Creamy Bacon Potato Soup (Gluten-Free + Dairy-Free)

This Instant Pot soup is everything I missed from cream-based soups: rich, indulgent, and pure comfort. And it's dairy-free too! I love that the ingredients are simple and straightforward, and yet it tastes complex. This is one of those recipes I like to share with friends who eat dairy. When they taste it, they have to ask what is in it, because this soup tastes like a dairy-based soup. It's just that good.

Important Ingredients

• Vegan Cream Cheese — I prefer Kite Hill Cream Cheese, but any vegan cream cheese will do.

• Gluten-Free Chicken Bouillon – Gluten-free chicken bouillon adds depth of flavor to this soup base.

• Russet Potatoes – Four large russet potatoes make up the bulk of this soup.

• Bacon – Bacon adds texture and flavor to this soup.

How to Make this Recipe

Cook bacon and onion. Cook the bacon however you prefer, whether baked or on the stove. I like to cook my bacon on the stove in a cast iron skillet. I cut the bacon into 1-inch squares and let it cook partway, then add the onion and saute them together till the bacon is cooked and the onion is translucent and soft. Feel free to saute your onion separately if desired.

Peel and chop the potatoes. While the bacon is cooking, peel and chop your potatoes into bite-size pieces.

Add ingredients to Instant Pot. Add the chopped potatoes, frozen cauliflower rice, chicken broth, water, gluten-free chicken bouillon, salt, garlic powder, dried parsley, and black pepper to the Instant Pot. Give it a little stir.

Cook for 10 minutes. Set your Instant Pot to cook for 10 minutes on the Soup setting. Once finished, allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes before you release the remaining pressure.

Remove a cup of liquid. Remove a cup of liquid from the soup and put it in a blender with the vegan cream cheese. Blend till the vegan cream cheese is smooth and liquidy. Pour the mixture back into the soup and stir.

Add bacon, onion, and green onion. Add the cooked bacon and onion to the soup. Lastly, add the fresh green onions.

Optional Vegetables

This soup is super versatile and can easily accomodate a variety of different ingredients. I sometimes like to add brocolli and carrots, so my vegetable portion of dinner is already in my soup! Feel free to add any vegetables you like to the Instant Pot when you cook the potatoes and other ingredients.

Substitutions

• Any potato will work in this recipe, though I prefer russet.

• Feel free to substitute any 12-oz. bag of frozen vegetables in place of the cauliflower rice.

• In a hurry, you can substitute 3 T. dried onion for the fresh onion in this recipe. Put the dried onion in the Instant Pot with the other spices when you cook the soup.

Slow Cooker

Feel free to use a Crock-Pot or slow cooker to make this soup. Just set your slow cooker to High for 4-6 hours, or Low for 8-10 hours. Cook till potatoes are soft.