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.
Katie
I plan on trying this with the incoming cold weather we are expecting in Oklahoma! I love big batches of soup so I can freeze some. Would this recipe be okay to freeze?
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Katie! We’ve had others tell us they can freeze this soup with success, but we don’t recommend it as it could separate when thawing.
TJ Nashville
Fantastic recipe. 5 Stars. I added a minced jalapeño and a couple of ribs of diced celery at the time the onion goes in. Also a bit of garlic and onion powder toward the end to enhance those flavors. Interestingly, I totally forgot the sour cream (both in the recipe and the garnish) but it was perfect – super creamy without it. Didn’t miss it.
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, TJ! Thank you so much for trying this recipe!
Gail
Hi Lynn, Would this soup freeze well? I freeze portions and send home with my sons. I’m worried the cream might split. Would there be a substitute?
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Gail! Unfortunately there is no substitute for the cream. We don’t recommend freezing because it may split while reheating.
Elizabeth Hinton
Easy to make, incredible taste. Very creamy and full of flavor. I doubled the recipe because it gets gone quick.
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
It does disappear quickly! We’re so glad you enjoyed the soup, Elizabeth!
Andrew S
This is fantastic! The only thing I added was some more garlic and about 1/4 teaspoon of rosemary which always pairs well with potatoes. Made several times now, definitely are favorite potato soup recipe!
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you love this soup, Andrew! You can never go wrong with more garlic.😉
Pedro Pimienta
Great recipe the whole family like it!!
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad the whole family loved this, Pedro! Thank you for trying this recipe!
Christie
I substituted the chili powder for two packets of dry Italian salad dressing mix and it’s our new favorite soup! Delicious
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re glad you enjoyed it, Christie!
Debra Spitz
This is the best potato soup I have ever made or ate. I almost skipped the ancho chili but decided to try it, glad I did.
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much for trying our recipe, Debra! We’re so glad you loved it! 😍
Chloe
do you think it would work to sub the golden potatoes for russet?
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
That will work just fine 😁
Kristin 💙
It was pretty good. I followed the recipe a little bland though I added garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and more pepper. A good start just needs something else.
Kenneth Ray
Made this to share with my co worker at work. It was wonderful and my co worker loved it. Said I could make it for them anything.
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you and your coworker both enjoyed this so much. Thank you so much for trying our recipe!
Erin
Can I substitute corn starch for the flour to make it gluten free?
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Erin! I haven’t personally tried it, but you should be able to substitute the flour for cornstarch, but maybe just use 4 Tablespoons.
Lynn
Can you make it ahead of time?
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Lynn! You can, after it is finished cooking, allow to cool completely and store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.
Crystal
I absolutely love this recipe and make it often. I do leave out the sour cream because it overpowers the soup, but my husband and I don’t really like sour cream.
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you enjoy the soup, Crystal! 😄
Jessica
I do not eat potato soup, but my husband loves it, I saw this recipe & decided to make it for him tonight. He said it was the best potato soup…. but he may be just being nice lol. My 18 year old son made a bowl as well & raved about how good it was. I did eat a bowl, but it was my first time in my life trying it, so I don’t know what it’s supposed to taste like. The only thing is mine turned brown. Could be because the onions cooked too long? Hubby & son didn’t care about what color it was, but it was not an appealing color lol.
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jessica! We’re so glad your family enjoyed the soup! The brown color could happen from the onions cooking a little too much and a lot of browning happening on the bottom of the pan. This can be helped by stirring more frequently (be sure to get the bottom of the pan) or just keeping the heat a little lower. 🙂