This is one of the first soups I ever tried to make on my own. I’ve tweaked it over the years and think I’ve got a winner here. It is super simple, but oh, so good! Perfect with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich!

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbs butter
• 1 large stalk celery – diced
• 1 medium onion – diced (I prefer sweet onions)
• 1 carrot – either sliced into coins or diced
• 2 Tbs garlic – minced
• 4 Tbs of flour
• 1 tsp salt
• .5 tsp ground black (or white) pepper
• 2.5 cups water
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 3.5 cups milk
• 4 large baking potatoes – cut into bite size cubes
• 12 oz Velveeta – cut into small cubes

Instructions:

• In a large pot, melt the 4 Tbs of butter over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, and onion and sauté until softened.
• Add the garlic and cook until fragrant -about a minute
• Add the flour, gradually, whisking in. Season with salt and pepper and continue to cook for about 2 minutes. You want to cook off the flour taste but you don’t want to brown the rue.
• Add the water and the milk, whisking them in, then drop in the bouillon cubes.
• Simmer and reduce heat to low.
• While the soup is on a very low simmer, cut your potatoes and add them to the soup. Use more or less than the recipe calls for if you want. I like ALOT of potatoes in mine.
• Cook on low, covered for about 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are just tender.
• Add the Velveeta slowly, stirring in.
• Taste test and adjust for salt and pepper as needed.
• Put it in a nice, chunky bowl and enjoy!

Notes:

• Instead of bouillon cubes and water you can use 2.5 cups chicken stock or broth.
• If your soup isn’t as thick as you would like, you can add instant potato flakes right to it. Add a little at a time and stir them in until you are where you want to be!
• If you want to do grilled ham & cheese with it like we did and like to bake bread, check out my super soft sandwich bread recipe. It makes an awesome bread for grilled cheese.