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.
Bonnie smith
I made this recipe tonight was absolutely delicious. Definitely a keeper. I did use just the chili powder since I have never heard of the chili powder called for in recipe.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So happy you enjoyed it, Bonnie! Thanks for trying our recipe 😊
Kaitlynn Dryden
Yea she’s a hard one to please but she ate 3 helpings haha!!! And I did try it in my I instapot!!! I followed your instructions to a T when adding all of the ingredients and instead of using the soup or stew option I’ve just kept it on The sauté function and cook it for the time you indicated for the stovetop periodically stirring to keep from sticking to the bottom and it came out delicious!! Plus on the sauté function you can close and open the lid without having to release any pressure as there’s none built up
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wow, that’s great! 🙂 And thank you so much for letting us know how it worked in the Instant Pot! We appreciate it.
Sherrie
I made this recipe for the first time and it way DELICIOUS! Will definitely be using this recipe every time!
Have you ever frozen the leftovers in a ziplock bag? Wondering if it’s a good way to preserve the extra.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you loved the soup, Sherrie! Thanks so much for your review 😊 Actually, we typically don’t recommend freezing this recipe because it tends to separate.
Cathy
I left out the sour cream and it was still delicious! Don’t skip the ancho chili powder – it gave the soup such a nice flavor.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Cathy! Thanks for your review ❤️
Teresa Carter
Awesome soup! My family LOVED IT!!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy everyone loved it, Teresa! Thanks so much for your review ❤️
Russell
We love this soup! We have made it several times with nothing left over!
My one question is this: Can we make this ahead of time and freeze it?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy to hear that, Russell! We typically don’t recommend freezing this soup because it tends to separate. Thanks so much for your review ❤️
Tina
It is -6. Yes negative 6 here in Strutters OH, and this is definitely being made with a great bread….not Counting any calories today. I made this before it is the best. We will be inside and going to enjoy.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wow, that is COLD! You definitely deserve some potato soup, maybe even in a bread bowl. Enjoy and stay warm, Tina!
Kaitlynn Dryden
Can I make this in my Instaspot??? I’ve made this a few times and I’m in love!!! My daughter who is on the autism spectrum loves it as well!!! And she only eats 4 foods haha!! Great recipe
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Kaitlynn! We’re so happy your daughter loves our potato soup–that’s wonderful to hear 😊 Unfortunately we’re not sure how this recipe would work in an Instant Pot. If you try it, please let us know how it goes for you!
Kaitlynn Dryden
I’m not sure if my reply posted or not but in hopes it did … a side note if you want to speed up the cooking process with your instapot you can first before you use sauté function to start your bacon you can cube the potatoes and put them in the Insta pot and add like a cup of water, turn your Insta pot onto the pressure cooker function and cook for three – four minutes and the potatoes turn out perfect and then you just assemble the soup and then add the potatoes and let boil : rest for an additional 5 min to finish it off
Tess
This is my go to soup!! I can’t wait for the fall to come so I can make this!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We love hearing that, Tess! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review 😊
Lynn
Great recipe! I just made a pot to share with a few quarantined neighbors and it’s so good!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That’s so nice of you, Lynn! Thanks for trying our recipe ❤️
Susan B
We are about to have 3 to 5 inches of snow (which is crippling in NC) so I decided to try this recipe. I added two chicken bullion, the broth I had was some what tasteless, but followed the recipe otherwise and the soup is delish. Thank you so much for posting. My neighbor gave a ton of potatoes so I am giving her dinner tonight.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That’s so sweet of you, Susan! We’re so happy you like the soup enough to share with your neighbor. Enjoy 🙂
Karla
Excellent recipe! Made exactly as directions called for and turned out great.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you like the soup, Karla! Thanks for trying our recipe and coming back to leave a review 😊
Christie
Hi! Could you make this with corn starch instead of flour? I have celiac and would love to give this a try.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Christie! You sure can. It won’t be an equal substitution, so just add enough until you get your desired thickness. Enjoy 😊
Christie
I tried your recipe last night and it was a HIT! I did substitute the flour with a corn starch slurry after adding all the liquids. Worked a treat. My friend asked for the recipe as well. Thanks! I’m going to try your chicken tortilla soup next.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wonderful! Thanks for letting us know how it turned out for you, Christie! Enjoy 😊
Debbie Howery
Can I use what I have on hand, russet potatoes?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Absolutely! Enjoy, Debbie 😊
Joodz999
Oh my goodness this was good! Made it per recipe except for extra bacon. It was gone in minutes!!! Yum!!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So happy you enjoyed the soup! Thanks for your review 🙂
Erin
This soup is perfect. Follow the recipe exactly as written and add the ancho chili. You won’t regret it.
Thank you for sharing this ❤️
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you think so, Erin! Thanks so much for making our recipe and coming back to leave a review–it means a lot to us. Enjoy your soup 🙂
David Peters
I made this tonight !! It’s great so thick will stick to the ribs for hours !! My wife loves it so I will be saving this and making it again !
Thank you for sharing!
David
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
It’s truly perfect for a cold winter night! Thanks so much for making our recipe and coming back to let us know how you liked it–we really appreciate it! Enjoy, David 🙂