An easy and delicious creamy potato soup recipe that can be made in just one pot! Loaded with bacon and creamy potato goodness, this is a favorite comfort food in my household.
Something savory today!
Savory, creamy, and loaded with bacon, sour cream, and cheese. You guys already know that we don’t exactly do health food around here, right? 😉
Even when I’m not sharing desserts, the food is always comfort food, and that’s usually best served with extra cheese (have you tried my baked mac and cheese yet!?) and usually comes with a few calories. Let’s not think about that too much, alright?
I know I mentioned to you guys that I had this potato soup recipe for you back when I posted my Oreo Balls; I made it when Zach had a bad cold and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since (you might think that’s an exaggeration, but I can assure you that my food obsessions run deep… Please see photo below to understand why).
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Zach prefers to eat healthy most of the time (I pretend that I do, too, but really if I lived alone I’m pretty sure I’d eat creamy cheesy foods every night and never fit through any doors ever again), so the soup was a good break from baked chicken breast, but this definitely isn’t an every night kind of meal in our house.
Potato soup is definitely on the menu for this weekend, though… it’s so frigid outside I’ve convinced myself that I need soup, specifically creamy potato soup, to survive. Potato soup makes me dramatic, evidently.
If you’re in the midst of a cold spell yourself (or even if you’re not) I think you’re going to enjoy this creamy potato soup as much as we do. Read on for some tips on how to make it!
Tips for Perfect Creamy Potato Soup
- Cut your potatoes into pieces no larger than ¾″ and try to keep them around the same size so that they cook at the same time. Nothing worse than biting into a crisp, raw-inside chunk of potato!
- To make this soup nice and creamy, I recommend pureeing about half of it either by using an immersion blender or by transferring a portion of the soup to a blender, pureeing, and then stirring the pureed soup back into the pot (maybe you recognize this technique from my corn chowder). If you want a completely smooth soup you can puree all of it, but I prefer to have a few actual pieces of potato, so I think pureeing half gives it the best taste and texture.
- Don’t return the bacon to the pot until after you have pureed some of the soup. It’s best not to blend the bacon 😉.
- The ancho chili powder is, in my humble opinion, a must and gives this soup the most perfect depth of flavor. I blend it into the potato soup and also sprinkle it on top before serving. I recommend adding just a ¼ teaspoon and then taste testing before adding more.
This would make a great comfort food for this cold and windy weekend (is there anything more cozy than a pot of soup simmering on the stove while the wind is howling at your window? Anything!?), and while I don’t follow football at all I do know that this would be great to make ahead and enjoy during the big game this weekend.
Who really cares about football when you can make yourself a Super Bowl of soup! 🤣😂 OK OK I’m sorry, enough of that!
Enjoy!
How to Make Potato Soup
The Ultimate Potato Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 strips (uncooked) bacon cut into small pieces
- 3 Tablespoons butter unsalted or salted will work
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped (about 1.5 cup/200g)
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (42g)
- 2 ½ lbs gold potatoes peeled and diced into pieces no larger than 1” (this was about 6 Large potatoes for me/1.15kg)
- 4 cups chicken broth (945ml)
- 2 cups milk (475ml)
- ⅔ cup heavy cream (155ml)
- 1 ½ teaspoon* salt
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon ancho chili powder**
- ⅔ cup sour cream (160g)
- Shredded cheddar cheese, chives, and additional sour cream and bacon for topping optional
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Place bacon pieces in a large Dutch Oven or soup pot over medium heat and cook until bacon is crisp and browned.
- Remove bacon pieces and set aside, leaving the fat in the pot.
- Add butter and chopped onion and cook over medium heat until onions are tender (3-5 minutes).
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
- Sprinkle the flour over the ingredients in the pot and stir until smooth (use whisk if needed).
- Add diced potatoes to the pot along with chicken broth, milk, heavy cream, salt, pepper, and ancho chili powder. Stir well.
- Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork (about 10 minutes).
- Reduce heat to simmer and remove approximately half*** of the soup to a blender (be careful, it will be hot!) and puree until smooth (half is about 5 cups of soup, but just eyeballing the amount will be fine. Alternatively you can use an immersion blender.).
- Return the pureed soup to the pot and add sour cream and reserved bacon pieces, stir well.
- Allow soup to simmer for 15 minutes before serving.
- Top with additional sour cream, bacon, cheddar cheese, or chives. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
LINDA
Hi,
what can be substituted for heavy cream?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Linda! You could use half and half or milk, but the soup will be thinner.
Kelly
The milk doesn’t separate with the boiling?
Sam Merritt
Nope. That isn’t something I have ever experienced. You can watch me make it in the video. 🙂
Jean
Excellent recipe: easy to follow, clear instructions and best of all delicious and popular with all the family.
I did use light milk- not skim also half the amount of cream … plus a Mexican’ mix of cheese shredded cheese on side to garnish with the chives.
Thanks for this recipe.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So glad everyone enjoyed it, Jean! Thanks for the review 🩷
Allison
My family and I absolutely love this recipe. It’s easy, quick, and all in one pot. I don’t peel my potatoes or do the blending step, purely out of laziness. But it comes out great every time!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for coming back to leave a review, Allison! We are so happy the soup is such a hit for you family 🥰
JGarcia
i love this recipe. I tweaked it a little bit. I added carrots and kale and its absolutely delicious.
Janice Stewart Shade
My nephew made this recipe for his going away party and it was the talk of the party I’m 55 and I think this is the best soup I have ever taste. Thanks for sharing
Sherry
This was absolutely delicious! Milk is not my friend, so I subbed oat milk and plant based heavy cream. Turned out amazing 🤩 Will definitely be making this again!
LauraV
Wonderful easy, one pot soup. So thick and delicious.
Janice Jourdenais Winter
My son is having his wisdom teeth out this week and I’m sure he’ll like this recipe, but I’ll need to puree it smooth. When you add the bacon to the soup what kind of texture does it have after the 15 minute simmer? Also does the sour cream add that sour tartness? Could you add shredded sharp cheddar instead? I’m sorry for all the questions and appreciate your help.
Sam Merritt
Hi Janice! I would not add the bacon back to the soup, just leave it on the side for anyone else to add to their soup as desired. It does soften in the soup but I’d probably just keep it on the side. The sour cream adds depth of flavor, I don’t think it makes the soup tart at all. Shredded sharp cheddar will be fine for topping but it’s quite a different flavor profile than sour cream and may not melt smoothly, I personally wouldn’t recommend it though you are welcome to experiment, it just may not be as good.
Laura Karina
one of the best, easiest, foolproof recipes I have ever tried
Liz
Can you freeze this soup
Sam Merritt
Hi Liz! I wouldn’t recommend freezing it as it could separate. 🙂
Craig
What’s are good alternatives to an immersion blender?
Sam Merritt
Hi Craig! You can transfer some to a blender and blend it. I give guidance on how much in the actual post itself. 🙂
Donna
Using a potato masher and a good solid whisk, will do the job. Added bonus to using those, you’ll give your upper arm muscles a decent work out 🙂
Theresa
it was delicious 😋. I also added 1/2 tsp of thyme, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika. I didn’t use anco chili powder.
Alvarez
Just love this resipe & it’s delicious & simple to make. thanks for it.