Cream Cheese Potato Soup

I adapted this recipe from one posted by LollyChops who adapted it from one posted on Mel's Kitchen Cafe. Here's how I made it. We all absolutely loved this soup--it was creamy without being too thick and it was deliciously flavored. It is now Alyssa's favorite potato soup (and probably her favorite cream soup as well). I used frozen diced roasted turkey and added it frozen. It thawed quickly in the hot broth. I noticed that on Mel's Kitchen Cafe the soup is called "Cream Cheese Chicken and Vegetable Soup." She uses less butter in her version--you can check out her blog for her version.

Cream Cheese Potato Soup (with Ham, Turkey, or Chicken)

2-3 Tbsp oil or butter
1 onion, diced
3 good size potatoes, peeled and chopped bite-size
1 cup carrots, diced
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper
1-2 cups chopped roasted turkey, chicken or ham

4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

Add onions and oil to your soup pot over medium high heat, cooking onions until translucent, about 7 minutes. Add potatoes and carrots to your pot. Cook together for a few minutes just to blend all the flavors. Pour in your chicken broth and salt and pepper. If veggies aren't completely covered by the broth, add more until covered. Bring to a boil, then turn on low and let it softly boil for about 10 minutes. Add in your chopped meat and cook a few minutes longer.

After you add the meat, in a separate small pot, over medium heat, melt your butter and flour together, stirring, until it turns a nice amber shade of color. Add in your milk and stir together. Add in your cream cheese. Stir until thoroughly combined and mixture is thick. Once your potatoes are nicely cooked through, add the cream cheese mixture directly to your soup mixture. Stir to combine. Soup will become deliciously thick and creamy. Now, taste. It should be pretty much perfect. Add additional salt and pepper if desired.