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.
Laurie
So different from the foods I usually cook and choose to eat, but had 5 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes that I did not use on Thanksgiving . Found this recipe on line and gave it a try. Talk about comfort food on a cold day! Will only make as a treat every so often, since it is full of rich ingredients , but have to say how delicious this was. The directions were easy to follow and I made as directed and it was perfect!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Laurie! Thanks for trying our recipe and coming back to leave a review 🩷
Carrie
What modifications would need to be made if I wanted to make this in a crockpot?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Carrie! This recipe will not work well in a crock pot as you need to do the individual steps for best flavor and results. It can be made and kept warm in one though 🙂
michelle
I made this using those little yellow potatoes – I had a 1.5 lb bag I had to use. I did leave the skins on and cut them in half or quarters depending on the size. Then I coated them with olive oil, salt, pepper, a little dill, and onion powder and roasted them while doing all the other prep work. I also didn’t have ancho chili powder so I substituted a little cayenne and smoked paprika instead. It was delicious! I will definitely make this again
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Michelle 🩷
Keith
I was going to make a half recipe, but we had a lot of potatoes that we needed to use. So glad I made the full batch!!! It was great, and now we have enough leftover to freeze for another night. Thanks, it was delicious!!
Rebecca
AMAZING soup recipe! Hubby added some leftover diced ham and it kicked it up that extra notch. I love how simple additions give it different flavors! Never used Ancho powder before, but found a great spice to add to my cabinet.
Cookie Welsh
made this soup today a rainy drank day and the soup was wonderful..I added fresh oysters and omg it was wonderful
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sounds like the perfect rainy day meal! Enjoy, Cookie 🩷
Beverly B.
I love the idea of adding oysters!! Potato, bacon and oyster stew!!!! YUM
Cee
When I tell you this is the best potato soup I’ve ever tastes is an understatement. I would give ten stars if I could this soup is phenomenally good.
HumbleTexan
Have it cooking on my stove now! Can’t wait to try it. The smell is amazing. Have crusty rolls and butter to serve with it. This will be a repeat in our home.
Angie
This soup turned out AMAZING!!! I don’t have an immersion blender, but think Santa may be bringing me one this year. I’ve shared this recipe link with everyone who wants it. So good!
Christie Scott
so delicious 😋 I made this twice this week (Monday and Wednesday) per the request of my family and friends.
Claire Chaloupka
Best Potato soup ever! Forgot to add the sour cream but it definitely didn’t even need it! I also skipped the bacon & used veggie broth instead as I’m a vegetarian. I made this for my Czech/Polish husband & his family & they LOVED it! Thanks for a winner!
Renee St Hilaire
This is delicious! I’m lactose intolerant, so I subbed 2 cans of full fat coconut milk and didn’t use anchor chili. It’s perfect for a chilly Sunday night in Maine!
Erin
Will this reheat well or freeze well? I want to make it ahead.
Sam
Hi Erin! It does fine reheating from the refrigerator, but it could separate if frozen.
Chris
I haven’t frozen it (Others have in the reviews and said it was fine), but reheat is no problem, just add more milk if it’s too thick. 🙂
S
Can this recipe be doubled?
Sam
Sure thing! 🙂
Amanda
Didn’t have the specific chili powder nor the sour cream. substituted with some chili powder, cayenne pepper, and some smoked paprika and used Greek yogurt as a substitute for the sour cream. this was DELICIOUS!!!
Hands down the best potato soup recipe I’ve ever tasted. planning next time to use the ingredients called for in the recipe and see if it improves it or not, but honestly with as delicious as this was I doubt there’s actually room for improvement.
and for the record I hardly ever comment on recipes online. I’m doing this solely because this recipe was so phenomenal it deserves my time to make a comment.
Liz
Made this for the first time .It must be one of the best soups i have ever made ! I will be making this again and again .I make a lot of soup especially in the winter months this one is by far my favorite 😍 my husband and 2 boys said it was awesome ! Thank you for a great recipe .❤️
Mj
The best soup I’ve ever had in my entire life. I’m pretty picky about a potato soup because it’s my favorite, but wow, this is the only one I ever plan to make for the future! Highly recommend and thank you!!
Karyn Johnson
Smooth creamy and packed with flavor, I should know I’m from Polish ancestry 👍
Kay
yummy
Tara
The best potato soup recipe! My family loves it.
Maribeth
I was looking for a cozy soup after Thanksgiving. Didn’t get enough mashed potatoes 😋. This was perfect. Followed the recipe to the letter. Increased the chilly spice little by little at the end.