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!
This is the best soup recipe! My boyfriend begs me to make it at least once a month. We crave this. Way better than any restaurant potato soup, and the best part is that its soo easy to make. Tastes great leftover too.
I’ll keep this short, as I do not often leave reviews for anything at all! This isn’t one of those crazy raving reviews for no reason, however, I just want the author of this recipe to truly know this. I first made this at only 18 with my first (and current) husband after he had been diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer as we graduated high school, him at 19. He wanted something that reminded him of his home state from childhood and I found this recipe through google because my foster family never cooked things so homecooked as this. He absolutely loved it, and though it was just a soup it meant so much to him and reminded him of home. Flash to Monday, literally seven years later, him now cancer-free for years and thriving randomly beams and asks if I can make that “one specific recipe I brought to his chemo that one time…” I had not bookmarked this or anything, I was able to find it and it was literally just like it was the first time. It was hugely nostalgic and very heartwarming, thank you for making such a lovely recipe. I made sure to bookmark it now!
I am so glad you’ve enjoyed it so much, Mary! This is a great story and congratulations to your husband for making it through such a horrible thing. 🙂
This recipe is incredible. Not only is it delicious, it is fun to make and surprising simple. The creaminess and texture were perfect. This was my first time making soup and I was really amazed it came out right on the first try.
Has anyone tried adding vegetables or meat? We were thinking turkey & broccoli?
Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
We’re so glad you liked it, Cassandra! Yes, others have added broccoli, celery, carrots, etc. and chicken, turkey, and even clams. It’s a pretty versatile recipe in that regard. Enjoy! ❤
this was wonderful and delicious soup.
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Gail! ❤
My daughter and i made this together about 2 weeks ago… ( we made a great cooking memory) we followed the directions to a T, BUT………
the family was upset because, we didn’t have any leftover!!! My family and i loved this ultimate potato soup.
It was absolutely wonderful. My family hasn’t stopped talking about it. Im excited to say that i will be making it again tonight, the only thing im doing different this time is doubling the recipe!!!! This will be our Valentines dinner. Thank you so much and may God bring many blessing to you all. JESUS IS LORD
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much! 🙂
I am making this soup right now. I love the rave reviews and can’t wait to eat what I knew was a wonderful recipe. I was thrilled to see how you can add clams and veggies and so on. I will make the soup as shown and then make it with additions. It’s cold out and what better than great, hot soup? Thanks for the recipe.
We hope you love it, Gayle! Thanks for trying our recipe. Enjoy ❤
I made this tonight and my family said it was the best potato soup they ever had! I used red potatoes since that is all I was able to find – no issues at all. And I also used oat flour since I needed the recipe gluten free. Amazing recipe as an occasional treat (since this is not a light recipe)!!
We’re so happy everyone enjoyed it, Wendy! Thanks for your review ♥
I made this for my husband and he said it was the BEST potato soup he’s ever had. Can’t wait to try it today because you know it’s going to be even better the next day!!
That’s so nice to hear, Joy! Enjoy the soup ❤
I made this soup tonight and it was awesome! Soo flavorful, creamy and delicious! I don’t have an immersion blender, so I used a potato masher and just mashed a few times to break up a few of the potatoes and it worked perfectly! Great recipe!
We’re so happy you liked it, Jenna! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 😊
Delicious! I’ve made it twice now. Definitely a keeper! Thank you!
Wonderful! Thanks for making our recipe Stacey! 🙂
Could I use Red potatoes instead of gold?
Hi Debra! That should work just fine here. 🙂
I made this with the red potatoes we had and it was absolutely delicious. I did make extra so that we would have left over but there wasn’t much left over.
Perfect! We’re so happy it turned out for you, Debra!
This soup is to die for.
We’re so happy you think so, Lynn! Thanks for giving our recipe a try 😊
This potato soup recipe is absolutely amazing! It was so delicious and creamy that three adults finished the pot and unfortunately had no leftovers! This will definitely be a regular in our home! Thank you so much for sharing!
Sounds like the soup was a total hit for you, Mandy! Thanks so much for trying our recipe and coming back to leave a review. Enjoy ♥
Husband prepared. Top of the line! Thank you.c
We’re so happy you liked it, Sheila! Enjoy 😊
This soup is A-MAZ-ING! Thick and hearty, great taste and texture!
So glad you liked it, Tabitha! Thanks for trying our recipe and coming back to leave this review ❤ Enjoy!
This soup is so good! I’ve made it twice so far. Thank you!
We’re so happy you like it so much, Jennifer! Thanks for coming back to leave a review. Enjoy ❤
Can you freeze this soup? Made it today and its way too much for our small family but want to keep for future dinners.
Hi Carrie! We don’t recommend it (it tends to separate as it thaws) but others have done so and still enjoyed it. 😊
Hey there,
I made this per the request of my bf who HATES creamy soups especially thickened with potatoes. He ended up eating two bowls, leaving us with no leftovers and requesting me to make it again LOL. Thanks for the awesome recipe! Will be making this many times over and over again.
Sounds like it was a hit for both of you, Linda! We’re so happy you enjoyed the soup. Thanks for giving our recipe a try! ❤