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.
Ely
We don’t have a Dutch oven, would you recommend a stainless pot on the stove or a crockpot?
Sam
Hi Ely! A large stainless pot will work perfectly. Enjoy!
Jen
If I prepped this ahead of time do you think it could be warmed up in a crock pot?
Sam
Absolutely, I think that would work well. Enjoy!
Karen
Was delicious, I was hesitate about chili powder but wow will use all the time now. Thank you
Josiah St Pierre Jr
First of all I am a 15 year old who loves to cook and I have made this sooo many times for holidays or just if my family is really craving it anyways my question is. Can I freeze the soup? If so how long can I freeze it for?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! I don’t recommend freezing it as the heavy cream could separate out upon freezing. 🙁
April
I made this with frozen cubed hash browns and it was great! Easy, simple, and delicious.
Aretha Cirry
I’m making the potato soup today, if I leave out the ancho chili powder,will it make a difference in the taste?
Sam
Hi Aretha! If you don’t have it you can get away without adding it, but I strongly recommend using it if available. It really helps set this soup apart from other potato soups. 🙂
Emily
I want to make this but don’t have ancho chili powder.. can I leave out or what can I substitute it with?
Sam
Hi Emily! Lots of readers have just substituted regular chili powder. Enjoy!
Len Brown
This recipe is the creamiest and the best Potato Soup that I’v ever had. Thanks so much for sharing.
Emily Ryon
Am I able to use sweet potatoes and gold potatoes?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Emily! Others have tried this and enjoyed it, but we can’t say for sure how it would turn out without trying it ourselves. The flavor and final texture will likely be different. Let us know how it goes for you!
Kim
The recipe was easy to follow and turned out delicious. Definitely a keeper in our family.
Julia
This recipe reminds me so much of my mums soup. It has quickly become a family favorite for us
Jake
When cooking with a Dutch oven do you ever cover the soup? I tried the recipe and it was delicious will for sure use again! We use Cajun seasoning instead of the chili powered and it’s really good!
Sam
Hi Jake! There’s no need to cover the soup. 🙂
Michelle
I made this soup yesterday and my family raved that it was the best they’d ever had. Simple and delicious!
Jarryd
This recipe is wonderful. I do have a question pertaining to the serving size. How much is 1 serving just for macro tracking sake?
Sam
A serving is about 1.5 c. 🙂
Kellie
This was delicious! Easy to put together and my family loved it! I know they will be asking for this again soon.
Lisa
Wonderful and very simple to make.
Ginger Brookshire
Really Good 👍