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.
Danna Kennedy
Omg I follow this to a T my boys sat here and ate 3 bowls a piece thank u so much for this perfect recipe!!!
Sam
I am so glad they enjoy it so much, Danna! Better make sure you get some for yourself! 😉
Renee
Omg…delicious! Thank you so much for sharing!
Sam
Thank you so much, Renee! I am so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Marcia
Can red potatoes or russet potatoes be used?
Sam
Hi Marcia! I think they would work just fine. 🙂
Melody
This soup is very very good. Since the potatoes are baked, the potatory flavor you taste all through the soup. You must try!!!😀
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the soup, Melody! 🙂
Teresa Walker
After serving this soup, my neighbor suggested I open a restaurant! Loved it!!!
Sam
😂I am so glad everyone enjoyed it, Teresa! 🙂
Tara
Best soup ever! Followed the recipe to a T and it’s delicious!! Love the kick the chili powder gives!!
Sam
So happy to hear you enjoyed, Tara! Thank you for commenting 🙂
Grace
I am a professional chef, and have been making potato soup for years with a recipe given by my boss for culinary classes. I saw this and made it in one of my classes, and people who had been going to potato soup classes instructed by me for years commented on how good the soup tasted today. I mentioned that I was using and recipe and they were all over it!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed the soup, Grace! 🙂
Stephen Palmer-Adams
I only used a 1/4 of an onion and chopped up a leak I used British bacon (brits call America bacon ‘streaky bacon) I added 1/4 swede (Rutabaga?) and plenty of pepper, I made this for pot luck and when asked where I got this recipe I said it was an international collaboration!!! Many thanks Sam
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you and for sharing your modifications, I appreciate it! Thanks for commenting, Stephen!
Heather
By far the BEST potato soup I have EVER made!!!! The ancho chili powder really is key to the flavor! I am keeping this recipe forever!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the soup Heather! 🙂
Joyce
I was very happy how this turned out. Made it for my sister and brother-in-law for lunch and we all had at least 2 servings. It was so creamy. Putting half of it in a blender and making a puree is what put it over the top. Going to make it again this weekend.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it Joyce! Try not to eat too much! 😉
Julia Bencze
I have made potato soup for years and absolutely nothing compares to this recipe! My husband is in love with this soup. The rue is genius! Thank you for this!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoys it, Julia! 🙂
Jen
I love this, changed the receipe a bit, added corn, green chili’s, about 8 cubes of velvetta, and carrots
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the soup, Jen! 🙂
ShellyTomlinson
Best potato soup I’ve ever made! It beat my grandma’s recipe! I didn’t have ancho chili powder. So I chopped up 12 medium shrimp and put them in with the garlic and onions!
Love this recipe!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the soup, Shelly! 🙂
Nicole J.
Making this right now, it’s simmering and the whole house is smelling delicious. I can’t wait to sit down with a bowl. Thanks!
Sam
I hope everyone enjoys it, Nicole! 🙂
Stephen Long
Not so much impressed with the chili powder, but did a few things a little different. First I put a small rack of ribs and a couple of tender loins in a pressure cooker with a cup and a half of beef broth with the onions and some garlic! Usually slow smoke these on a grill but it was nasty outside and wasn’t up for it so cooked them for 40 minutes. Took them out and broiled them long enough to caramelize some barbeque sauce I put on them and set aside. Next in the leftover broth followed the recipe for this soup and turned out fantastic with so much flavor (although I cooked it a little more like crock pot style but pretty much the same)!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