I thought my days of creamy delicious potato soup were over, until I made this one. Even if you can have dairy, you want this soup. It is that good. I used coconut cream, but it doesn’t taste like coconut. It just gave it a nice thickness.

Ingredients

• 2 packs *bacon (I used Applegate Organic Turkey)
• 1 poblano pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 large shallots
• 2 large leeks (only the bottoms not the leafy tops)
• 9 small russet potatoes
• 4 tablespoons vegan butter  (I used Earth Balance)
• 1 container of gluten free broth (I used Kitchen Basics chicken broth. It is the ONLY brand that I have ever found that is both MSG and gluten-free!) 

Cream Sauce

• 1½ teaspoon Redmond Real Salt
• 1 ¼ teaspoon tarragon
• 20 grinds on the pepper grinder
• 1 can coconut cream
• ¼ cup gluten-free flour (I used Namaste Gluten Free Perfect Flour Blend)

Directions

1. Soak potatoes in fruit and vegetable soak to clean (I love the Thieves Fruit and Veggie Soak)
2. Cook turkey bacon 13 minutes 400 degrees in the oven
3. Rinse potatoes, peel and chop them into small chunks.
4. Chop vegetables.
5. Pour off the bacon grease into a large sauté pan with 4 tablespoons vegan butter to melt or use olive oil if you are making it vegetarian / vegan
6. Add vegetables, 5 grinds of pepper, and 1 teaspoon real salt in reserved turkey bacon drippings and butter until onion is translucent, and vegetables are tender about 7 minutes.
7. Add cubed potatoes, and toss to coat. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes. 
8. Chop bacon
9. Add bacon to the pan with the vegetables, and add enough chicken broth stock to just cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender.
10. In a separate pan, 3 melt tablespoons vegan butter over medium heat.
11. Add 1 can coconut cream.
12. Whisk in gluten free flour. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the heavy cream, tarragon, and cilantro.
13. Bring the cream mixture to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.
14. Stir the cream mixture into the potato mixture.
15. Add salt and pepper to taste. I added 15 grinds on the pepper grinder and ½ teaspoon salt.
16. Let it simmer for an hour.
17. Serve & garnish with scallions if desired.

To make this soup vegan, use rice paper bacon! I think it’s better than coconut bacon. You can use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and sauté your veggies in olive oil.