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.
Jamie Sadler
This is my go to potato soup recipe! Instead of ancho chili powder, I use Cajun seasoning and it gives it a great flavor with a little less heat.This soup is always a hit!
Joy Cornett
I don’t have a Dutch oven, can I use and instant pot or just on the stove top?
Sam Merritt
Hi Joy! Any pot that can hold all of the ingredients will work on the stove top. 🙂
Layna Lee
This was my first time using a dutch oven! Oh my goodness this soup is absolutely amazing as is, I added some fresh broccoli. This soup is creamy, rich, and perfect for a cold day. Thank you for sharing. My husband loves it.
Gillian
Total hit with the family! Love the kick of chili! Thank you!
Irma Jimenez
I just have to say this is an awesome potato soup recipe. I am having swallowing issues and am unable to eat, I get tired of eating all the liquid soups after a while. This is the exception! I make 2-3 batches a week! Absolutely love the flavor! It has even maintained my weight. I liquify all of it and think it’s just fabulous!
Emily
I found this recipe a few years ago and have been making it every winter ever since. It is so freaking good. I just made it again last night and decided I needed to come leave a 5 star review.
Lisa B.
SO Delicious! Made exactly as instructed. I only needed one tsp of salt, so the tip to start with a smaller amount and add if needed was super helpful. I used Swanson regular chicken broth. Also, if you like any sort of spice, just add the full amount of called for ancho (or even a little more!).
Jenn
So delicious. Perfect texture and taste. Thank you!
Megan
Best soup! I’ve followed this recipe 2-3 times now and it’s been a hit every time! Nothing left to toss out. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Carolyn
BEST SOUP EVER! I add 2 cups of chopped ham or sometimes 2 cups cooked ground beef to add protein. If you add ham use low sodium broth. This is really good soup. Don’t change anything.
David Randall
its gravy and potatoes. it was a big let down for whole family.
Sam Merritt
Hi David! I’m not sure how it turned out like gravy? Did you make any substitutions or alterations? That’s quite an odd outcome…
Shelby Brunson
David, sounds like you missed adding the flour. I’m currently making it and it’s been thick from the start.
Liz
Then you did not follow the directions. I’ve made this many times – it is definitely soup and absolutely delicious.
Amy Randolph
DELICIOUS!! This is a go to now for my husband and I, since we live in the great white north of Michigan. And it reheats well, too!!
Maggie
Question : can the heavy cream be substituted with something else?:) If it changes the texture a bit that’s ok!
Sam Merritt
Hi Maggie! You could use more milk, or half and half. You’ll likely want to reduce the amount slightly as they will be a bit thinner than heavy cream. 🙂
Cheryl D James
Thick and creamy with a little kick! Loved it!
Cathy
Wonderful soup! The whole family loves it! Have you ever tried it in a crock pot?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Cathy! We don’t recommend preparing this soup in a crockpot, but you could keep it warm in one 🙂
Kimberly Berning
My whole family absolutely loved this soup! Even my picky eater, who doesn’t like to try new foods, gobbled it up! This will definitely be a regular for us!
Bonnie McHale
I’ve made this soup a couple of times and it’s always a hit. My daughter came home for Christmas and loved it, but it hurt her belly because of the milk. Do you think it would taste the same using Lactaid milk?
Sam Merritt
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it so much, Bonnie! I’m not familiar with using that particular milk so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. If you do try it I would love to know how it goes. 🙂