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.
Hi, Im sorry but I have to ask, when do you add the garlic?
I would add when you add the onion to saute them
Just made this today! Yum! I used a super cheapo pack of bacon end pieces and substituted red pepper flakes for the cayenne since it’s what I had on hand. Had a bowl for lunch and will be freezing the rest for “meal prep” meals for next week. So super yummy. Trying the broccoli cheese soup next!
I made the soup w my son and it turned out really good. The only thing I did differently is that I drained the grease, removed the bacon, and made the soup in the pan I cooked the bacon in. To get all of that yummy browned stuff off the bottom. So good. I can’t wait to try the Broccoli Cheddar soup
I added xantham gum before cheese was melted, combined.
BIG mistake, ended up with clump of cheese and liquid.
Hope residue in pan won’t hurt my dishwasher
Great soup recipe, served it to my friends and they loved it. They didn’t know it was KETO !
Made this today and it is so so good! I only added about 1/8 tsp cayenne, which gave it a little zip. I think 1/2 tsp would be too much unless you really like spicy soup.
There is no mention of when to add the garlic, so I added it when the celery and onions were almost done and it worked out great. I used finely chopped green onions as a garnish instead of chives.
Froze several servings for quick lunches. Will definitely make this again.
I will try this tonight. I will use chicken & broccoli. Thanks for the recipe.❤?
Looking forward to trying this tonight and hoping everyone loves it.
Thank you for get another wonderful recipe! My husband didn’t want me to add the chicken, but turns out I was lucky to get one bowl ?
Am I missing something? The video and instructions don’t say what to do with the garlic. So do I add it and if so what step?
Yes, add it with the onion. Sorry about that!
Made last night for dinner,Fantastic. I am not a soup lover either, but this was very hearty and tasted amazing. I used bacon drippings to saute the veg, great bacon taste. I used half of the chicken and threw in some broccoli. I will be making again, the entire family loved it.
I added in some sweet corn extract which gave the soup a corn chowder flavour. Excellent recipe. Thanks for all you do.
Absolutely amazing and tastes wonderful. Got a question though, when I import the recipe to MyFitnessPal it indicates that there are 32g carbs per serving. Any thoughts?
Does it import it as a whole pot of the soup or as 1/8th of the recipe (a serving size)?
When do you add the garlic? When you saute the celery and onion?
Yes! Sorry about the confusion.
This looks delicious and I’m hoping to make it today!
I can’t believe Matt is from the midwest and doesn’t care for soup!
It warms your core when you live with cold Winters? 8.5 is a pretty good score though, so I think you are swaying him, Megha!
Thanks for all you do
Lori from Iowa.
This was absolutely delish! Loved it!
Thank you both so much for all of your research to help all of us on our keto journey!?
This was so good! Like, dangerous good! Made a few minor tweaks (1/2 cup frozen mirepoix blend in addition to veggies, extra 2 cups chicken broth…things to stretch it a little) and used 1 c. extra aged parmesan and 2 c. sharp cheddar. Instead of adding protein to it, we used it as a “base” for creating our own custom soup bowls with shrimp, fish, or chicken I cooked separately. So good! It was also fantastic with just the soup base and a serving of riced cauliflower dumped in. Or the base by itself…like I said, dangerously good!
Avocado oil? Where in the ingredient list is avocado oil?
Oops! Forgot to put olive oil or avocado oil. Any fat will do!
Hey Megha, Can you share where you bought your “portable stove top”??
That was AWESOME!!! No other words needed. Thank you Megha!!!