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Prep the veggies. Start by dicing the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Chop the potatoes into relatively small chunks.
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Cook the bacon. Sauté the bacon in a large stock pot over medium-high heat until crispy. Remove the bacon and leave about four tablespoons in the pot (or use butter in it’s place).
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Cook the veggies. Add the carrots, celery, and onion to the pot with the bacon fat. Season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium-high until softened, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and stir for another 30 seconds or so.
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Add the roux. Add flour to the veggies and stir for a minute or so to absorb.
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Add broth. Next add the chicken broth and bring mixture to a boil, stirring to thicken. After about five minutes, add the potato chunks and a little more salt and pepper. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender.
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Make it creamy. Once the potatoes are soft, add the milk, heavy cream, sour cream and shredded cheese. Stir well and cook for another 5-6 minutes, or until everything is melted and hot. Add almost all of the bacon back to the pot (reserve some for toppings).
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Check seasonings. Test the soup, and add more salt and pepper if needed. (Potatoes need a decent amount of salt for flavor.)
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Optional step. If you want to make this EXTRA creamy, use an immersion blender or a regular blender to puree a portion of the soup. I don’t recommend blending all of the soup so you can keep the soup chunky.
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Serve soup with extra bacon, shredded cheese, green onions, freshly ground black pepper, crackers and/or bread.
