Recipe was made exactly as written. I used skim milk (all I had) but did add a little bit of evaporated milk which I had in the fridge to enrich the flavor. The 4 cloves of garlic differentiated it from the typical potato soup, and it was perfectly in balance with the other ingredients. It did thicken up a bit too much, so I thinned it out with more chicken stock. I will start with 3/4 cup mashed potato flakes the next time. What a nice job those mashed potato flakes did on thickening; I'll remember that for other food preparation.

I tripled the amount of bacon in this recipe and used evaporated milk. After tasting the end result, I did add a few additional spices. This took no time to make which was incredibly helpful to me seeing as I work such long hours. I really don't understand the addition of instant potatoes instead of using more of the red potatoes other than a thickening agent. I don't know that I'd make this again.