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!
Excellent recipe!
Thanks so much, Rachelle! Enjoy 🙂
Excellent soup! Easy! Enjoyed your video
We’re so happy you found it helpful, Denise! Thanks so much for your review. Enjoy the soup 🙂
Made this for the first time tonight. It was a hit with both the kids & adults. So yummy!
Wonderful! Thanks for trying our recipe, Julie 🙂
Can I use a dried ancho chili pepper? If so, should I dice up 1/2 tsp or throw the whole pepper in like you would a bay leaf and take it out when done?
Hi Trish! You could try the bay leaf method and see how it goes 🙂
Does this freeze well?
Hi Trish! It tends to separate as it thaws, so we don’t recommend it 🙁
This has become my go to recipe! It is superb! I would post a picture, but I don’t know how. This is the first time I have commented on a recipe!
Hi Jose! We’re so happy you like the soup 😊 If you’d like to tag us on Instagram, you can do so @sugarspun_sam or share your picture in our Facebook Group!
Can I used smoked paprika instead of ancho chili powder? All I have on hand is regular chili powder and smoked paprika! 🥴
Hi Shameika! You can just use regular chili powder, or you could leave it out entirely. A small pinch of smoked paprika probably wouldn’t hurt though 🙂
So good!!!!
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Lisa! Thanks for your review 🙂
Great recipe that we love making, but wondering how to make in a crock pot. Can anyone provide instructions on how to make this in a crockpot? Do you have to cook the potatoes first before putting in crock pot? Would you wait to add creamy elements until the end in the crock pot?
Hi Shelby! We’re so happy you love the soup! We haven’t made this recipe in the crockpot. With the different steps with cooking the bacon and veggies etc., we think it is best prepped on the stove. You could always keep it warm in a crockpot though! If you do try to make the whole recipe in a crockpot let us know how it goes 😊
Made it it in the crock pot. Dice potatoes and put in crock pot with the chicken broth, garlic and onion. Set to high for 4-5 hours. Then do the butter, flour, milk, heavy cream, ancho chili powder, salt and pepper on stove top closer to meal time (takes about 5 minutes). Dump the stove top mixture into the crock pot, stir, and serve. Potatoes get very thick in crock pot so may want to add a little extra broth to thin it out. But works well!
Sam – this soup is amazing and full of flavor! We have tried many many loaded potato soups, so many in fact that my husband turns up his nose every time I bring it up to make – we had never found a good one! For my husband to say “This is the best soup we have ever made” really speaks to how good it is! The only minor thing we did different was to add a little cheese, bacon and chives right into the soup itself the last few minutes before ladling it up. Then added more on top. Will be in our rotation now – thank you!!
Wow, we’re so happy you both loved it so much! Thanks for trying our recipe and coming back to leave a review–it really means a lot to us! Enjoy, Michelle 😊
I followed the recipe exactly. I’m not a huge fan of black pepper (I know that’s weird) so next time I’ll use less. This soup has wonderful texture and flavor. It involves a lot more steps than my former potato soup recipe but it’s well worth the effort!
We’re so happy you enjoyed our recipe, Patricia! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 😊
I love soup and have tried many recipes. This is the BEST potato soup ever!!! Could stand up to any restaurant!
Thank you so much, Kay! That means a lot to us 😊
Outstanding recipe! Hubby loved it and peeling potatoes Is a must and use Yukon! Don’t get mushy hold flavor… (I did use organic) the spices are right on! Sharing with family and in the best of
receive book it goes😊
We’re so happy you loved the soup, Sandy! Thanks for trying our recipe and coming back to leave a review ❤️
Made this about a month ago and loved it!!! So rich and creamy! Today I’m making it again, but this time I’m adding some clams. Can’t wait to taste it!!!
We’re so happy you enjoyed the soup enough to make it again, Robin! That sounds delicious 😊
Can I leave out the ancho chilli powder? Or is there a substitute?
Hi Melissa! You could use regular chili powder instead, or just leave it out. 😊
This is just scrumptious! Also in NC, Raleigh got 3 inches, and this is perfect with the snow on the ground.
We’re so happy you enjoyed the soup, Robin! Thanks for your review 😊
Any tips on doubling the recipe. I want a BIG pot of soup. Thanks.
Hi Michael! You shouldn’t have any issue doubling this recipe. Enjoy 😊