Given this week’s recipe – Cheddar Potato Chowder with Turkey Bacon – let’s talk about turkey bacon, shall we?
I’ve found that folks, generally, land in one of three camps when it comes to turkey bacon:
1) The “Love-Turkey-Bacon Camp” because it’s a healthy switch; this group rarely, if ever, buys pork bacon anymore.
2) The “Completely-Dislike-Turkey-Bacon Camp,” which believes it’s a travesty to even suggest turkey bacon can compete with pork bacon.
3) The “Turkey-Bacon-is-Actually-Okay Camp”; in other words, they still probably use pork bacon more often because turkey bacon will never completely beat “real” bacon.
These camps don’t include people like my friend, Jenn, who actually doesn’t like bacon at all. Whaaaat? (It’s okay, Jenn – we’ll always be friends, I promise.)
But I digress.
If I am completely honest, I tended toward #3 for a long time. In the past couple of years, though, the product has improved dramatically and I have bought more turkey bacon. I have also been impressed, especially, with how the JENNIE-O® turkey bacon fries up and tastes. (Don’t worry pork bacon lovers – I still buy quite a bit of pork bacon because we love that too.)
I can tell you that if you haven’t given turkey bacon a chance in a while (or maybe ever?), I’d suggest you take a look if you’re interested in switching things up. And the Cheddar Potato Chowder with Turkey Bacon recipe I am sharing below is a great way to try it out.
I know, I know … it’s April (well, nearly May) so soup, perhaps, isn’t high on your recipe list right now. You’ll have to forgive me, but I live in Minnesota. MINNESOTA. As in – it can easily be 35 degrees in April and rather than freeze for the umpteenth month in a row, I’m going to continue to make soup.
Hopefully in July, this won’t have to happen.
By the way, Jennie-O has a variety of recipes (for turkey bacon and many other turkey products on here or check out Jennie-O on Pinterest and Instagram as well.
I adapted this soup recipe from the Cheesy Pepper Jack Potato Chowder recipe from Iowa Girl Eats. (I’ve made that specific recipe, too, and it’s fantastic. I just happened to be out of pepper jack cheese at home so I went with straight-up cheddar instead.)
– Lara –
Cheddar Potato Chowder with Turkey Bacon
- 8 strips JENNIE-O® turkey bacon (1/2 lb), chopped
- 1-2 tablespoons butter
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- 1 large shallot or 1/2 small onion, chopped
- pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes (or more or less)
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken broth, divided
- 2 cups skim milk
- 4 cups diced Yukon Gold potatoes (skin removed) – or use frozen Southern-Style frozen hash browns
- 8oz freshly shredded Cheddar cheese
- 2 green onions, chopped
- In a small bowl whisk together 2 Tablespoons flour with 1/4 cup chicken broth then set aside.
- Heat a large soup pot over medium heat then add chopped turkey bacon and cook until crisp. Remove bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter to the same pot and then add celery and shallots, season with pepper, and saute until tender, 4-5 minutes. Add minced garlic and red chili pepper flakes then saute for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
- Add remaining 1-3/4 cups chicken broth, milk, diced potatoes (or frozen hash browns), and lots of freshly cracked pepper to the pot then turn heat up to high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Slowly drizzle in flour/chicken broth mixture then stir to combine. Turn heat down to medium-low and simmer until chowder has thickened and potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
- Remove pot from heat then add shredded cheese about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until completely smooth before adding the next batch. Stir in the cooked turkey bacon then serve with chopped green onions.
Note: I am part of Jennie-O’s Switch Circle of bloggers, but I do not get paid for my posts. I do receive some complimentary turkey products to try upon occasion. Opinions and topics are entirely my own.
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This looks delish and I promise we can still be friends but I will forever and always be a pork bacon only gal. Probably has something to do with being a hog farmer! But you have encouraged me to be more open to those who prefer turkey bacon… although it still bothers me to imagine where the bacon comes from on a turkey since bacon is a cut of meat off the belly! Lol!
LOL – no worries, I completely understand! To be honest, I still almost always have pork bacon in my fridge as well – we love it. 🙂 But I do know some people, for varying reasons, who really do like turkey bacon so I want to do my due diligence and make sure they get some good recipes as well. (And if you noticed, the original version of this recipe calls for pork bacon – I’ve made that and it’s totally yummy as well!)
– Lara 🙂