4.98 from 5017 votes

The Ultimate Creamy Potato Soup

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7,413 Comments

Servings: 8 servings (recipe makes 3.5 qts of soup)

30 mins

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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.

A close up view of creamy potato soup, topped with bacon, sour cream, chives, and cheddar cheese

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).

An overhead view of a bowl of potato soup]

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!

Two bowls of potato soup

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.

Creamy Potato Soup, loaded with bacon and cheese

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

Potato soup in bowl, with toppings
4.98 from 5017 votes

The Ultimate Potato Soup Recipe

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.
Prep: 30 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Servings: 8 servings (recipe makes 3.5 qts of soup)
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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
  • 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)
  • cup heavy cream, (155ml)
  • 1 ½ teaspoon* salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground pepper
  • ¼ - ½ teaspoon ancho chili powder**
  • 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

*I recommend starting with a more reserved amount of salt and then adding more as needed, the amount of salt needed will vary depending on the type/brand of broth you use
**If you haven't used ancho chili powder before, I recommend starting with 1/4 teaspoon and then taste-testing before increasing to 1/2 teaspoon if you like the taste.  
***If you want a completely creamy soup you can puree all of it, just puree in batches, about half of the soup at a time.  I prefer my potato soup with actual chunks of potatoes and prefer to puree just half of it.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 521kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 87mg | Sodium: 1326mg | Potassium: 1176mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 897IU | Vitamin C: 50mg | Calcium: 182mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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7,413 Comments

  1. Ashley says:

    Have you done this in crockpot? Was wondering time if so.

    1. Sam says:

      Hi Ashley! It’s going to be a bit of a challenge to do it in a crock pot as there are many different steps. You could make it and then keep warm in an a crock pot. 🙂

  2. Cindy Orsini says:

    This soup was amazing! My husband said it was the best potato soup he’s ever had. I had to sub chipotle chili powder and added a few dashes of Worcestershire & smoked salt, delicious!!!

  3. Autumn Williams says:

    5 stars
    I love this recipe. I only made one change. I added more flour to thicken the soup.
    I ate this for four days.
    My Husband has asked for carrots and celery to be added the next time.

  4. Michelle McGinnis says:

    5 stars
    Made a double batch last weekend to share with neighbors & family. Got raving reviews, even a couple best potato soup they’ve ever had! Thank you for sharing your recipe!

    1. Sam says:

      So happy to hear this, Michelle! Thank you for trying my recipe and for letting me know how it turned out!

  5. Madi says:

    5 stars
    I just made this AMAZING soup! Super yummy and creamy, only I added more bacon. One question, will this soup freeze well?????

    1. Sam says:

      Hi Madi! I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup so much! Unfortunately the soup can separate if frozen so I don’t recommend freezing it. 🙁

  6. April says:

    5 stars
    I have made this recipe twice now and my family absolutely loves it! I add celery, mushrooms, carrots and green onions to ours and it gives it an amazing taste and look.

  7. Taylor Myers says:

    4 stars
    It was good, I felt like it was missing something though. I also felt as if it could’ve used more bacon

  8. Grace says:

    5 stars
    Best potato soup I’ve ever had. Follow the recipe and you will have an incredibly filling, tasty and satisfying meal!

  9. Elizabeth says:

    5 stars
    oh my goodness this was DELICIOUS! My entire family loved it. ages 2 – 37! wow definitely will be making this again.

  10. Taylor Bell says:

    5 stars
    Very delicious soup. Will be making again for sure.💯

    1. Jayden says:

      I substituted sour cream for 1/2cup herb and garlic cream cheese, it was so good 👍

  11. Chris10 says:

    5 stars
    I didn’t have bacon so I substituted with Better Cheddar sausages. This recipe is absolutely amazing !!!

  12. Thao says:

    5 stars
    Husband and I made this together last night and it was SO good! First try at potato soup. I’m glad to see other commenters are also raving about it. I doubled the bacon but took out half the grease because I did the remaining steps.

  13. Anjelic Robinson says:

    5 stars
    I made this and it was 🔥 I also added ham to it omg so creamy and flavorful

  14. Elizabeth Gonzalez says:

    5 stars
    Amazing ! By far best recipe . I was a bit nervous making this since my bf loves how his family makes it. I wanted to try and make it for him. The house smelled so good. The texture , the flavor , everything was perfect . He even said it tastes just like home. Thank you for making it easy and fun!

  15. Shelley says:

    5 stars
    We all really enjoyed this recipe. It was delicious.