Begin by cooking up chopped bacon in a soup pot. Remove cooked bacon and leave the bacon grease in pan.
5 slices bacon
Add chopped onions, celery and carrot and saute until soft.
1 medium yellow onion, 2 stalks celery, 1 carrot
Add garlic and stir for 1-2 minutes.
2 cloves garlic
Add flour to mixture and saute an additional 3-5 minutes.
½ cup flour
Add chicken broth and cut potatoes. Simmer on medium low heat until potatoes are cooked through.
4 cups chicken broth, 4 cups potatoes
Season with salt and pepper.
1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper
Stir in milk and half and half. Stir until heated through.
1 cup whole milk, 1 cup half and half
Serve with reserved bacon bits, chopped chives and fresh parsley.
Video
Notes
Use a full-sized carrot, not pre-cut baby carrots. A full-sized carrot has much more flavor than baby carrots.
Cut potatoes in uniform size.
Make certain potatoes are fully cooked before adding milk.
Use the best chicken broth available. It is the base for your soup and you want a good quality broth.
When adding salt start with a small amount and add more as needed. I use my homemade chicken broth that is unsalted and may need to add more salt than a store-bought broth. Always taste and add more as needed.
Add additional milk if the soup is too thick.
Soup can be made with just milk and no half-and-half cream if desired.