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.
Heather
I admittedly used this as a base, but it turned out delicious! I added a can of creamed corn, a bag of frozen peas, and sliced turkey sausage links. I also used baby red potatoes and left the skin on, used just a dash of cayenne pepper since I didn’t have ancho chili powder, and substituted plain greek yogurt for the sour cream. So yummy!
sommer
best soup ever tasted yummy
Susan Jones
My family loved this recipe and has asked me to make it again!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it was such a hit, Susan! 🥰
Deborah Barmer
I made this tonight with one pound of uncured lil’ smokies instead of bacon. I followed the recipe as written, other than that. The soup came out absolutely delicious and is one of the best soups I’ve made. Hubby loved it! Great recipe and will be making it again.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yum! We are so happy it was a hit, Deborah 😊
Rita
Best recipe out there!!!
cheryl
So good! The chili makes such a difference. I didn’t have ancho chili, so I just used a little regular smoky chili, a pinch of paprika, cumin, and cayenne. Thank you for the recipe.
Uche
I’ve made this twice in 2 weeks. My brother just requested a new batch. I don’t purée ‘cos we love chunky soup & I add more chili powder & salt to taste. Thanks for sharing!
Krissy
absolutely the best recipe! we’ve been using it for almost a year now and I will never go to another!
the only thing I don’t do is puree any of it because I find the broth to be thick enough as is.
I do have a question though, can the leftovers be frozen??
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Krissy! I don’t recommend freezing it as it could separate. 🙁
Chris berry
Very good and the recipe is easy to.follow!
Louise Nicholson
This is the best potato soup I’ve ever made!
Stephanie C
Delicious and easy to make!
Lise
Is there anything I can substitute for the flour for a Gluten Free soup?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Lise! You can use a gluten free flour or some cornstarch instead. You won’t need as much if you use cornstarch though.
Teresa Perry
Took me hella long but it was so bomb!!!
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Teresa!
LaTonya
This is my favvvvvv! My son loves this and always wants me to make it. So flavorful.
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you and your son love this, LaTonya!
Julie Cervini
Hi Sam
Are ancho chili powder and ancho chili pepper the same
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Julie! The ancho chili powder we use has ancho chili pepper as the only ingredient, so that’s what you’ll want to use. 🙂