Simply Potatoes Spicy Chipotle and Bacon Cream Soup

I’m so thankful that this is the last five-ingredient recipe that I will be making for a while. I’m ready to go back to cooking with no restrictions again, after spending the last couple of weeks being forced to count each and every ingredient that goes into a dish. I still think that salt, pepper, olive oil, and butter should not count as ingredients in these contests, but I guess I’m just crazy that way. It’s hard to create a unique recipe with so few items to choose from, but I’m pretty happy with this soup, which leaves a nice burn in your throat from the chipotle peppers.

I’m not quite so happy with the horrendous mess that I was left with in my kitchen from this spicy soup. Let’s just say that I had a little incident with my blender during the puréeing process, luckily Brenna didn’t happen to be in the kitchen with me at the time. I added a bit too much hot liquid to the blender, and of course there was an explosion from the steam. I purée hot liquids all of the time in the blender, but it’s a 50/50 as to whether or not I come out unscathed, this time I didn’t. The entire counter, wall, sink, floor, and refrigerator ended up coated in this potato soup, not to mention me and every appliance that lives on the kitchen counter. Hot soup burns, bad, especially when it hits your toes.

Ingredients:

1 (20-oz.) Bag of Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns
2 (32-oz.) Cartons of Chicken Stock
3 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, with 2 Teaspoons of the Adobo Sauce
1 Cup Sour Cream
8 Slices of Bacon

Directions:

Add bacon to a large skillet and fry over medium-high heat until crispy. Remove the bacon to a plate covered with several paper towels; set aside.
Roughly chop the chipotle peppers and add them to a large pot or Dutch oven along with the adobo sauce, hash browns, and chicken stock; bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.
When the mixture has come to a boil, decrease the heat to medium and place a lid on the pot or Dutch oven; cook for 20 minutes.
Uncover the pot or Dutch oven, and then whisk in the sour cream; cook for 10 minutes.
Remove the mixture from the heat, and either purée the soup with an immersion blender, or in small batches using a normal blender.
Crumble the bacon into small pieces and sprinkle on top of each individual bowl of soup before serving.

Suggestions:

Add more or less chipotle peppers depending on how spicy you like your soup.
I used full sodium chicken stock in this recipe, due to the fact that I could only use five ingredients. I don’t think the soup turned out overly salty, but you could always substitute low-sodium chicken stock if you wanted to.
Do not fill your blender over halfway full of the soup mixture, or you will have an insane mess on your hands. B.O.B. Bob’s coffee maker may never be the same again after being drenched in hot soup.