Ok, so I love baked potato soup. There is a restaurant which serves it and I get it every time I go there (which is fairly often, because I love the soup). Good baked potato soup is a bit rich, so I decided to try to make a lighter version at home—a good way to save calories, fat and pennies.
I knew that I needed an ingredient to make the soup creamy—butter, sour cream, cream and milk are all the usual candidates. Soup can also be built off béchamel sauce, basically butter and flour cooked together with milk whisked in. Any of these choices would impart higher calorie and fat content than I wanted in my soup. After a bit of recipe research, I decided to try fat free evaporated milk.
Evaporated milk is different than sweetened condensed milk, and it is really important not to confuse the two. Evaporated milk gets it name from the process it undergoes. About half of the water content in fresh milk is removed. Unlike sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk does not usually have additional sugars or flavors added. Evaporated milk has a slightly caramel taste and appearance because it is slightly cooked during the evaporation process. It worked terrifically!
Potato Soup
Four Generous Servings
Scrub two Russet potatoes and microwave for 6-8 minutes or until cooked through.
Let potatoes cool and mash them.
In a saucepan, heat a teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat.
Add ¼ cup diced white or yellow onions. Cook until tender.
Take another uncooked Russet potato and diced into ½ inch cubes, and add to onions. Sautee potatoes for 1-2 minutes.
Add 1 can fat free evaporated milk.
Add mashed potato and stir until consistency is smooth.
Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Bring soup to a simmer.
Before serving, top with a bit of grated cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon.
Try substituting fat free evaporated milk in any recipe that calls for cream. This Betty Crocker for Fiery Fettuccine also uses it to get that creamy taste, but with less calories and fat.
Can't wait to experiment even more with this ingredient...I'll keeo you posted.
How do you trim fat and calories from dishes you make?