In Texas there is a chain called Luby’s Cafeteria. It was a place I often ate at growing up, and I loved the food. So when I saw Luby’s released a cook book with their recipes, I bought one, and have been cooking with it ever since. One recipe from this book I use the most is the Baked Potato Soup recipe. I never actually ordered any soup at Luby’s, but if you want a great recipe for potato soup, this is it!
I usually divide the recipe in half, since it is just me and my boyfriend here, but I will type the full recipe below and you can divide it in half, if you wish. I modified the recipe a little bit so I will note what I leave out or do different.
I also made a video on how I make this recipe, that you can watch here:
Hope you enjoy it!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chopped raw bacon
- 4 tbsp (56 grams) butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- pinched dried thyme leaves
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1 chicken bouillon cube
- 10 cups chicken broth
- 8 cups peeled and diced potatoes
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large potatoes, baked, peeled, and diced
- 1 dried bay leaf (optional)
- 1/2 cup sliced green onions (optional)
- 1 cup shredded american/cheddar cheese (optional)
- 1 cup diced white onions (optional)
- 1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
Instructions
- Place bacon and butter in a large saucepan/pot and cook bacon over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until crispy. Stir often.
- While the bacon is cooking, you should peel and dice the potatoes. 1 large baking potato usually equals 1 cup chopped potatoes. You can set them aside until you are ready to use them.
- You can add white onions, if you want, and cook them for 3 minutes.
- If you want bacon with a little crunch in your soup, then remove the bacon from the pot, and place it in a bowl lined with a paper towel, once it is crispy. Otherwise, just leave the bacon in the pot and continue the recipe.
- Next, add in the flour, and using a whisk stir it. Cook the flour for about 1-2 minutes.
- Then, add in the chicken stock, bouillon cube, thyme, nutmeg, and diced raw potatoes. I usually use water and extra bouillon cubes to make chicken stock, if you don't have chicken stock.
- Bring it all to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
- While the soup is cooking, you can prepare the baked potatoes.
- Pre-heat the oven to a high heat around 220C/428F. Then peel, and dice two large baking potatoes.
- In a plastic food safe bag, place the diced potatoes, and drizzle them with olive oil. Then, season them with thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Place the potatoes on a baking sheet lined with baking paper or an oiled baking pan, and bake them in the oven until tender, about 15 - 20 minutes. You should check on them as they cook.
- Next, if the potatoes in the soup are tender, then mash them with a potato masher. For a creamier soup, you can also use a hand mixer/chopper, but be careful.
- Then, add in the cream, and bring the soup to a boil. This will thicken the soup. You can add more cream if the soup is not thick enough.
- Next, lower the heat, and season the soup with salt, and pepper. Taste the soup. You can also add in more thyme.
- The soup is done now. Check on the oven baked potatoes, if they are finished then remove them from the oven.
- Now for serving. Put some oven potatoes in a soup bowl, and add in hot soup, and some toppings like bacon, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and/or green onions.

That’s it. I hope you enjoy this recipe. In the Luby’s cookbook, instead of baking diced potatoes in the oven with seasonings like I do, it says to peel the potatoes, bake them whole, then dice them. You can do that as well if you want. It might take a bit longer, and the potatoes will be flavorless. I like my way better. 🙂
Happy Eating! :o)