I was craving soup tonight after a wet and chilly day in North Texas. Wanting something simple yet hearty, creamy potato soup is always a favorite in my home.
However, I was not in the mood to peel and boil potatoes. With a fridge still full of leftovers, I decided to do the lazy frugal thing and utilize my Thanksgiving mashed potatoes! Reducing waste is a key factor in a frugal lifestyle. So why not repurpose those leftovers?
I decided to do a variation on two recipes for potato soup from two of my favorite bloggers. Lynn’s Panera Creamy Potato Soup and Toni’s Healthy Cream of Potato Soup.
Here is my quick and easy version which I dubbed Leftover Mashed Potato Soup:
- 3 cups(ish) mashed potatoes
- 1/2 white or yellow onion
- 2 carrots chopped
- 2 sticks celery chopped
- 1 cup cauliflower cut into pieces
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup milk (I used 2%)
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, cut into chunks, room temperature
- salt and pepper to taste
I used my new favorite food processor/blender, The Ninja Master Prep, to mince the carrots, celery, onion and cauliflower.
Pour the finely minced vegetable mixture into a large pot. Add chicken broth, milk and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. Slowly add the cheeses and the mashed potatoes, stirring frequently.
Simmer for approximately 10 more minutes, stirring frequently.
Serve with some warm bread. Ladel into bowls and garnish with more cheese or green onions.
My version is not quite as healthy as Toni’s, but at least I managed to sneak some veggies in with all that cheese. 
By the way, those mashed potatoes were made with straight up half-and-half and butter, just the way I like ‘em, y’all!
My children and hubby thoroughly enjoyed this hearty soup! Next time you have some leftover mashed potatoes, consider freezing them for soup later. You’ll be wasting less, and serving a wholesome and inexpensive meal to boot.
That works for me!
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Hmm… Didn’t think about cream cheese. I used condensed milk instead. Sounds yummy!
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Looks SOOOOO good!! Great way to use those taters!
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GREAT Idea! We LOVE making potato bacon chowder (a recipe hubby found on recipes.com), and I HATE throwing away leftover mashed potatoes, but don’t like eating leftover potatoes either… this is SUCH a great idea… I can’t believe I never thought to try something like this!
We used our Thanksgiving leftover mashed potatoes by putting our leftover turkey in the bottom of a baking dish, put stuffing and leftover veggies on top and then put the potatoes on top of that, heated it in the oven, and it was like a turkey shepards pie lol… Was pretty good, would have been better if I had saved the leftover gravy haha.
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YUM! Great idea for the mashed potatoes left from Thanksgiving.
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If you like creamy soups and still have your Turkey carcass, I tried the After-Thanksgiving Turkey soup recipe from All Recipes.com and it was soooo good and so easy too.
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Alyssa Francis Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Bonnie, I LOVE creamy soups! Thanks for the suggestion, I will have to remember that for our Christmas turkey.
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Umm… my grandma use to make this for me all the time when I was little. You know, you can throw in a bit of leftover turkey too for Turkey & Mash Potato soup?
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Alyssa Francis Reply:
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:37 am
Good idea, Beth. Great way to use up yet another Thanksgiving leftover!
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What a terrific idea! I still have some taters left over, and keep forgetting them in the back of the fridge. Fingers crossed that they’re not rotten, and hopefully going to enjoy this soup tonight.
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I don’t make mashed potatoes to often but when I do, I make extra just to use for potato soup in the next day or two. We love potato soup around here!
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Yum! I love potato soup! I make Baked Potato Soup in the Crockpot!
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OMG that looks SOO GOOD! In my house mashed potatoes rarely get to the leftover stage because DD and the hubby love mashed potatoes. I’ll have to “hide” some leftovers if I want to make this soup!
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I made this last night. It was wonderful, and I even had leftovers (!) to put in the freezer for another day, plus enough to take for lunch today to work. Yummers! I added just a bit of garlic powder and some parsley flakes too.
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Alyssa Francis Reply:
April 14th, 2011 at 11:48 pm
@Linda, Thanks so much for the feedback, Linda! Glad you enjoyed it and stretched those leftovers.
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This is amazing! I just made it.. Probably a new favorite. I always have leftover mashers.. I skipped out on the onion and cauliflower and used chicken stock instead of broth. I also added some crumbled bacon and chives. Success! Definitely making this again(:
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Thank you for the inspiration! It is a cold, rainy April day here in NH and I knew I wanted to make a nice hearty soup for dinner. After looking in the fridge at my leftover, I did a google search of soups using mashed ‘taters and here I am! I do plan to tweak it a bit and throw in a few more leftovers to make sure nothing goes to waste (a little leftover corn and roasted chicken). I think I’ll add some sour cream as well, and top with some shredded cheese and bacon.
Again thank you and God Bless.
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