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 just made this today. We’ve got a huge snowstorm here and this soup just made our day. I used the immersion blender this time, but next time I don’t think I will. I like more potato pieces. Also I didn’t have any heavy cream so it could have been a little creamier, but it still was great.
Sounds like the perfect day for potato soup, Debbie! We’re so glad you liked it 😊
I would love to try this recipe. But want to use my Instant Pot. What are your thoughts on that.
Thanks.
Hi Sandy! We haven’t made it this way ourselves, but several commenters have. If you go back through some of the recent comments, you can see how they did it. Hope that helps! ♥
Thank you . I will look .
This took 2 attempts to make. The Dutch oven that was used the first time around, busted when adding the milk. It was a HUGE mess. I was really looking forward to making this. The next day I decided to give it another go 😉 With success, my family loved it. I’ll definitely be making it again. Thank you
Holy cow, that’s not something you hear every day! We’re so happy you were able to make it the next day, and that everyone loved it. Thanks so much for being persistent and not giving up on the recipe after that mess! Enjoy, Amber 😊
Can I use lactose free milk?
That should work fine! Enjoy, Carly 🙂
I love potato soup and have tried a lot of recipes. My MIL LOVES potato soup and asks me to make it every time she is here. She said this one is one to use again! It is delicious! In addition to the bacon I added diced ham. I also added in celery and carrots. Everyone loved it!
I didn’t have fresh garlic so I added garlic powder and Louisiana style Cajun seasoning. Love the recipe!!
Sounds delicious! So glad you enjoyed it, Cheryl 😊
Delicious soup! To answer another person question yes you can freeze this soup! I did and as I heated it up slowest I mixed it then added a little more milk, was smooth and creamy as before.
Didn’t add the chili powder nor the sour cream, but added a bay leaf, 2 carrots & a celery stick to flavor the broth.
I also didn’t blend the half of the soup, but did I use my hand potato masher inside the soup.
It was absolutely amazing! Thank you so much! It was a hit with everyone!
We’re so glad you liked it, Ashea! Enjoy 😊
I added carrots and celery but followed it otherwise! Not my Momma’s potato soup but delicious!!! He even liked it and he usually complains about potato soup!
We’re so happy the soup was a hit for you, Jill! Thanks for trying our recipe 😊
I did the same thing!!
Great recipe! I substituted the bacon with smoked sausage, and it was awesome.
Sounds delicious! We’re so happy you liked it 🙂
Absolutely amazing! Followed to a T minus the bacon and it was so good! Thank you for my winter comfort soup 😃
Thanks for letting us know how it turned out for you, Parisa! Enjoy your soup 😊
Thank you so much for sharing your receipt. I made it last year and today everyone loves it. I always have to make a lot because everyone ones second and third helping’s.
We’re so happy everyone loved it, Vanita! Thanks so much for your review 😊
Delicious! Super easy and cheP to make. My family loved it. Thank you!
We’re so happy everyone loved it, Tracy! Thanks for trying our recipe ❤
Just made this soup this afternoon. What a winning recipe. Will be making this a couple more times for the winter months!!!
We’re so happy you enjoyed the soup so much, Barbara! Thanks so much for trying our recipe and coming back to leave a review ❤
I have never made any soup of any sort before. This recipe is easy and delicious and was well-received by all that have given it a try. It is definitely on the will-do-again list.
Thanks so much for making our soup, Kristie! We’re so happy it turned out for you. Let us know if you try any of our other recipes 😊
Can this be made without the flour? Trying to make it gluten free for another family and do not have gluten free flour.
Hi Paige! You can use cornstarch instead, but it won’t be an equal amount. Just add enough to reach your desired thickness. Hope that helps 😊