24 September 2015

Potato Soup - From Leftover Mashed Potatoes

Potato Soup - From Leftover Mashed Potatoes / www.delightfulrepast.com

Potato Soup is something I usually make with raw potatoes, as in my classic Potato-Leek Soup. But I had some leftover Mashed Potatoes the other day and thought I'd turn them into a soup. It's very thick and rich. You add as much liquid as you need at the end to get the consistency you prefer -- easier than getting it too thin and then having to thicken it. 

I recently got a high-performance blender (more about that another day) and have been having fun making hot soups in it. There's no heating element; it's powerful enough to make friction heat. At the same time the ingredients, even raw vegetables, are being transformed into a perfectly smooth and creamy blend, they are being heated.

Of course, you can just cook this on the stove and puree it right in the pan with an immersion blender. But you'll need to chop and cook the celery if you do. This is my new favorite way to use leftover mashed potatoes. Or baked or boiled potatoes, for that matter. Maybe not leftover french fries, though. But, then, who ever has leftover french fries!

What is your favorite soup? Have you ever heated soup in a high-performance blender? I'm looking forward to making more slow cooker soups this autumn and winter.


Potato Soup - From Leftover Mashed Potatoes / www.delightfulrepast.com

Potato Soup - From Leftover Mashed Potatoes

(Makes five 1-cup servings)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 stalk celery*
2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
1 cup milk + more
1 cup lower sodium vegetable, chicken or beef broth + more
1/2 lightly packed cup shredded cheddar
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
Garnish options: dill, chives, scallions, sour cream, shredded cheese, crumbled bacon

* If using a high-performance blender, just break it in half and throw it in. Otherwise, chop it and cook it in butter with the onions. I suppose you could skip cooking the onion as well, but I can't eat raw onion so I cook it quite well.

1 In small skillet, melt butter. Cook chopped onion (and, perhaps, chopped celery) until softened, about 5 minutes.

2 Place in high-performance blender jar all the ingredients except the garnishes. Hit the preprogrammed Soup button. Taste and adjust seasoning. Hit the button again. Check the temperature and consistency. If it's thicker than you like, add more liquid. You'll need to hit the Soup button again to heat the added liquid.

3 Pour into bowls and garnish. I gave this bowl just a sprinkling of extra dill and coarsely ground black pepper and a bit of shredded cheese.

36 comments:

Biz said...

What a great idea to use leftover mashed potatoes! I routinely bake about 4 baked potatoes over the weekend to use later in the week for hash brown, or twice baked potatoes - now I'll make some soup! :D

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Biz! I really hate food waste -- my grandma would be so proud -- and this doesn't seem at all like "leftovers."

Angie's Recipes said...

That's a great use of leftover, Jean. It looks really creamy and comforting and I love your soup bowl too.

Thomas "Sully" Sullivan said...

While you’re finessing those leftovers, methinks you’re passing over another leftover. That leftover idea of French fry potato soup just might carve out a new niche. This might be the best idea you never had. Only, you had it by inference. Those bits of crunchy crust could well make adding crackers to soup obsolete. Of course, just because I’m Irish doesn’t mean I know Thing One about potatoes – don’t eat ‘em, including French fries. Also I want one of those blenders! Also #2 the photo of that potato soup with the sprinkles and the cheese curl would make a great repeat pattern on a wall of a kid’s room.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Angie, thanks! I have lots of china, but my most frequently used are the various white and blue-and-white ones.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Excellent ideas all, Sully! And the blender is fabulous! It will tear up ANYthing! We're whole juicing fruit in the mornings and vegetables in the afternoon. But I can't even imagine life without potatoes -- it sounds almost as tragic and bleak as life without tea!

Judith @ Lavender Cottage said...

I've used leftover mashed potatoes to make potato pancakes but not soup. This is a great idea and I've pinned your recipe thanks.
I'm interested in reading about this new blender you have - don't we love new toys in the kitchen!

Lucy @ Bake Play Smile said...

This is SUCH a clever idea! I always make way too much mashed potato - so this is perfect! Thanks for linking up with our Fabulous Foodie Fridays party xx

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Judith, thank you! I haven't quite figured this Pinterest thing out, so I really appreciate pins. Stay tuned for reports on the blender -- I'm really excited about it!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Lucy, I just love it when someone thinks me clever! Thank you.

