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Mardi Gras Potato Soup

A creamy soup of potatoes, bacon, celery, onion, and half‑and‑half, garnished with cheddar cheese and French bread.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Mardi Gras Potato Soup

Time40 minutes, then 20 more minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Start the base

  1. Fry the bacon in a 2-gallon stockpot over medium heat.

  2. When the bacon is about half cooked, add the onions, parsley, garlic, and celery; cook until the onions and celery are softened.

Cook the potatoes

  1. Add 4 quarts of water to the stockpot, bring to a boil, then add the potatoes; cook for 40 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally.

  2. After 40 minutes, spoon about half of the potatoes with liquid into a blender, purée until smooth.

Finish and serve

  1. Return the puréed potatoes to the pot along with the salt, pepper, and half-and-half.

  2. Cook for an additional 20 minutes, covered, stirring frequently.

  3. Serve garnished with grated cheddar cheese and warm French bread; season to taste.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

265Calories
9 gProtein
4 gFat
51 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot 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. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

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

  3. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Potato + garlictop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,517 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Red potatoes
Break down into a purée that gives the soup its body and thick, creamy texture.
Half-and-half
Adds richness and a smooth, creamy mouthfeel to the finished soup.
Bacon
Renders fat that carries flavor and adds a savory, smoky note to the soup.
Purple onion
Softens and turns sweet as it cooks, building the soup's aromatic base.
Celery
Softens during cooking, adding a mild vegetal flavor and aroma to the base.

The step that matters

Adding the half-and-half. Dairy can curdle or scorch when it is boiled hard or left unstirred in a hot pot. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer and stir frequently while it cooks.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, celery, parsley, garlic, pepper):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, celery, parsley, garlic, pepper. 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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