The Ultimate Creamy Potato Soup
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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 3/4″ 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 1/4 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
Equipment
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
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Just made this during Fern and even my non-soup eating hubby and daughter glommed it up! It warms you to the core, literally and figuratively. I made it as is, but added two handfuls of diced ham at the end and warmed through. Definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing!
Believe it or not it’s the first homemade soup I’ve ever made at 67😬. This soup was luscious. Followed the recipe exactly!!! I’ll certainly be trying more of your recipes in the future🥰
Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Wendy! I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
This was so delicious! I used regular chili powder because I couldn’t find the “ancho” chili powder, but it still turned out awesome!
Thank you for saying something about this because I could not find any at the store yesterday. 🙂
I’ve made potato soup many times and I’ve never enjoyed any better than this! Better than how I learned to make it. It’s a hit at home and I will be making this again.
I ran across this recipe one day, and now it is definitely my go to. Everyone loves this and ask for it year round.
Perfect meal for the freeze we’re getting!
It was great flavor was great as well
Sub 8oz shredded sharp cheddar (from a block not pre shredded) for the sour cream. Mix it in towards the end. Add more pepper and add garlic powder as well. 3 cloves are good start but needs more garlic in the long run for flavor. I don’t know about the ancho as I didn’t have it on hand but otherwise was delicious. I also skip the puree half part. I’ve done it this way before but find it doesn’t do much in my opinion.
This is good to know. I wasn’t exactly excited about dirtying up my blender.
Made this during the major snow storm we are having. Just the thing when outside temp is 9F. We loved it. Take the “large pot” seriously though. I started in a 3.5Q soup pot and had to upsize to a larger dutch oven after adding the potatoes. We loved it!
Absolutely delicious! Restaurant quality! My family loved it! Will definitely make again!
This is not an “easy” recipe but is worth the work. I made the recipe exactly as directed, however, I will change the method the next time I make it. I will wait until after the potatoes are cooked before adding the cream and milk. The potatoes took much longer than “10 minutes” to cook and I cut them very small (1/2 inch chunk). When you have cream/milk you must constantly stir to prevent skinning as well as to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan. After potatoes are close to being done, I will then add the cream and milk and continue to cook until reduced to the desired consistency.
Awesome recipe! Easy to do.
Absolutely delicious!
Delicious
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Suzy! 🙂
I made this soup to prepare for the impending snow/ice storm in the Mid-Atlantic this weekend. It was devine! The ingredients are simple, the directions are well-written, and the taste of the soup is spectacular. I used my immersion blender because trying to pour hot soup into a blender is too dangerous for my arthritic hands. This recipe is a keeper, for sure! Thanks so much for creating it for your followers.
We’re so happy you gave it a try, Donna! Stay warm 🩷
Just yesterday I googled “potato soup” recipe and yours came up. My word but it’s easy and delicious!!! I have a big bowl left over to enjoy during this ice storm that is coming tomorrow. Thank you for sharing it
Renita Hix
We’re so happy you found our recipe, Renita! Potato soup is the *perfect* meal during an ice storm. Stay warm! 🩷
The only recipe I use, absolutely Awsome. Only change I make is adding a half lb of cheese to it and blend it in.
I made this for my daughter’s baby shower and it was the first time I ever made it! The directions were so easy to follow! I used a mix of tiny potatoes and didn’t peel them. I also mashed some of them right in the pot and didn’t puree it. It was a huge hit and I received many requests for the recipe. A definite keeper!
We are so happy the soup was such a hit for you, Robin! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 🥰