The Ultimate Creamy Potato Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
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).
]
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!
Made it today, absolutely love it! So easy and so tasty!!! Thank you for the amazing recipe!
I was wondering if I can substiture the heavy cream. I forgot to pick that up at the store.
Hi Theresia! You could use half and half, your soup will just be a bit thinner. 🙂
It was a little thinner but I did a little corn starch with some milk and it thickened up nicely
So nice did without the bacon and it was amazing still
Wonderful! Thanks for letting us know how you enjoyed it, Angela 🥰
Made this tonight and it was very delicious! Took me an hour and 15 to make it though, not 30 min but I like to double check my measurements and stick exactly to the recipe so that does slows me down. Just a heads up for those that cook like that. But it was totally worth it!
What does the sour cream add to the soup when it’s mixed in? I’m not a sour cream lover and would like to sub it out for something else if possible.
Hi Jayne! The sour cream adds a nice depth of flavor. The soup will still turn out without it, but you will lose a little bit of flavor. Greek yogurt could be substituted instead if you prefer that. Enjoy! 🙂
This is the best potato soup ever and I’ve been cooking for 50 yrs.
If I am making this the night before and then reheating it in a crock pot the next day, do you recommend only cooking it part way?
Hi Aimee! I would finish cooking it so all of the flavor can develop and then just place it in the crock pot on keep warm to warm it back up. :)`
How long in the refrigerator is this soup? How would you store it.
Btw this soup is delicious 🙂
Hi Emily! We’re so happy you love the soup! We recommend storing in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Enjoy 🥰
I have a crock pot that sears and boils and bakes. Could I make this recipe in it. My Dutch oven broke which is sad but I’m really wanting some soup
Hi Samantha! It sounds like it could work. Let us know how it turns out! ☺️
I normally don’t leave comments, but this soup is absolutely delicious!! Followed the recipe, used regular chili powder and a little extra bacon. Not a difficult recipe. Will definitely be making this again! Thank you, Ann!
This was one of the best loaded potato soups I have ever had. 😍 10/10 making this all winter long !
We’re so happy you loved it, Tala! Thanks for giving our recipe a try 🥰
Can you freeze this soup?
Hi Beckie! We don’t recommend it as it tends to separate 😞
This recipe is amazing. I followed the recipe exactly as written (maybe a little extra bacon because who doesn’t love bacon) and it is restaurant quality. Loved it! Not a huge soup fan but this is top notch.
This is my absolute favorite potato soup recipe! The thing about putting potatoes in a blender is they USUALLY become a goopy gluey mess, because blending releases a lot more starch than mashing (I’ve tried to make blender mashed potatoes – it does not go well), but what’s wonderful about this recipe is that the extra starch actually becomes another thickener in the soup, so it’s sooo extra creamy
The entire family loved this recipe
Thanks for your review, Marie! 🥰
Best baked potato soup I have made. Wonderful and easy!
Followed the directions for the most part…Used chili seasoning and a little extra lard. Unbelievably delicious! Thank you so much!
Ann