Matt would rather go hungry than have a bowl of soup. I know, it’s crazy. I love soup, so obviously this Cheddar Bacon Soup recipe is for me and all the other soup lovers out there. It’s rich, creamy and super filling. This would be one of my favorite meals to eat at my desk during a cold winter day! Matt’s Rating: 8.5
Why Homemade Soup is Better
Before keto, whenever I ate out, I would often get the soup instead of the salad that preceded my main meal. Naturally, I picked the least fatty and least flavorful sounding one, thinking I was doing myself a favor. If you don’t know what soup I’m referring to… It’s minestrone haha. Now, I would definitely opt for the salad because you never know what they are adding to the soup. It can be sugar to slightly sweeten it up without you even realizing it, or corn starch which is commonly used a thickening agent.
Making your own soup at home will ensure you know exactly what’s going into it and that you are truly staying low-carb.
Aren’t All Soups Easy Soup Recipes?
Yes, they are! All you really have to do is add the ingredients along some broth and seasonings to the pot and simmer until the veggies have softened and meat has cooked. It’s really easy to whip up using a Crock-Pot, InstantPot or on the stove top! This Bacon Cheddar Soup combines the incredible flavors of cheese, bacon and chicken. High in fat and protein, this soup is great to prep for lunches all week. Other great soups and stews I like to make for prepare our Broccoli Cheese Soup, Keto Butternut Squash Soup, Keto Taco Soup, Keto Zuppa Toscana Soup and Low Carb Beef Stew!
Easy Cheddar Bacon Soup
If you love soup, this recipe is for you. You can even change up the cheese each time you make it. My personal favorite would be Monterey jack cheese along with fresh grated Parmesan for a peppery kick!
When Cheddar Bacon Soup is this easy to make, there is no reason to hold back from making it tonight.
Recipe can be quickly added to MyFitnessPal – Search “KetoConnect – Bacon Cheddar Soup”
Bacon Cheddar Soup
Ingredients:
- 12 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 medium white onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup butter
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp Pink Himalayan Salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum + 1 tbsp water
- 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed
- chives, garnish
Instructions:
- Add chopped bacon to a large frying pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until crispy. Drain well.
- While bacon is cooking, heat olive oil (or avocado oil) in a large pot. Add chopped onion and celery and saute over medium heat, 5 minutes.
- Add butter and chicken broth to pot and bring to a boil. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk xantham gum into water. Add to pot with broth. and stir to combine
- Add cheese and cream and stir until melted and well blended.
- Stir in chicken and ¾ of the bacon. Taste and season as needed. Serve garnished with bacon, more shredded cheddar, and chives.
Notes
Written by
Megha Barot
Megha has always been a passionate cook, but she took this to a new level after starting her keo journey in 2015. She loves creating new recipes and producing educational content for KetoConnect, which she co-founded in 2016 with Matt. Her passion for healthy eating and personal development continues to thrive. She's the proud mom of two awesome kids.
I’m making this now…Can Not Wait! It looks and smells delish!
Even better without the chicken.
Made this today but for some reason my shredded cheese did not melt and the soup is clumpy. Any advice?
The cheese should melt the hotter it gets and the more you mix it. Make sure to watch the video to see exactly how they do it! 🙂
I had the same problem both times I’ve made it. The cheese doesn’t incorporate and just becomes a blob. After the first time I thought I just didn’t give it enough time, but the second time I let it boil for well over 20 minutes with no change. Not sure what is wrong, next time I’ll cut back on the cheese to see if that helps. It tasted great though even with the clumpy cheese.
Try using a blender. I use an immersion blender and it comes out smooth.
Ingredients list says olive oil but directions say avocado oil. I have both, but which one is preferred? Thanks. Can’t wait to make it… Looks yummy!
Either will work fine!
I’m not sure that one bowl of soup that would give me 65% of my protein at once will give me the flexibility I want in my food choices for the day.
Soooo are Olive Oil and Avocado Oil interchangeable in this recipe?
I see you list Olive in the ingredient list, and Avocado in the method.
Yes!
Can’t wait to make this!
Thank you.
The recipe ingredient list says olive oil but the instructions say avocado oil. I have both, but which is preferred?
concee1276@yahoo.com
Any substitute for the xanthan gum?
Really appreciate all the recipes you put out there for us. It would really be helpful if you would tell us the serving size. Eg: a cup, 1/2 cup etc, instead of saying an eighth of the recipe; then I have to measure it out a cup at a time and see how much total recipe there is to figure out how much is in a serving with the macros you site. Love you guys.
This sounds amazing.
I made Broccoli and Cheddar Cheese soup yesterday.
Will give this a try later in the week.
This sounds fantastic! Quick question: is there a recipe/taste-specific reason not to use some of the bacon grease as the fat to sautee the onions, etc? Trying to figure out if I can do this all in one pot (and maybe turn it into an instant pot recipe for those days I forget to thaw meat…). Thanks!
For sure you can use the grease! Any fat will do.
Made this tonight. I boiled down 3 chicken quarters for the meat and broth. Also added some cream cheese. This turned out very delicious!
Is there any replacement for xanthan gum? I have all other ingredients and dont particularly want to purchase it.
No, but it will just be thinner in consistency.
I made this a lunch today and it is very good! I used broccoli instead of chicken though. I think you forgot to say when to add the garlic. I assumed it was with the onion. Love your videos!
Just wanted to double check on the amount of cheese. Should there only be one cup instead of three?
Thank you for the recipe! Can’t wait to try it!
Keep those videos coming!
Three is correct!
I want to know what Matt thought! Lol
He said 8.5 out of 10, pretty good!
Oh my!!! This sounds delish. I love me some soup. Will be adding to my meal prep for next week. Yummy!!!
Megha, is this recipe divisible? I know to adjust seasonings, but the core ingredients, i.e., chicken, bacon, broth, cheese? If not, can you portion and freeze? I never need more than four servings of a main course at a time.
Dan I freeze a lot of soups for same reason. The ingredients in this should be fine to freeze. Portion it out for your meals snd freeze it. Use by end of 3 months or they get frost bitten.
Daniel, this recipe is easily divisible by two. I’d personally make the whole thing though and freeze what I don’t use right away. Great for grab and go lunches.
She said in her video here that it would probably freeze pretty well.
Ooops, Daniel, I forgot to add that I cut the recipe in half and it worked perfectly for us.
If you click on the 8 up in the servings part, it will pop up a slider where you can adjust the servings.
If you look at the recipe it’s easily divisible by 2, just cut each ingredient by half…
Oh my goodness, I can’t wait to make this for dinner. Thanks Megha?☺️