Baked potato soup recipe

Ingredients

• 4 large baking potatoes (about 12 ounces each)
• 2/3 cup butter, cubed
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 6 cups 2% milk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 10 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°. Pierce potatoes several times with a fork; place on a baking sheet. Bake until tender, 65-75 minutes. Cool completely.
• Peel and cube potatoes. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth; gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in potatoes; heat through.
• Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and green onions. Top servings with cheese and bacon.

I prepared the potatoes a day ahead and kept them in the frig. I made the soup the next day and it only took about 15 minutes.
This seems to be a slightly 'fancier' version of my dad's potato soup, only differences I see he cut potatoes & boiled, then cooked on stove on low for hours. he did the 'healthier' version, cutting the butter & mashing up some of the potato to thicken (towards the end). I do not think he added sour cream. but he did add celery! THAT "made" the soup, imo. and he likely added more pepper. I'm going to try it this way, then dad's. then decide how I need to 'adjust'. he also often used yellow cooking onions if he did not have any scallions. I'll epot back after evaluation. only I'm going to add some celery cut up fine, and maybe some celery seed to this version, as imo, celery in potato soup is 100% necessary.
TASTE WAS PASTY. Not enough flavor. Won't make it again without changing the recipe. Really bland
This is one o boy's favorite soups!!
I made it as directed and if you love pure potato soup taste, I think it's great. I used pink Himalaya salt, so I had to add more regular salt. I will try other additions when I make it again if I want more zip and zest. I would have loved to use California Baker Potatoes, but I can only get those when we're in North Carolina for the summer. They are the best tasting potato I have ever had. I don't see them in Florida and wonder where I can get them.
With the dairy and potatoes, this is probably not a good recipe to freeze.
Can this be frozen ahead of time.
Love this recipe. I made very little changes. I did add more potatoes than it called for as well as used Old cheddar cheese(and lots of it ) for that sharp cheddar flavor. I believe that any recipe is a starting block and we add to it or take away things to make it our own. This recipe need very little adjustment to make my family beg for seconds! And with 5 kids to please, when they all want more, i know I have hit the jackpot with this one!
This recipe is a good start but is really quite bland. I added more salt and pepper, 1 can of chicken broth, 1/4 c chopped onion, and about 1/3 cup of cheddar cheese. So many people gave this a 5 star rating but go on to tell about all the extra ingredients they added. That's not really an accurate rating of the original recipe.
This recipe is flawless! I have shared it so many times!