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.
Nancy Barnes
Best potato soup recipe ever! Easy, tasty, perfection!
D M Payne
I’m very picky about potato soup and have made a lot over the years but this one is over the top delicious. The creaminess and seasonings are perfect. I have never been disappointed in recipes from Sugar Spun Run.
Janelle
This was delicious! I need to go light on the dairy, so I used almond and coconut milk in place of the milk and cream. Oh, and I didn’t feel like buying ancho chili powder, so I added a little shake each of chili powder, cayenne, and paprika.
Leticia Shives
The best potato soup I’ve ever made. My husband loves it.
I don’t know if many of you have tried Chicken Salad Chick’s potato soup but it’s right up there.
Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Priscilla
best recipe I’ve ever tried. I didn’t have the ando chillies (sp) I just used smoked paprika.
Mick McMahon
This recipe is one of my favorites. It is my definition of comfort food. The only ingredient I occasionally change out is that I use turkey stock instead of chicken stock when that’s available. I tried this recipe the first time with the ancho chili but it turned the soup a pinkish/reddish color, so I left it out the second time. I missed that additional zing it gave the soup, however, so now I make it with 1/4 tsp every time.
Taris
Absolutely delicious & easy to make! Me & my family loved it!
Jennifer
This is the best potato soup I’ve ever had. I have a family of five and every one enjoyed it. This is the first potato soup I’ve made that isn’t too thick or too watery. This will be on a regular rotation in our house.
Jmartin
made this tonight. I should have used more bacon. It was very filling!
My husband eats everything I make, so hes not a good reference point for me on this recipe.
I had no idea what ancho chili was, so I learned its also called poblano, but our local rural store only had Chipotle powder. This is why 4 stars, probably would have been great with recommended flavors. Im not a big Chipotle fan, not a fault of the recipe.
Kate
I followed the recipe to a T and it was very bland. I added more seasonings – salt, aromatics, and it didn’t help. I added the sharpest cheddar I could find and several more pieces of bacon. It didn’t help. I really wanted to like this soup and I thought I would. But there is not enough garlic, onion, Sharp cheddar, and bacon in my kitchen to make this anything but bland. I’m really disappointed in the recipe and in myself.
Sam Merritt
Hi Kate! Did you skip the step of cooking the bacon grease and sauteing the onions in that grease. This is vital to the flavor of the soup. Did you make any substitutions anywhere? Did you use the ancho chili powder?
Nadine
Strong recommendation to keep your eye on the soup as you bring it to boil to cook the potatoes. I think because milk has a lower boiling temp, the bottom of the pot burnt while I was clearing some dishes. Unfortunately the burnt flavour is strong enough that I won’t be able to eat it. Too bad! otherwise the recipe looks like it would have turned out great!
Rick
I’ve done this close to a dozen times. Followed the recipe and it comes out amazing. Everyone always loves it!, so I keep it in my back pocket to impress!! So easy. Never fails lol. Thanks for the great recipe!
Melissa
Made this tonight and did the puree suggestion. Turned out great, husband. Said definitely a make again. It was thick, hearty and warmed your soul in the cold NE weather
Tony Kuhn
Gonna fix it next weekend just to be honest’ but sounds like a can’t miss
Snowy
I’m making this today but where does the sour cream go in? I’ve read about the additional sour cream at the end but nothing about the measured amount in the ingredients. Can anyone help please?
Sam Merritt
Step 9 is when you add the sour cream. 🙂
Amanda
Followed this mostly but used center cuts, 1 sweet onion and a shallot, and used a potato masher to smash the potatoes up a bit. The whole family loved this soup! Definitely a keeper!!