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.
Amy
So delicious! Didn’t have Ancho so used Paprika instead. Went a little crazy with the immersion blender but I like my soup smooth. Cannot wait to make again. Question? Has anyone tried making without peeling the potatoes?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Amy! We’re so happy you enjoyed the soup. Peeling the potatoes is really a personal preference; many others have made the soup without peeling the potatoes first. 😊
Vaden
Recipe is fantastic, I added one pound of chunked, boneless skinless chicken breasts to the mix to add some higher protein content, along with 1 1/2 cup of cheese into the pot as well!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sounds delicious, Vaden! Thanks so much for trying our recipe 😊
Paige
My husband said this was the BEST potato soup he has ever had. If he compliments a dish it has to be worth talking about, and this soup is!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That’s wonderful, Paige! We’re so happy he enjoyed it so much. Thanks for making our recipe! ❤
Jodi
Been making this for months. Any recipe by you I love! This one my two kids LOVE! Especially on cold wintery days!!!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thank you for your sweet comment, Jodi! We’re so happy your kiddos love this soup. Thanks for trusting our recipes and coming back to leave a review–it means a lot to us ❤
Phyllis
I love Potato Soup and I make a good one but this recipe knocks it out of the park! My husband ate 3 bowls! The ultimate compliment! Didn’t have ancho Chile powder do added large spoon of New .exact Green Chile. Awesome good soup for a cold day.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you both enjoyed it, Phyllis! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 😊
An
Can I make this in an instant pot?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi An! We have not made it this way ourselves, but other commenters have. If you want to search through the comments (the search function on your browser should find it quickly), you can see how they did it. 🙂
Megan
Would I be able to make this in the crockpot?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Megan! We have not made it this way ourselves, but other commenters have. If you want to search through the comments (the search function on your browser should find it quickly), you can see how they did it. 🙂
Cheyenne Trude
This is hands down my favorite potato soup evvvveerrrr. Do yourself a favor and make it. I prefer to purée all of it and add the full amount of Ancho. This was my second time making it and it will go in my recipe book for sure! I’m full and ready for bed!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks so much for your comment, Cheyenne! We’re so happy you love the soup 😊
Emily Wilson
I made this tonight for my first time ever making home made potato soup! My husband actually requested it awhile back and I wanted to make it well so I had to special order and wait for the ancho powder but I’m glad I did! I used everything in this recipe but added extra bacon and just a little more of everything to use up the rest of my golden potatoes, I will admit that I did add about 2-3 table spoons of liquid velveeta cheese at the end with the sour cream and bacon, plus went ahead and also added probably about 2-3 table spoons worth of chives in the pot at the end. It was amazing and my husband and our 2 and 4 year old love it! I also am super impressed with how much I loved it! Also I’m SUPER glad I pureed half of it and (once again) waited for the ancho chili powder! I also recommend the bit of liquid velveeta but not necessary! I forgot to save the extra bacon for the end but it was still delicious and had extra in it anyway! Thank you for sharing your recipe, this will definitely be an adopted meal for our family!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy that your family loved the potato soup, Emily! It’s great that you were able to try it with the ancho, because it really does make the soup! Thank you so much for making our recipe and coming back to leave a review. Enjoy ❤
Gina S
This is the 2nd time I’ve made this soup in the last 2 weeks! I thought this was by far the easiest and best tasting soup I’ve made in awhile!
I do skip using bacon. Just not a fan but I haven’t had an issue skipping that. Just delicious! Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wow, that’s great to hear Gina! And it’s nice to know you still enjoy it without the bacon. Thanks so much for your comment and review ♥
Rhonda
Smelled delish when a friend made it but I’ve got a dairy allergy is there a way to make it without the heavy cream or milk?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Rhonda! We haven’t tried it this way ourselves, so it’s hard to say. We have had a few commenters make the soup with vegan non-dairy ingredients…that might be a good option for you!
Jamie
I want to make this today, can you use a crockpot? If so what would be the cooking time?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jamie! We have not made it this way ourselves, but other commenters have. If you want to search through the comments (the search function on your browser should find it quickly), you can see how they did it. 🙂
Sandy
This recipe needs a bit more flavour. Add celery and carrots. Add the milk after the vegetables have cooked in the broth.
Sam
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it, Sandy! Of course it’s always easy to tweak a recipe to your tastes. 🙂
Barbara
I enjoyed it very much, but was wondering if we could still have a nice rich soup without the heavy cream.. just thinking more calorie conscious. But the rich flavor was wonderful.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re happy you enjoyed it, Barbara! Next time you can just skip the heavy cream, but just know the soup will not be as creamy. Enjoy! 😊
Courtney
Yum! So so good and easy and also budget friendly!!!! I didn’t realize I had ran out of chilli powder but I had red Thai chilly peppers so I diced up one of those and added that in. Gave it a beautiful spicy but depth of flavour. Didn’t need the flour as I thought it was thick enough without and to save on a few carbs (it isn’t much but I try to save on that as much as possible). It was -30 in Canada where I’m at today and this literally warmed my whole family up and was so comforting! Can’t wait to make this again!!! Thank you 😊
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wow, that is COLD! We’re so happy the soup warmed up you and your family . Thanks so much for trying our recipe, Courtney! Enjoy, and stay warm ♥
David Espinoza
I added 1 half cup red onion and couple cloves fresh garlic 10 minutes before serving. Delicious!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, David! Thanks for trying our recipe 🙂
Liz
Perfect for cold winter days! I added a few more potatoes and little more cheese and it was perfect! Will be making again for sure! Thanks for sharing!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We couldn’t agree more, Liz! Enjoy 🙂
Shawna
Didn’t have heavy cream so I used a little bit of sweetened condensed milk which made it need more salt. So I fried more bacon, added shredded Parmesan cheese and ancho chili powder. It was so good my extremely picky teenager ate 2 bowls! Next time I make it I want to try gluten free flour. Has anyone tried gluten free?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re happy you liked the soup, Shawna! Yes, gluten-free flour should work just fine here 😊