Slow Cooker Baked Potato and Cheese Soup or Atkins diet, What Atkins Diet?

I love the kind of baked potato soup you get in restaurants, the cheesy potatoes are SO good. I wanted to try to make this soup at home and thought the slow cooker would be the ideal cooking method. I have been trying to make more and more things in the slow cooker for those nights I work late.

Slow Cooker Baked Potato and Cheese Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 large russett potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cans (14 oz) chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
3 garlic cloves crushed
1 1/2 cups low fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup (8 oz) light sour cream
1 cup low fat milk
Black pepper to taste
6 strips of bacon cooked and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

In a medium saucepan cook your onions in the olive oil until golden brown. Place the onions in the slow cooker. Place the potatoes on top of the onions. Put the chicken broth, seasoning salt, and garlic cloves in the slow cooker. Cover and cook over high heat for 6 hours. When the potatoes are very soft add the cheese, sour cream and milk. Stir until the cheese has melted, then continue cooking for 10 more minutes. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher to get a smooth consistency. Season with pepper and more salt if needed. Serve the soup sprinkled with a little bacon on top.
Serves 6-8

I never get tired of pictures of frying onions.

Potatoes, onions, garlic and chicken broth in the slow cooker.

This soup was good but not quite as good as what I have had eating out. I think if I added cream or half and half instead of milk it would taste richer and creamier, but I am not quite ready to totally throw caution (and our health) to the wind.  Next time I make this soup I might put the soup in the blender to get the potatoes really smooth. I hope you try this recipe out and tell me how you like it.

Till tomorrow...