The Ultimate Creamy Potato Soup
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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.
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 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!
I just got done eating dinner…this soup could win a blue ribbon…we had your soup along with a bacon grilled cheese sandwich…I’ve been cooking for over 50 years…so I think I know when something is really good…thank you for your recipe…I’ll be making this again…
I made this today after a family member had some extensive dental work done and is now only allowed pureed foods for the next few days. Everyone absolutely loved it. I used homemade chicken bone broth and changed nothing about the recipe. Perfect as-is!
Loved this. Didn’t have chicken broth so I had to change it to water. Also didn’t have sour cream so I changed it out for ricotta cheese. Added mozzarella cheese with the cheddar, came out great!!
I’m so glad to hear this, Alex! Thank you for trying my recipe!
I am teaching my son to cook this was the first recipe he did all himself. turned out great. Thanks for the recipe it was awesome.
need more adults like you. your child deserves accolades. the child did an awesome job, with guidance from you. you both deserve some praise for this one.
amazing 👏 taste as good as my mother’s
Hi there!!
How long would you say this lasts in the fridge in an airtight container??
Thanks!!
Hi Brittany! It should be good for 3-4 days. 🙂
Do you think purple potatoes would work ok for this? I have a ton I need to use up that’s why I was thinking potato soup…
Hi Allison! I haven’t tried it. It might work. The color will be a bit different, but that shouldn’t matter. 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! I do have two questions:
1. Do you think adding a cup of sliced mushrooms will add or subtract from the flavor?
2. Can you freeze this recipe? (I prefer to make double recipes and freeze, but not everything will sour cream, milk or cream freezes really well).
Again, thanks a bunch!
Hi Karen! Adding mushrooms is going to be a personal preference. I am not a big mushroom fan myself, but I bet my husband would love it. I don’t recommend freezing it as it could separate. Enjoy! 🙂
I’ve made this several times and it is great! It is rich and creamy with small chunks of potato and loads of flavor. The toppings make this loaded potato soup so special. Quick to make and very attractive to serve.
Just made this and it’s absolutely delicious! My son asked me to add the cheese and bacon right into the soup and we love it! (I didn’t have ancho chili powder so I added some regular chili powder.)Thanks for a great recipe!!!
What if I don’t have a blender off any type
Hi Autumn! You can mash the potatoes with a potato masher to crush them up a little bit. It won’t be quite the same, but should still work. 🙂
I made the soup this afternoon for supper later using the leftover potatoes and bacon from Easter dinner….it is amazing! I’m trying so hard not to eat anymore of it before supper time. TY for the share!
This is absolutely delicious anytime of the year!
Delicious potato soup best we have ever had!
Super delicious, the best ever potato soup, you are a really good cook
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Sara, thank you so much for trying my recipe!