This Chestnut Potato Christmas Soup is a delightful and eye-pleasing festive recipe. The addition of crispy bacon and rosemary makes it comfort and soul-warming.
Hello, everyone. Once again, I am with a delicious Christmas soup idea, and I hope you like it! Undoubtfully, I have taken it seriously this year and shared with you four Christmas soup ideas. I’d happily continue, but I need to stop if I want to share other festive ideas with you.
This Chestnut Potato Christmas Soup will take just about 30 minutes of actual cooking, and you can boil the potatoes, sauté the onions, and brown the bacons at the same time. The texture of this soup is so velvety and rich, without any cream. The secret? Add a little extra knob of butter while pureeing the soup in a blender for this irresistibly smooth texture. And don’t discard that water in which you cooked the potatoes – it’s so aromatic that we’re using it as veggie broth.
The potato type is up to you (I think starchy would work nicely), but I opted for more-like-waxy-kind. However, remember than beating potatoes in a blender could turn them into a gluey mixture. That’s why I did a few extra (little steps) what I recommend for you:
- Pure the chestnut mixture with some of the potato water;
- Separately, roughly mash the hot drained potatoes (with a potato masher);
- Combine a part (Like a cup or more) of the pureed chestnuts with the potato mash and quickly beat them to incorporate, just for 10 seconds or so.
- Combine the chestnut and potato mixes in one pot and warm it through to blend completely.
Result? Delicious soup with a velvety, smooth texture! Looking for something extra? Top it with this irresistibly aromatic combo of crispy bacon and rosemary. Certainly, you can substitute lean or turkey bacon for traditional bacon, but real bacon gives so much more flavour in this recipe.
Either way, I hope you try this Chestnut Potato Christmas Soup very soon!
Cheers and see you soon!
Notes
*Beating potatoes in a blender might make them gluey. So, I suggest mashing them with a potato masher first then quickly pulse with some chestnut mixture in a blender.
Ingredients
The Soup:
- 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in few parts
- 3 to 4 tbsp. of unsalted butter, divided
- 1 large onions, sliced
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- About 700 gr. cooked and peeled chestnu6ts (I used vacuum-packed)
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp. white pepper
- 1 whole nutmeg, grated
- 1 tbsp. fresh thyme
- Salt, to taste
The Topping:
- 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
- About 150 gr. bacon, diced
- 2-3 tbsp. fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold, salted water by a few centimetres. Bring to a boil, reduce heat down to medium-low and allow to simmer until fork tender (about 15 minutes depending on size). Drain but reserve all the liquid. Using a potato masher, mash (roughly the potatoes).
- Heat 1 tbsp. Butter in a pan and cook the onions and garlic, 5 minutes. Add the chestnuts, paprika, nutmeg, white pepper, and thyme, and cook 5 minutes.
- Add about 1-2 cups of the reserved potato water (to cover the chestnuts), cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes. Off heat and let it cool a bit until easy to handle.
- Puree in a blender in a few batches, each time adding a knob of butter (Between 2 to 3 tbsp. total) and some of the reserved potato water. Transfer to a pot.
- Take a little of the chestnut puree (about one cap), combine with the mashed potatoes, and whiz up (pulse) in the blender, for 10-15 seconds, until just well-incorporated (*See the notes).
- Transfer eventing to a pot and warm through, to mingle all the flavours. Try and season if necessary (Might need some salt).
- For the topping, heat the olive oil in a separate pan and cook the bacon, for about 5 minutes, until starts turning golden. Add the rosemary and cook, stirring, for an additional 2-3 minutes, until changed the colour and crisp.
- Serve the soup with the topping.
- Enjoy!
Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.
This could easily be next years Christmas Day appetiser here Ben. I like to do a small festive salad as a starter or a soup. And chestnuts are a must for christmas aren’t they? Love the addition of the bacon here!
I’d never had a chestnut until I met met my husband. His family was from the American South and they put them in their cornbread stuffing. I’ve loved them ever since! But you so rarely see them in recipes, so I’m so happy that you’re offering up delicious and creative ways to enjoy them. This soup looks amazing!
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You’re all over the fun chestnut recipes this year, Ben! I really need to step up my chestnut game as I’ve never baked with them. Roasted chestnuts do taste like potatoes, so I can see how this soup would work well. However, I’m thinking about the whole boiling the potatoes, sautéing the onions, and browning the bacon at the same time. I’m not sure I could pull that off without burning something! Haha. Either way, love the recipe, my friend. Bacon makes everything better! Everything.
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