Crock Pot bacon, apple and cheddar soup - one of the most comforting soup recipes ever that I make several times each fall and winter season. And now that I've learned how easy it is to make soups in my slow cooker, I'm inclined to make this soup even more because I don't have to stand over the stove watching it! Just do a little bit of frying and chopping, place everything into ceramic dish and the Crock Pot will take care of the rest for you. Seriously - it's like having your own personal chef!
If you think the flavours in this Crock Pot soup recipe are a little odd, I beg you not to be put off until you try it! There are loads of recipes online for bacon, apple and cheddar grilled cheese so why wouldn't the flavours work together in a soup? I mean, if you eat your soup along with a generous slice of white crusty bread, it practically is a grilled cheese sandwich - just a very deconstructed one.
There is one big difference between making this soup recipe in a saucepan on the stove and making it in the Crock Pot. If you make it on the stove, you can thicken it enough so you can top it with extra crispy pieces of bacon and grated strands of the most delicious melted cheddar - heaven! But if you make it in the Crock Pot, there's no real way of thickening the soup up and it simply won't support extra bacon strips and cheese - if you add them, they just sink down to the bottom.
But since the Crock Pot makes this soup just so easy and hassle-free to make this soup, I'm willing to let that pass. I mean, you can still add all the toppings - you'll just be surprised when you get to the bottom of your bowl and it's loaded with melted cheese and bacon bits. Who wouldn't love that?
How do you prefer to make your soups - on the stove or in a slow cooker?
Ingredients
- 4 slices thick bacon
- 2 onions
- 2 apples
- 1 medium-sized potato
- ½ cup grated cheddar cheese
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- ½ cup apple juice
Instructions
- Fry the bacon in a frying pan over a high heat for around 10 minutes, until brown and crispy. Remove from the pan and place on a kitchen towel to remove excess fat.
- Pour the remaining fat out of the frying pan (you only need a thin sheen on the bottom) and dice the onions. Cook the onions in the same pan you cooked the bacon for around 10 minutes, until soft and just starting to turn golden. Place the onions in the Crock Pot.
- Chop the bacon into small strips and place in the Crock Pot.
- Peel, core and chop the apples into small chunks - place in the Crock Pot.
- Wash the potato (I leave the skin on), chop into small chunks and place in the Crock Pot along with the grated cheese.
- Pour over the vegetable stock and apple juice and stir.
- Leave to cook on high for around 4 hours or on low for around 6, until all the ingredients are soft.
- Pour the soup into a flat-bottomed container and use a hand-held blender to process until all the lumps have been ground up.
- Divide between 4 or 6 bowls and serve.
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