How To Make Grandma’s Potato Soup From The 1800’s

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You all know how I love finding recipes to try and then sharing them here. I spend hours searching the internet, and watching videos for simple and easy from scratch recipes to share with ya’ll. This recipe is no different, although, I inquired it in a unique way.

It’s so easy to caught up in technology that we tend to think that’s where all the good ideas are. I’m no different. With this thinking we can miss a huge advantage we were given by our relatives, and that is the family cookbook.

Not that long ago family cookbooks were considered treasured gifts to pass down to the next generation of cooks. Somewhere along the way (probably with the rise of technology) this has been lost.

I personally did not come from a long list of cooking enthusiast and as far as I know there are no family cookbooks that were passed down.

Fortunately for me, I married someone who did!

Whenever Andrew and I bought our home, (his grandparent’s home) some of their belongings were left in the house. We spent weeks going through their things deciding what to keep and what to give on to others. The kitchen held some great treasures I clung onto, which to my delight included cookbooks.

His grandma had a lot of cookbooks! Some were what she had bought, but a few were family cookbooks that had recipes from as early as the 1800’s. Which is where today’s recipe is coming from.

Good old fashioned potato soup.

To say Andrew was excited that I was going to try making potato soup from scratch is an understatement. He was delighted. “Grandma’s potato soup”? He asked, “Yes” I said, as I put my Pinterest board of saved potato soups away. I don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me to make her soup. So, to the cabinet I went and pulled out her much loved and used family cookbook that was put together in 1994.

This recipe is not at all what I had expected. It is a great recipe, it’s cheap and fairly simple. I see why it would be a staple especially in the great depression era.

Andrew’s grandmother was born in 1923 and this potato soup recipe is what she recalled her mother and grandmother making.

I followed the recipe exactly and received “this tastes just like I remembered grandma’s soup.” I consider that a big win! A happy husband with a full belly makes my homemakers heart so delighted.

I hate to admit this but personally, I found it a little bland. Hang around to the end and I’ll give you some suggestions to shake up the flavor just a bit.

This artisan bread recipe is the perfect pairing with a comforting bowl of grandma’s potato soup.

Let’s go ahead and dive into this recipe!

Start by peeling and cubing 2 cups of potatoes. I used 3-4 potatoes. According to the recipe, red potatoes are the preferred potato. All I had was russet, so that’s what I used.

In a large pot, add potatoes and enough water to cover. Add salt.

Cook until tender and the water is almost gone. There isn’t actually a cook time listed in the recipe. If it’s on the stove boiling, it will probably take about 30 minutes.

I used my Salad Master cooker that depending on the temperature I set, can either be used like an instant pot or crock pot. I cooked my potatoes on a low heat for about 3 hours. Then add milk and butter to the potatoes.

Now, add the milk and butter.

I love how things circle back around over the years. Here’s an excerpt from Andrew’s grandmother regarding butter versus margarine.

“Of course, Granny always used whole milk and real butter. Mom wouldn’t eat butter, so that’s where margarine came into the recipe.” Yeah, I’m not using margarine either, LOL. It’s real butter again!

Bring everything to a boil.

Here’s the part that through me for a loop, the noodle mixture. This is apparently a thickening agent as well as adding substance to the meal.

To make the noodle mixture, you need one egg, one cup of all purpose flour, and a pinch of salt.

Beat the egg in a small bowl. Add flour and salt. Work flour into the egg until it becomes crumbly.

Add half of the mixture to the potato soup and cook 5-10 minutes on low heat. If the soup isn’t thick enough, add the rest of the noodle mixture. If it’s too thick, add some water.

This is what it should look like, and at this point according to the recipe, it is done.

I wanted to use my emersion blender to make it smooth, but apparently it is supposed to be chunky.

The family secret is to add garlic powder to your individual bowl, which did add some flavor.

But again, I still thought it was bland.

To my bowl, I added the garlic powder and also some cheese, a dash of heavy cream, and some diced green onions.

This made a big pot so we had leftovers for the next night. I took this opportunity to amp up the flavor.

Here’s what I did:

I fried up some bacon and added that to the soup.

I added a cup of heavy cream.

I threw in one cup of cheese.

As well as some more salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

To each individual bowl, I added chopped green onions and a scoop of sour cream.

This make it takes like baked potato in a bowl. It was so good!

I hope you enjoy this recipe!