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.
Matt
I came across this re I’ve as the top hit for “potato soup recipe”. I saw the ancho chili powder and got excited because my mother sent some home with me. Or do I thought. Turns out it was a bag of whole ancho chilis 🙁 tried using the food processor / grinder. Too course. Broke down and used the coffee grinder. Hopefully after cleaning it out it’s not going to make funny flavored coffee.
Anyway, long story short, I think the ancho chili makes the soup. Definitely consider it a must have.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you were able to make it work! Thanks for commenting, Matt 😊
Janet
The very best potato soup recipe! My picky husband loved it . Thank you
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you both enjoyed it, Janet 🩷
Shay
Made the soup with oat milk instead of regular milk and cream and it turned out delicious! Will definitely make this again! Didn’t even need the cheese or sour cream, but definitely the bacon added amazing flavor!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it turned out nicely for you with that substitution! Enjoy 😊
Christina
Amazing! My whole family loves this recipe! There’s 4 of us, and I like left overs so I try to make more, I just double the ingredients where it makes sense, use a Huge pot, and cook! Worth it!
Tiffany
This was absolutely delicious!
Laura
Hi! Looking forward to making this for a football Sunday. Do you think I could use a potato masher to mash some of the potatoes rather than blending?
Sam
Hi Laura! That could work, you will just have bigger lumps of potato in your soup, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Blending the soup helps make the soup a bit thicker too by pureeing those potatoes. 🙂
Imagin
I make this soup all the time and I just boil half of the potatoes and mash them up. I pour the mashed ones in and I’ve never had a problem. I like having potato chunks but I can mash them pretty smooth. I’ve used both the blender and this method and I honestly haven’t had any problems or much of a difference
Tatum
This was sooo good. Thank you for the recipe! I ended up boiling my potatoes for about 15 minutes and substituted regular chile powder for the ancho chile powder. 10/10!!
Monica
I saw this recipe last year, tried it as is, and MAN is it delicious! I found I enjoy the bacon more by using it entirely as a garnish so that it remains crispy. I have a link to the recipe on my phone, and can’t wait for cooler temps so I can make my first pot of the season. Love this recipe, it’s my favorite!
I tried freezing this, but it did separate. So I make sure to eat any leftovers within the next few days… oh darn! 😏
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks so much for the review, Monica! We’re so happy to hear that this one is a favorite for you 🥰
Theresa
This is the best potato soup I have ever eaten. Everyone loved it. I didn’t have ancho chili powder so I used smoked paprika instead. Delicious!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for the review, Theresa! So glad this one was a hit for you. Enjoy 😊
Rebecca
Can you freeze this?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We typically don’t recommend freezing any of our creamy soups because they tend to separate when thawed 😞
Angie
Excellent! Not sure I blended the flour correctly as it was pretty dry with no liquid. Still turned out wonderful!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Angie! 😊
DAN HOLLAR
My wife has me spoiled on her tater soup, even though, she is not a fan. She
She cuts her potatoes in about 1/2″ squares, no peas, no bacon, no cheese, nothing but ‘taters and milk and some HEAVY whipping cream, some butter, salt and pepper, gimmie a bowl, spoon and some saltine crackers and git out’a my way! It’s also good with cornbread, homemade, of course
I’ m not sayin’ I don’t like those extra ingredients, it’s just that taters don’t need’em! Bacon is good with eggs, Peas is good with mashed taters, and cheese is good with pizza!
Pawpaw Dan in North Carolina, Mt Ulla, that is!
She doesn’t measure anything, she just puts it in there! Kinda’ like her grammaw did!
Taters, butter, tbsp flour mixed in 1/2 cup water for thicknen, heavy whippin cream and milk, (half and half to your judgement), salt, pepper to taste, cook till done and eat! ENJOY! The soupier, the better!
I love tater soup!
Melody Parsons
Looking forward to trying this recipe! Is it possible to sub the heavy cream for more milk if I want to cut down on fat and lighten this up slightly?
Sam
Hi Melody! Milk will work, but you will want to use less and your soup will be a bit thinner. 🙂
DAN HOLLAR
Well, I’m 80 yrs old and cuttin’ down on fat is not a priority for me!
PAWPAW DAN, NORTH CAROLINA, MT ULLA, THAT IS!
Kelley
This soup is amazing! I’ve made it at least 4 times almost exactly as written (my husband is allergic to onions so I leave them out). It has a very yummy potato flavor that seems to be lacking in restaurant and store bought potato soup.
Laura
Easy to make! Incredible flavor 😍
Wilma
This is by far the best potato soup I’ve ever made in my lifetime. I blended the entire lot before adding the bacon pieces and the smoothness of it is like velvet. The chilli gives it a great kick. I’ll be making this a lot. Can you please tell me if it’s freezable? I’ll eat the lot in 3 days of it isn’t 😉
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Wilma! I would be hesitant to freeze it. There is a chance it could separate.