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Grandma's Cream of Potato Soup or Broccoli Soup

A creamy soup made with potatoes, optional ham, bacon, onions, celery, carrots, and optional broccoli, thickened with cornstarch and cream.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Grandma's Cream of Potato Soup or Broccoli Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the broth

  1. Empty cans of chicken broth in pot.

  2. Add cubed potatoes and bring to a boil.

  3. While potatoes are starting to cook, pan-fry bacon until crisp and add bacon grease to chicken and potato broth.

  4. Crumble bacon and add to broth.

  5. Add diced ham to broth (optional).

Make the vegetable base

  1. In a saucepan melt butter and add diced onion, celery and carrots.

  2. Pan-fry until soft.

  3. When potatoes are done, add the celery, carrot and onion mixture with butter to broth.

Add cream and thicken

  1. Reduce heat to medium and add about 1/4 to 1/2 of the quart of heavy cream.

  2. Be careful not to have soup at a heavy boil or cream will curdle.

  3. Add enough cream to make soup look creamy throughout.

  4. Add cheese (optional).

  5. Mix cornstarch with very cold water and add to soup.

  6. Continue medium boil until soup thickens.

  7. If it isn't thick enough, repeat cornstarch and add slowly.

  8. Remove from heat and enjoy.

  9. Soup will thicken when it gets cold.

  10. Can add milk or water to thin out.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1462Calories
92 gProtein
49 gFat
161 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Chicken100g cooked165
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Cheddar Cheese1 oz (28g)113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Broccoli1 cup chopped (156g)55
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Soupnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  4. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Potato + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Break down while simmering to give the soup body and a starchy, thick texture.
Heavy cream
Adds richness and a creamy mouthfeel to the broth.
Cornstarch
Thickens the soup as it heats, giving it a fuller body.
Butter
Carries flavor when softening the onion, celery and carrots, adding richness.
Bacon
Adds smoky, savory flavor and fat that carries into the broth.
Cheddar cheese
Adds savory flavor and richness to the finished soup.

The step that matters

Keep the soup below a boil when adding cream. At a heavy boil, the dairy proteins in heavy cream can curdle and separate, leaving the soup grainy. Gentle medium heat keeps the cream smooth.

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, potato, celery, ham, onion, cream, butter):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Mustardfits about as well
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, potato, celery, ham, onion, cream, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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