Cranberry Morning said...

It does look like comfort food at its finest! I've never heard of that kind of blender, but this is a great use for leftover potato! My favorite soup is butternut squash with curry, and each day I go out to the garden to check the ripeness of my squash! I'll have to try mashed potato soup too. I've always loved potatoes.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Judy! I love butternut squash, too. But I'm afraid I have to buy my squash at the store or farmers market. Sure hope I can garden next year!

Unknown said...

I love potato soup! It is one of my favorites and I'm always excited to come across a new recipe. Thank you for sharing this on Roses of Inspiration! Pinned.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thank you so much, HS! Appreciate the Pin as well!

Cheryl said...

What a great idea to use leftover mashed potatoes to make potato soup!! Sort of progressing from "yum" to...well, "yum"!
I have never heard of a high-performance blender, but I will read with interest your future post.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Cheryl, thank you! I love that -- "from yum to ... well, yum." When asked what my favorite food is, I usually answer "mashed potatoes."

Stephanie said...

Well aren't you clever, my friend :) I always have left over mashed potatoes, but never thought to use them in soup....yum! I will definitely try this recipe next time I have leftovers.

Always a delight to have you at Roses of Inspiration. Hugs!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Stephanie, thank you! And be sure to think of me when you make it! :-)

Swathi said...

Jean, you are genius, make most delicious and beautiful looking soup from left over mashed potatoes, once the weather get colder I will try this soup. Here still warm. Thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop, pinning and tweeting.

Lou Lou Girls said...

Oh yum! This looks so incredible! Pinned and tweeted. We love partying with you and we appreciate you stopping by! Please take a minute to stop by next week, so we can pin and tweet your new creation. The party starts on Monday at 7 pm! Have a great Monday! Lou Lou Girls

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Oh Swathi, how I love being called "genius"! :D But, seriously, thank you so much!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Kimberly, thank you! Pins and tweets are soooo appreciated. I'll be back!

April J Harris said...

Love this recipe, Jean! What a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes and it's real comfort food too. We recently bought a high performance blender too (Vitamix) so I am looking for recipes like this. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us at Hearth and Soul.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, April! I'll be posting more recipes for the high-performance blenders in the coming months. We use it every day for whole juicing.

Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch) said...

Isn't potato soup just the best? I've got fresh Colorado new potatoes that will be finding their way into a creamy soup very soon.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Lea Ann, you know, I'm sure, that a lot of people have never had really fresh potatoes. They don't know what they're missing!

Anonymous said...

Jean,

This sounds amazing! We often have leftover potatoes, and I love potato soup.
I might try incorporating some leeks into this recipe.
Thank goodness for Pinterest save all of your great ideas!

Wishing you well,
Carol

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Carol, thank you! Yes, leeks are so good in potato soup! I don't quite have the hang of Pinterest, but I'm working on it.

Sippity Sup said...

This is good advice. Whenever I go to the trouble to make mashed potatoes I always make way more than we need. So I'm sure I'll try this the next time. GREG

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Greg! I always make lots of mashed potatoes, too, because they're my favorite food and it just wouldn't be right to not have enough!

Dori said...

This looks delicious! I love potato soup and I always have a craving for it as we go into autumn. I'll have to give this recipe a try :)

Kim Lutz said...

Jean, this looks so good, and what a great idea to use leftover mashed potatoes to make soup.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Dori! Hope you like it!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Kim, thank you. I just hate to waste food, so I try to think of ways to use the leftovers.

Debbie H said...

Fabulous! I made far too many "make ahead mashed potatoes" for Thanksgiving and started a search for using them up. These are the mashed potatoes you make with cream cheese, milk and sour cream so they were quite tasty to begin with. I cooked the onion and celery on the stove top and added all the ingredients until hot. I then poured into batches in my very old blender and pureed, returning to stove top to keep warm. Very rich, a little goes a long way, my family loved this soup!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Debbie, thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked it. I *hate* food waste and would really hate to waste mashed potatoes with those extra ingredients. And the soup doesn't scream "leftovers!"