Potato soup isn't just a winter meal. Even as the days get warmer the comfort food can find a place in meal plans. Do you need a great crockpot potato soup recipe? Potato soup serves as a warm winter comfort food on a cold winter day or as an appetizer to a meal for a summer lite dinner. Knowing how to make crockpot potato soup means you can provide this tasty low cost meal for your family even on work days or when meal prep time will be short and do so without heating up the kitchen.

Using crockpot recipes is an excellent way of meeting family meal needs when cooking preparation times are limited. A crockpot meal allows the preparation to be done when time allows and the cooking to be completed which doing other tasks. Making homemade potato soup in a crockpot is a simple task which results in an easily served low cost meal. Ingredients vary depending on the potato soup recipe you choose but most soup recipes use potatoes, water, milk, and onion as basic ingredients. The potato of choice may be a freshly peeled store bought potato, the leftovers from a previous baked potato meal, hash browns, or leftover mashed potatoes.

A crockpot meal can be made from almost any regular recipe with a few adjustments. Because there is no evaporation during crockpot cooking, the liquid amounts in the recipe generally need to be reduced. Most recommendations say to cut the liquid amount in half. However in the case of a soup, because the meal often focuses on the liquid, the amount may be reduced only by a quarter, or may be left as originally written and thickened with a flour mixture. http://www.a-crock-cook.com/crock-pot.html The crockpot potato soup recipe in the following steps uses a thickener to make a creamy thick potato soup.

• 4 large carrots, finely diced
• 4 large potatoes, peeled and evenly diced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 cups water
• 2 to 3 cups leftover ham
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 6 tbsp. flour
• 2 cup milk or half and half
• Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredient Tip: Use a heavier cream for cream soups and a lighter half and half for a lower calorie soup.

1. Place water in crockpot
2. Add carrots, potatoes, and onions
3. Add the ham, butter and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Cook on low for 6 hours until potatoes are very soft.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and milk, mixing until no lumps remain.
6. Stir mixture into the potatoes, stirring until fully incorporate
7. Cook on high for 20 to 30 minutes until thickened.
8. Serve with hot rolls or bread.

1. Add Grated cheese to each bowl of soup
2. Top with a dollop of sour cream
3. Add chives to each bowl
4. Serve with hot rolls or fresh bread
5. Make a potato soup bar with bacon bits, onions, cheese, sour cream, mushrooms, broccoli and other chopped vegetables of choice.

• Crockpot potato soup takes on a creamier texture with the addition of cream cheese as an ingredient. http://www.recipelink.com/mf/0/74646
• Consider using hash browns as the potato in a Creamy Potato Soup recipe. http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/351/Cream_of_Potato_Soup56009.shtml
• A German crockpot potato soup uses sauerkraut and smoked sausage in addition to the potatoes. http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/351/GermanPotatoSoup64380.shtml
• For a different taste in Potato Soup, add 2 to 3 cups of grated cheddar cheese to the soup. For a zestier taste, consider adding a pepper cheese. http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/351/Potato-Cheese-Soup116481.shtml
• Some crockpot potato soup recipes use chicken broth or cream of chicken soup as a starting base for cream soups. http://www.bigoven.com/167704-Crockpot-Potato-Soup-recipe.html
• Depending on the time of year, and the current cost of groceries, crockpot potato soup can be served as a dinner meal under $5 for a family of 4 with leftovers for lunches.http://busycooks.about.com/od/inexpensiverecipes/a/10potatosoupmea.htm