Cook the bacon. Drain excess grease on paper towels. Then crumble up bacon into pieces. Set aside.
Pour the frozen hash brown cubes into the bottom of a 5-6 quart oval slow cooker.
Evenly season potatoes with onion powder, garlic and pepper.
Pour in the chicken broth, cream of chicken soup and ¾ of the cooked and crumbled bacon (reserve the rest of the bacon for serving).
Stir everything until well combined then cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
After cooking, use a fork to check the potatoes for doneness. They should be fork tender.
To the slow cooker, add 1 cup of shredded cheese (reserve the rest for topping), cubed cream cheese, heavy cream and stir.
Cover slow cooker and cook on high for another 30-45 minutes or until all of the cheeses are melted. Stirring occasionally. At this point, taste for seasoning. Add additional salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
When ready, ladle into bowls and top with reserved crumbled bacon, remaining shredded cheese and sliced green onions or chives.
Notes
You can use low/no sodium options for the broth and cream of chicken soup.
This recipe can easily be cut in half.
If you don’t like the bacon to cook with the soup, just save it to use only as a topping.
You can use bacon pieces (found in the salad dressing aisle) instead of cooking up the bacon.
This soup will last in the refrigerator up to five days in a covered dish/airtight container and reheats easily on the stovetop or microwave.
This recipe calls for double the amount of frozen hash browns than is typical but I found the ratio between potato and liquid to be perfect! However, this recipe can easily be cut in half.
For a thinner soup, add additional chicken broth or milk.
Milk can be substituted for the heavy cream.
Use as little or as much of the cheese as you prefer.
2 pounds of hash browns equals 32 ounces. Sometimes the bags will say 2 pounds and sometimes 32 ounces.