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.
Betsy Riepl
This recipe is great and really easy! Everyone in my family loves it, including my very picky 11 year old! Have made it multiple times!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoys it, Betsy! 🙂
Lenora Perry
Can u add shredded cheese inside the soup? If so how my h
Sam
Hi Lenora! It’s best to add the cheese at the end as a topping, and then you can stir in as much as needed and adjust that way. 🙂
Jessica Sirdoreus
How much in a serving??
Sam
Hi Jessica! There is about 6 servings in this recipe. 🙂
Elisabeth Rowzee
First potato soup that everyone raved about!
Easy and even better 2nd day!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it, Elisabeth! 🙂
Tracey
I don’t have half-and-half or heavy cream. Can I just put a little more milk in instead?
Sam
Yes, it won’t be quite as creamy though.
Caroline
I made this today for our son. He has had surgery and radiation for cancer of the tongue (a non smoker). His nutrician has been through a g-tube. Naturally he has had weight loss. He is now beginning to eat via mouth. I made this soup for him today and it was perfect, thick and tasty. For more calories I added extra butter and a little more grated cheese. Delicious! A 5 star!
Sam
O no I am so sorry to hear about your son. I hope he was able to enjoy this soup and I wish him a speedy recovery!
Leigh
What can I do if I don’t have an immersion blender? Will it still be good without using one?
Sam
Hi Leigh, you can use a regular blender as indicated in step 8 if you have one, if you don’t have a blender the soup won’t be as thick/creamy.
Laurie
I just use a potato masher and mash the potatoes ( still in the soup pot) until I like the consistency. I like half smashed with small chunks. Works great!
This probably won’t work for a a totally smooth soup.
jimmy
great recipe..love it..
Sam
Thank you so much, Jimmy! 🙂
Felicia Galdeen
Has anyone made a big batch and frozen some? How did it taste after being frozen?
Sam
Hi Felicia! I would be worried about the heavy cream separating if you froze this. 🙂
Angie
You could freeze the soup without the milk and heavy cream—it would be more like stew—and add that when you defrost and heat it and it would have the right soup consistency.
Felicia Galdeen
Can you freeze this soup? Does it turn out good thawed?
Sam
Hi, Felicia! I would be worried the cream would separate when freezing. 🙁
Jess
My family loves this recipe have made numerous times. Sometimes I make on Saturday and heat up on Sunday and then cook the bacon. I just double the recipe as my family requests one bowl is just not enough. Delicious
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoys it, Jess! I always have to make a double batch! My husband eats one batch by himself!! 😂
KN
Can I make this the night before then heat in the crockpot the next day?
Sam
That would work just fine. 🙂
Mom of many
I love it! So did the family. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it! 🙂
Nancy Tipps
This is awesome soup. I did not use the Chili Ancho powder. I am not a big fan of soup but I will make this again. I did not have heavy cream so I did use half and half.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the soup, Nancy! 🙂
Angela
As we all know we in North America I am in Michigan are currently in a polar vortex. My husband has to work outside in this, I am currently making this soup for the second time this month. Thank you it’s delicious can you recommend another arctic weather recipe for tomorrow.
Sam
O man I see the temperatures from Michigan and I get cold! I have a really good Chili recipe that is pretty easy to make, a turkey chowder, which you can substitute chicken, and one final option Turkey Pot Pie (you can substitute chicken here too). I hope one of these works for you. Stay warm! 🙂