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!
Best potato soup recipe EVER! I’ve tried so many recipes and this is by far the best one, it does take a lot of preparation time but it is totally worth it in the end! My family absolutely loves it.
This is a fabulous recipe. It is a family favorite, which is hard to find with a family of 6. It is one of the most requested dinners in my house.
I made this today for a small crowd. I had some Portabella mushrooms and added them! I’m a vegetarian so I added more butter and skipped the bacon. Amazing!!!! Thanks for this recipe!!
I imagine using the ancho chili spice take the blandness out of the soup, but I didn’t have any. I used baked potatoes and scraped out the pulp to thicken the soup.
What a great idea! I Used Idaho mashed potato flakes to thicken and also added some crushed chives from my garden!🥔
sooo good!
I added jalapenos and corn to mine. delicious !!!!! thank u so much !
Yum, love that idea! Enjoy, Kandice 🥰
Absolutely delicious! So creamy. Everyone loved it. I need to make it again soon. I didn’t have any leftovers. I didn’t have chives but will make sure to add them next time. And cheese is a must. Thank you.
Thanks for the review, Skip! So glad the soup was such a hit for you 😊
I like a few others have never left a comment on a recipe but I made this soup today & my gosh it was absolutely delicious!!! We loved it & it’s worth a comment!! Thank you we will be have this on the repeat!!!
We are so happy you liked it so much, Amanda! We appreciate the comment and 5-star rating 🩷
This is (pretty much) my go to potato soup recipe (I will admit, I do usually just a full pound of bacon (because – well – If I’m opening the package, I might as well!) (There’s always some loss to mine and the kids snacking while I’m cooking the rest!) (due to this, I think I don’t normally need added salt) and usually add a cup of cheese melted into the soup itself, rather than just as a topping! SO incredibly good!
This is the best potato soup I have ever had! I did add thyme and more salt. Will be making on repeat this fall!
So glad you like it, Bailey! Thanks for the review 🩷
Huge hit in our house! We don’t change a thing to the base soup, but we also add some flaked smoked salmon on top when serving. Delicious!!
So tasty! I usually don’t comment but this deserved one for sure! Our son had all four wisdom teeth out this last week! I wanted a solid soup to give him a break from the smoothies and to get some veggies into him. I added one carrot and some celery to the chopped veggies and used reg. chilli powder (half the amount) for the chilli, and added a touch of cayenne pepper powder, and a pinch of nutmeg. This was so good, and my son loved it. It will be a great addition for him for the next few days. The rest of us loved it too. Thanks for developing a recipe that can be so easily done “as is” or can be adapted so well.
If your on the fence about trying this – do it. You will enjoy it so much.
We’re so happy everyone enjoyed it, Cheryl! Thanks so much for using our recipe. We hope your soon has a speedy and smooth recovery ❤️🩹
By adding the dairy at the first of the recipe, doesn’t that make the sauce break, or curdle?
Hi Gina! It’s not being heated too quickly, so it won’t curdle. We’ve never had issues with this 😊
No, it won’t. The bacon grease, like oil, has a higher smoking point than butter, so it should prevent the butter from breaking.
I never leave recipe reviews but felt I had to on this one… this is the absolute BEST soup I have had in my life!
We’re so happy you liked it, Rachel! We really appreciate the review 🥰
Yum YUM Yummy!!! Absolutely love it!😀
We’re so happy it was a hit for you, Judy! 😊
I love potato soap this is an amazing recipe😍❤️😁.
100% hands,-down THE BEST potatoes soup I’ve EVER had in my life; and I can’t believe I MADE IT!!! AMAZING🔥
Best Potato soup ever!!!! Everyone went nuts over it. 🙂
We’re so happy it was a hit, Jackie! Thanks for the review 🩷
I have made this soup before and it is delicious! I want to serve this to guests who be staying with me, but not a lot of time to make it. Can this be prepared several days ahead? I’m guessing it can’t be frozen. Is it possible to prepare it in a slow cooker? Thank you for your help!
Hi Karen! I’m not sure how it would work to be prepared in a slow cooker since there are multiple steps involved. It will be good for about 4 days in the refrigerator. You could warm it in a crockpot if you’d like. I hope this helps! 🙂
Can I use Russett’s?
Yes you can. We hope you love it, Kristy! 🩷