Ah, potato soup – yes, even including the bacon grease (as opposed to rendered lard) – is my “go to” soup when I need something warm, comforting and delicious for dinner at a moment’s notice. This soup is also a great way to get loads of healthy fats into your friends and family without them even knowing what is happening!
Some of you may gasp about the several ounces of bacon grease included in this recipe. There is a perpetual myth in our culture that bacon is somehow bad for us and that bacon grease is the worst of the worst. On the contrary, bacon grease is a very healthy, traditional fat particularly when it comes from pastured animals that have access to fresh air and sunshine.
Bacon grease is loaded with Vitamin D when the pigs are allowed to run around outside! Considering that 90% of people are vitamin D deficient in the USA alone, need I say more?
The parent of one of the kids in my child’s class told me on a field trip recently that his mother used to drink a small glass of bacon grease every morning with breakfast. He indicated with facial expressions how gross this was to him, but my question back was, “Uh, and how old did she live to be?”   The answer was somewhere in the 90’s range (I’ll bet she wasn’t overweight or dropped dead of a heart attack either).
Case closed on the bacon grease!
This soup is so delicious, you won’t believe it and it’s the bacon grease that makes all the difference to the amazing flavor! When a whole food has this much amazing flavor naturally, this means loads of nutrition, so eat up and enjoy!
Potato and Bacon Soup (made using ALL the bacon grease)
makes about 3 quarts of soup
Ingredients
2 quarts homemade chicken stock (where to find)
6 organic, medium sized Yukon Gold potatoes
2 large organic, white onions
3 Tbl grassfed butter (where to find)
8 thick slices pastured bacon, broiled with bacon grease reserved
Sea salt to taste
Instructions
Bring chicken stock to a boil in a large pot. Add sliced potatoes and simmer. Meanwhile, chop onions and saute in butter until caramelized and broil the bacon in a baking dish in the oven until crispy, turning every few minutes as necessary.
Add the caramelized onions to the simmering chicken stock and potatoes. Pour all the bacon grease into the chicken stock mixture once the bacon is done. Once the bacon has cooled (just a few minutes), crumble into small pieces and add to the chicken stock mixture.
Puree with a handheld blender. Add sea salt to taste.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
I remember my Mom always saved and used bacon grease for cooking and seasoning. I continue the tradition but with uncured bacon. I never hear a single complaint when I serve food that has been cooked and/or seasoned with BG, sauteed veggies, soup, eggs, even browning steaks and burgers. We are taking it a step further and raise our own pigs. Next will be the chickens and goats. Keep up the great info.
LOVE THIS RECIPE!
Hi Sarah, I actually read an article in Men’s Health while waiting for my kids at the dentist that described the virtues of bacon fat. I think it said that bacon fat is very high in oleic acid. Isn’t that the same kind of medium chain fatty acid in Coconut Oil? Also, my kids love Split Pea Soup with ham bone in it, but I don’t think it is possible to buy ham without nitrates as that is part of the curing process–is that correct?
Thanks,
Joyce
HI Joyce, it’s hard to find ham without nitrates, but there are sources out there.
I had thought that finding a source of nitrate/nitrite free bacon would be a good thing then I ran across a forum where people were talking about botulism being a factor in pork not cured with nitrates. Now I’m confused.
I make a similar soup, but add carrots and celery as well. And on occasion I’ll add crushed red pepper, turkey or chicken sausage and a bit of chopped kale at the end.
While I do strive to have more and more of our meals be vegetarian or vegan I am still a fan of anything that has bacon added to it. Glad to know there’s a reason to keep my fan-girl status.
Love the recipe! Quick question: if the “best bacon we can afford” is the nitrite-free kind at the grocery store (Coleman’s, Applegate Farms), is the bacon grease still beneficial? Or, is it all (pastured) or nothing?
Thanks.
Hi C, yes the nitrite free bacon from the store has lovely drippings .. use them and enjoy! I love Applegate myself. 🙂
awesome. i love me some fat and can’t wait to try. i have a question – i am following the body ecology diet for candida and in the book donna gates talks a lot about food combining. what do you think about this concept? by the above recipe, it seems you do not believe it’s a problem to combine meat protein and starches? would love your thoughts on food combining principles in general. thanks!!
Hi Sarah, I am not a food combining fan.
sorry, clarification: do you mean you don’t believe there is any problem for the digestive tract with mixing most types of food? including water and food? i’d love to know why you don’t think it’s necessary. my diet would become a whole heck of a lot easier, that’s for sure 😉 thanks again. and btw, i get more excited for your emails every day than just about anything. my little addiction 😉
Hi Sarah, I do not feel based on the research I’ve done over the years that mixing foods causes any sort of problem for the digestive tract. Otherwise, why would so many traditional cultures mix them so frequently? I think folks try to combine today to simply babysit an imbalanced gut. Best to just fix the imbalanced gut which is the basis of the problem and eat like a normal person.
Sounds delicious! I make a similar one with cheese and celery too. I admit, my first foray with potato bacon soup was at the grocery store deli, and I just knew I could improve upon it!
This reminds me of my great-grandfather… he always ate his sunny-side-up, runny eggs covered in bacon grease, and he even ate entire steaks- meat, fat, grissle and all- covered with butter! Oh, and he was one week away from his 100 th birthday when he passed away.
Go Fat!
Hi Melissa, my Grandpa was similar. He was a butcher and always ate the fat around his steaks and ate 2 eggs fried in butter every morning for breakfast. He died at 97. If he had eaten lowfat, there is no doubt in my mind he probably wouldn’t have even made it to 70.