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 am making potato soup for the first time and it was a hit! I even shared your recipe to my family and friends. Since my husband and daughter don’t eat bacon, I had to omit that. Still it was delicious!! Perfect recipe for a cold winter weather!
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Susan! Thanks for trying our recipe and sharing it with your loved ones ❤
Another 5 stars from me. My family members all had big second helpings! Saving this one for sure.
Wonderful! So glad you all enjoyed it, Liz ❤
Can I use a valdalia onion in this recipe?
Yes. Enjoy, Apryl!
This was amazing!! My grandson loved it!!!
We’re so happy it was a hit for you both, Mary Kay! Thanks for trying our recipe 😊
I made the soup today omg it turned out awesome and sooooo tasty
We’re so happy you liked it, Jane! Enjoy 🙂
Made this today because it’s super cold out and it was perfect. I didn’t have teh specified chili powder so used regualar chili powder and added extra. Also, since I only had 1% milk I changed to 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of half & half along with the heavy cream. We’ll definitely make this again.
We’re so happy you were able to modify the soup with what you had on hand, Kelly! Thanks for trying our recipe and letting us know how you liked it 😊
I have made A LOT of potato soup with a lot of recipes. THIS recipe is my favorite, by far! It’s easy to make and the flavor is outstanding. Thank you, my search is over!
Wow, thank you so much Lynn! We are so happy this soup was a winner for you. Thanks for coming back to leave a review 😊
Can the golden be replaced with russet?
Yes! Enjoy 🙂
I made a pot of this soup tonight, followed the recipe exactly. It was delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe!
So happy you enjoyed it, Libby! Thanks for commenting 😊
DELICIOUS!!!! I followed the recipe exactly except I upped the salt and I’m vegetarian so I used veggie bacon (Smart Bacon, specifically). It was amazing. It was super easy to make too. I did not have a dutch oven, so I used a deep, steel pot and it worked perfectly. I will be making this again!
We’re so happy you liked the soup, Bri! Thanks for letting us know how it worked out for you 🙂
This was absolutely delicious!!! My husband loved it so much that he requested it 2 weeks in a row. 🤤
Wow! We’re so happy it was a hit for you, Linda 😊 Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review!
Instead of blending to make it creamy, I used maybe a cup of “Idahoan” instant mashed potatoes. It made it creamy with added potato flavor. Added the Ancho chile powder. It really made it stand out. Like my husband said it’s not our parents version of potato soup.
We’re so happy you liked the soup, Katherine! Thanks so much for your review ♥
Hi I was wondering how much a serving is
Hi Bethany! A serving is about 1.5 cups. Enjoy!
Loved it! Will be making it again soon.Thank you for sharing!
We’re so glad you loved the soup, Theresa! Thanks for giving our recipe a try ❤
Absolutely fantastic! Exactly what you need on a cold day!
We’re so happy you liked the soup, Marie! Thanks so much for your review. Enjoy ♥
Finally! Potato soup I can sure and brag about!
It is delicious, textured perfectly, and looks so appetizing.
Thanks Emily!
We’re so glad you liked it, Rodney! Thanks for giving our recipe a try 😊
I was given 2 10 lb bags of potatoes so thought I’d make potato soup to use up some of them. I cannot eat onions or garlic. Will the soup not taste well if I leave those ingredients out?
Hi Kelley! The flavor will definitely change, so you may need to tweak the seasonings. Have you tried cooking with shallot infused oil or garlic infused oil? Depending on your dietary restrictions, those can sometimes be used instead of the real thing! Scallions might also be an option for you. Hope that helps 🙂
Can I use 1/2 and 1/2 for the 2 cups of milk and heavycream
Yes you can. Enjoy, Janet! 🙂
Excellent recipes, we really enjoyed the soups, Thank you!👍👍👍👍👍👍
We’re so happy to hear that, Maureen! Thanks for commenting 😊