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.
Maya C.
best potatoes soup ever.
I like to add a can of corn and make it more creamy, delicious recipe, my family enjoy this soup when the weather is a little bit cold , they always ask me for more.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy it’s a hit for you, Maya! 🩷
Debbie
Absolutely perfect comfort food on a cold day!
Diana
Delicious! Saving this recipe for sure!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it was a hit for you, Diana! 🥰
Sharon
Can I use Russet potatoes instead of gold?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yes! Enjoy 😊
Maria
Do you think this would freeze okay?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Maria! We typically don’t recommend it, as we’d be afraid it would separate as it thaws 🙁
Lori
Love this recipe! Can I freeze leftovers? I’m making a double batch for two people, lol.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Lori! We’d be worried that it would separate as it thaws 🙁
Daniella
Could I do without the ancho chili powder or is there a good substitute that you’d recommend?
Sam
Hi Daniella! A few people have substituted regular chili powder or just left it out with success. I do recommend trying it at least once with the ancho chili though, if you can get it, it really adds such a lovely depth of flavor!
Kat
I was just scrolling through the comments looking for the same direction. The chili powder throws me off a bit because I don’t want my potato soup tasting Mexican. I think it definitely can do without. I like the idea of adding corn (if that’s your jam)
Em
The chili powder doesn’t effect the taste to a very noticeable degree. it’s more of a garnish (to give the eye something to look at) in my opinion.
Rod COURTEPATTE
Delicious Sam! Made it for din last night and followed your recipe to a tee. I’m the soup master in the house and this will be added to my repertoire.
Love your last name. We live in Merritt, BC, Canada.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! I will have to find my way to visit Merritt, BC!
Michelle
Could i add Celery and carrots to it if so when should i add it ?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Michelle! You could add them with the onion 😊
Shannon
I made this last night. I must say it is the best potato soup recipe I have tried. My family agrees!
Sam
This is so nice to hear! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and letting me know how it turned out! I hope you’ll try more of my recipes and that you love them just as much, Shannon!
Allie
Made this tonight and it was a bit bland. I added some Hatch chili flakes and more whipping cream, and a bit of Mexican crema. That definitely elevated this a huge step.
Elisa
This is one of my favorite soup recipes! As many times as I’ve made it, you’d think I’d know it by heart by now! My entire family loves it, including my 7 year old picky daughter! My only recommendation is, make more bacon! 🥓 😋
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe, Sam!
Kimmie
Instead of purree i used a hand mixer, which made the soup thicker and still chunky- you can do it right in the pot.
Doe
Bit of a soup snob, myself; and this is very good
Caleb
I am only eleven years old and I made this without any help this is a great recipe I love cooking and my entire family loved it thank you for sharing this recipe.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Caleb! It’s awesome that you are cooking at such a young age! Great work! 🙂
Caroline
Only starting teaching myself how to cook a little over a year ago now. I’ll be twenty four soon. This was a hit with the boyfriend! I made it when he was sick, because he said his nana would make potato soup for him when he was sick. I’m so happy I found this recipe! I will mix up the spices and seasonings sometimes, but overall this is amazing! It’s a staple now. Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy you chose our recipe, Caroline! Hopefully your boyfriend is feeling much better now. Let us know if you try any of our other recipes 😊
Seasons
Great job! Keep up the good work!
Michelle Blake
Awesome flavor and consistency!!! I used the full amount of spices and it was a winner!!
Joanna
Love this Potatoe Soup. Family loves it too.
Cristal
Used leftover taco meat instead of bacon, included parsley and fenugreek. Threw in some spinach and cheese tortellini for fun and it’s a HUGE HIT.