need to keep your family out of the kitchen after the bacon is cooked, or you’ll need to make more bacon. I didn’t do either on this particular night, so I was pretty nervous about the bacon situation.

After the bacon is crispy, remove it from the pot and save for later. Also remove all but 1/3 cup bacon grease.

Add cubed potatoes, chopped onion, and garlic to pot and stir, cooking until onions are translucent.

Add chicken stock, parsley, thyme, and white pepper, stirring to combine. Return to a boil and simmer on medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

When potatoes are tender, stir in heavy cream. To make the soup thick and creamy, use an immersion blender to blend soup to desired thickness. Or you can transfer about half of the soup (careful, it’ll be hot!) to a blender, blend it, and return it to the pot.

When soup is just how you want it, stir all but several tablespoons of bacon back in the soup, reserving the rest for topping each bowl. Salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls, top with bacon, cheese, croutons, and green onions, if desired.