The Ultimate Creamy Potato Soup
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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 3/4″ 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 1/4 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
Equipment
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
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
I love the sound of this soup. I am currently snowed in and do not have heavy or sour cream. Is their a way I can still make this work!
Thank you
Hi Kristy! You can just skip the heavy cream. Just know the soup will not be as creamy. Enjoy! 😊
I love this recipe and have made it a few times. The only things I would add are:
– takes at least 2 hours if you’re cooking by yourself from finish-to-end
– definitely use a non-stick pot!!! (stainless steel conducts heat faster and can burn your potatoes at the bottom before you can smell it :c )
I made the soup today on a snowy day. I’ve been under the weather since New Year’s Eve and this definitely raised my spirits! I use a potato masher, too. Found the Ancho Chile powder at Kroger’s abd I love the flavor it imparts!!! Thank you!
Sounds like the perfect day for this soup, Glenn! Feel better soon 🙂
Making for dinner tonight 😊
Thanks for trying our recipe, Annie! Enjoy 😊
Great soup and I’ve made it many times. It doesn’t have enough season for me, my family, or the friends. If you agree with us, I have a few tips to try:
1) Make the bacon pretty crispy so it adds a good crunch. She doesn’t specify but you should start the bacon in a cold pan!! Always try to get thick cut.
2) If you’re like me and love bacon/garlic, use extra bacon(6 extra strips) and reserve 3 for topping. Also, extra garlic cloves(usually 2-3).
2) I double the salt and pepper(at the direction of friends and family). I use 1-1.5 tsp of chili powder(I can never find ancho.)
3) Add Dill weed and/or tarragon.
4) I use an immersion blender right in the Dutch oven while it’s still on the stove.
Looks yummy! Trying this tonight! It’s finally cold here in Mississippi
It’s the perfect cold weather dinner. We hope you love it, Jeanna! 😊
Your potato soup is wonderful. It is 11 am and I will be serving it at 5:00. Should I refrigerate it?
Yes! Enjoy 🙂
Hi! Can I leave out the bacon step to make this a vegetarian version for my sister? Or does that throw off the recipe?
Hi Megan! You can definitely leave it out, but you may just need to play with the seasonings a bit to get the flavor how you like it. Enjoy! 🙂
I never leave reviews on these types of things, but I just have to. Potato soup is my absolute favorite and I’ve been using this recipe for over a year now and OMG it is the best! I’ve tried so many but this one is the top notch one. I don’t use the chilis though cause I can never find them at the store but the soup is still amazing without them. Don’t look for another potato soup recipe because I PROMISE you it’s not going to be as good as this one.
We’re so happy you found our soup recipe, Samantha! Thank you so much for your kind review. Enjoy 🙂
Made this yesterday and it is awesome. I use 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder and 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika based on what others said and because I had both of those on hand. Everyone loved it and it was not too spicy at all. Definitely will make again.
We’re so happy you tried our recipe, Jenny! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 🙂
This soup is absolutely incredible. Thank you!
We’re so happy you think so, Nate! Enjoy 🙂
Delicious soup recipe!
I substituted pepper jack for the cheddar in one of my servings. A good twist!
Yum, we love that idea! Enjoy, Bob 🙂
No blender ! But turned out good
Great to hear, Deb! Enjoy the soup 🙂
Best soup ever
Absolutely delicious! Both hubby and I loved it. We’re vegetarian so we made it without the bacon and with vegetable broth and it was excellent. Thanks for the recipe. Any idea if it freezes well?
We’re so happy you both loved it, Laurie! Unfortunately we don’t recommend freezing this soup as it tends to separate.
how long does this recipe actually take to make? it takes 25 mins of cooking time alone, not including all the prep prior & during.
Hey Brooke, it takes approximately 1 hour to make from start to finish. 🙂
Absolutely amazing soup! Thank you for sharing the recipe!!
We’re so happy you like it, Peggy! Thanks for your review 😊