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 made this awesome soup today. Followed the recipe pretty close except for the Anch Chili powder, didn’t have it so I used regular chili powder and some Smokey Paprika.
We’re so happy you liked it, Debbie! Enjoy 🙂
What can you do if it is too thick
You could try thinning it out with some more chicken broth or milk!
Debbie, how much Chii powder and paprika did you use.
Talk about amazing flavor, this is one for the books. Halved the recipe since it’s just me and my husband and wowzer. I will be saving this for future meals.
We’re so happy you like the soup, Brianna! Thanks for giving our recipe a shot and coming back to leave a review. Enjoy 🙂
Can I leave skin on the golden potatoes?
Sure, that’s fine! Enjoy, Kate 🙂
How about freezing leftovers? Does it freeze well?
Hi Tammy! We don’t recommend freezing the soup, as it tends to separate. Hope that helps!
Can I substitute cream cheese for the sour cream?
Hi Carolyn! A few other people have commented that they have done this with success 😊
My family love love loved it!! Making it for all my friends to try
Thanks for trying our recipe and sharing it with your family, Allison! We’re so happy it was a a hit for you 😊
Just made it and it is very good. Thank you for sharing your recipe and making the easy follow video.
We’re so happy you like the soup, Angela! Enjoy 😊
This recipe consistently performs.
I make mine in an Instapot so if you do too, Definitely pull from heat before adding cream and refrigerate soon after. I add a topping of French’s crispy onion topping before i top with shredded cheese, scallions, and sour cream.
We’re so happy it’s a hit for you, Elle! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review 😊
This recipe is easy and the results were absolutely delicious! However, I wish I had checked the nutrition facts in advance. It’s high in sodium and calories. I will cut back on some ingredients, such as heavy cream and sour cream, butter and bacon grease as well as salt (possibly sacrificing some flavor) the next time I make it.
About how much bacon fat since I already have the bacon cooked, and does this freeze well?
Thanks
Hi Dianne! It should be about 2 TBSP of grease. And unfortunately, we don’t recommend freezing the soup because it tends to separate. Hope that helps!
I actually made this soup at 5he beginning of this month and put it in the freezer. I just pulled it out tonight and it does separate but as long as you stur really well… it comes right back with no issues. Loved it the first time and the second. Absolutely amazing recipe!!
We’re happy you were able to enjoy it a second time, Daisy! Thanks for letting us know how freezing worked out for you–we appreciate it! 😊
I’ve made this several times, and this is hands down the best potato soup I’ve ever had! It’s perfectly flavorful! This recipe has definitely become a staple for me.
We love hearing that! Thanks so much for trying our recipe and coming back to leave a review. Enjoy your soup! 😊
The best potato soup ever, added 1/2 cup finely diced carrot. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes…wish I could give this more than 5 stars!!!
We’re so happy you like it, Lisa 😊 Enjoy!
What can you replace ancho chili with that’s similar
Hi April! Just regular chili powder will work. Enjoy!
Does the soup freeze well?
Unfortunately it tends to separate, so we don’t recommend it.
We used just a little of Half Sharp Paprika!
Can I omit the bacon. I got my wisdom teeth removed on Wednesday and I need real food. I’ll die if I eat another bowl of chicken soup.
Oh no–that’s no fun at all! 🙁 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. Hope you’re feeling better very soon 🙂
Absolutely love this soup and easy to make. I made a couple of changes also for my family. Added a package of peas and carrots, a little bit of shredded chicken and instead of using a blender I added a package of instant potato mix a small four serving package to thicken the soup because I also like the chunks of potato. It’s a wonderful recipe and easy to modify to your family.
We’re happy to hear you were able to modify the recipe for your family, Julie! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 😊