Rafferty’s Potato Soup Recipe

Potato soup is a great warmer during cold winter months.

It’s easy to make and you can get playful with all your favorite ingredients to customize it exactly how you like.

It’s the quintessential comfort food.

Rafferty’s Restaurant and Bar in particular has a delicious soup dish they have dubbed their ‘Famous Potato Soup’.

Which includes cheese, chives, and chopped bacon.

It’s a perfect soup dish that you can make at home just by using simple ingredients, and today we’ll share with you how to make it exactly as they do at Rafferty’s.

How to make Rafferty’s Potato Soup

This potato soup is creamy, comforting, delicious, and a favorite amongst Rafferty’s patrons.

One of the things that makes it so accessible to home cooks is that it uses staple ingredients, most of which we might already have in our pantries.

This can be great when used to complement another dish or used as a main by itself.

The versatility of this soup is unmatched!

Ingredients:

(12 servings)

• 10 – 12 medium-sized potatoes
• 1 large onion
• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 8oz of cream cheese
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 a stick of butter
• 1 can of celery soup
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• salt
• pepper
• grated cheddar cheese
• bacon bits
• chives

Instructions:

Before we start cooking we first need to talk about potato skins.

Now, Rafferty makes a point of letting everyone know they use potatoes with their skins left on.

If this is something you’re dead set against, by all means, do remove them.

It will still taste incredible!

But if you want to make it exactly like the original they will need to be well-scrubbed to ensure all the dirt is removed and the potato is completely clean before cooking as they won’t be peeled.

Step 1:

Using a large saucepan or pot, pour in some water (it needs to be enough to cover the potatoes and onions) and bring to a boil.

Step 2:

Once boiling, set the heat to medium and add both the onions and potatoes.

Step 3:

Cover and let it boil for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are completely cooked.

To check this, pierce the potato with a fork.

If it enters without resistance you can remove it from the heat immediately.

Step 4:

Drain the excess water from the potatoes and onion, use a potato masher to break down the potatoes to the desired texture.

Don’t go too crazy here, a little bit of texture in your soup is a good thing!

Step 5:

Add the milk and cream cheese to the potatoes and onions and return to the heat briefly.

Step 6:

Remove from the heat after a few seconds and stir until the cream cheese has completely melted.

Step 7:

Now we can add all our toppings.

If you are making it exactly like Rafferty’s you can add shredded cheese, bacon bits, and chives.

Ingredient substitutions

Much of the creamy quality is coming from the milk and cream cheese.

This means almost all of the other ingredients can be substituted for alternatives at your leisure.

Feel free to get playful and creative here as the fundamentals are all still in place to make a delicious and creamy soup.

1. Cauliflower

There aren’t many adequate substitutions that you can use for potatoes, but cauliflower does seem to work great.

You can simply boil and mash it in the exact same way you would with the potatoes for this recipe.

A great low-carb option if you’re looking to make something a little healthier.

2. Shallots

If you’re not keen on having real bacon bits in your otherwise vegetarian dish, then shallots make an absolutely wonderful substitution.

They just need to be fried with a little oil and to be lightly salted.

You’ll be left with a very similar crunchy topping which will feel much like bacon.

3. Sweet potato

Many people prefer the taste of sweet potatoes over regular ones, so this makes a great replacement that will retain much of the texture that we love from that signature Rafferty’s Potato Soup.

Obviously, the flavor will be quite a bit sweeter, but it will still be that warming and delicious soup we all love.

4. Additional seasonings

To either substitute or replace the cheese we can use all kinds of seasonings.

While these will change the flavor a lot they are a great way of getting playful and allow you to customize the recipe to your preference.

You can use things such as mushrooms, chicken soup as opposed to mushroom soup, green onions, or chopped garlic cloves.

What to serve with Rafferty’s Potato Soup

Potato soup can be both a main dish or a great side depending on how much you wish to serve and how heavy you go with the toppings.

Here are some suggestions of great dishes you can pair your potato soup with to create a delicious package.

Beef Sandwich

A classic combination that never fails.

You can use the bread of the sandwich to dip in the soup or mop up the last of what’s in the bowl. It alwaysgives that feeling of eating a ‘complete’ dish.

Garlic Bread

A really well-made garlic bread using a healthy amount of butter, garlic, and seasoning is perfect to serve with potato soup.

Its crusty outer shell provides the substance while the softer middle soaks up all the soup, delicious!

Salad

This is great if you’re looking for an overall lighter meal, with the soup providing that richness while the salad provides texture and a more savory flavor.

This is especially effective if you can have some croutons which will add that bit of crunch that the soup, providing that contrasting texture.

How to reheat Rafferty’s Potato Soup

Once everything is cooked, you can easily store the soup to reheat later on.

However, when the time comes to actually reheat it we have to be mindful of the fact we used both milk and cheese.

So there are a few extra steps involved to make sure that is accounted for.

How to reheat Rafferty’s Potato Soup in a pot

One of the easiest methods we can use is to simply pour the soup into a pot and heat it on the stove on low heat to ensure the bottom of the soup doesn’t burn.

Keep stirring to prevent a film or skin from forming on the top, this also helps to avoid hotspots.

How to reheat Rafferty’s Potato Soup in a microwave

The key here is to place the soup into a microwavable bowl and reheat using 1-minute intervals.

Take out the bowl each time and stir thoroughly to both mix the skin and also to stop hot spots from forming within the soup.

If you happen to have an inverter microwave, it will make the whole process easier.

If you don’t and you don’t mix the soup, eventually those hot spots will burst, coating your microwave in delicious potato soup.

How to reheat Rafferty’s Potato Soup in the oven

You’ll want to preheat the oven to 400°F, place the soup in an oven-safe bowl/dish, and heat for 10 minutes.

Remove the soup and stir thoroughly, add back to the oven and cook for another 10 minutes and it should be up to temperature.

How to reheat Rafferty’s Potato Soup in an air fryer

Believe it or not, you can actually reheat soup in an air fryer.

Simply place the soup in an oven-proof ramekin and cover the top with foil to stop it from steaming.

Heat the soup in the air fryer at 375°F until warmed through.

Stir thoroughly before eating.

How to store Rafferty’s Potato Soup

Because of the high milk and cheese content, you cannot store potato soup for too long.

But once cooked you can realistically keep it for 3-4 days before it will need freezing.

Store in the fridge

Allow the soup to cool completely, transfer into a container that’s ideally glass with an air-tight cover.

Alternatively, you can use a bowl and cover it with cling wrap.

Store in the freezer

While it is possible to store potato soup in the freezer, it’s not recommended as the potato tends to absorb the moisture and will become grainy when defrosted.

In addition, the milk content might separate giving the potato soup an odd consistency when reheated.

Only do this as a last resort!