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One of my favorite winter comfort foods is a baked potato. My mom wasn't the biggest fan of making baked potatoes while I was growing up (which shocks me because it seems like the perfect lazy solution for feeding kids), so ever since college I've capitalized on opportunities to eat them.

Baked-Potato-Soup - Delish.compinterest
Ethan Calabrese

Super bowl parties, potlucks, and cold weeknights are all perfect opportunities for baked potatoes—but what if you don't want to wait for them to bake in the oven...for a whole hour? Enter the workaround: Baked potato soup. You cook the potatoes in milk to avoid that whole roasting thing, which takes only 20 minutes or so, and then stir in cheese for a luxuriously thick, creamy texture. (Fact: After this, you'll wonder if you should always be adding a handful of shredded cheese to your soup broth. The answer is pretty much always yes.)

baked-potato-soup-delish-1pinterest
Ethan Calabrese

Then it's really all about the toppings. Anything you'd pile onto a baked potato is game here. I reverted to the classics—crumbled crispy bacon, cheddar, scallions, sour cream—but feel free to get more adventurous with corn, hot sauce, black beans, whatever your baked potato-loving heart desires.

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