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!
This soup is absolutely amazing! Made it for the first time, not only is it easy to make, it’s quick, rich and very flavorful. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe. This is a keeper:)
I’ve been looking for the perfect potato soup recipe and now I have it! Everyone in the family agrees and now I only have to make one pot instead of dividing everything between 3 different recipes for my picky eaters.
Could I put cream cheese in it
Hi Ashley! I think that could work. I haven’t experimented with the best way to add it, but I think it could work. Let me know how it goes. Enjoy! 🙂
Without question. This is my favorite potato soup recipe! Comfort all the way down.
Made this soup yesterday for the first time. Easy, hearty and delicious, definitely a cold weather soup, but I would enjoy it anytime of the year.
Sam, could I use this as a base for Boston clam chowder?
Thank you for trying my recipe, Kathy! I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much. 🙂 I haven’t personally ever made a clam chowder, but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use this as a base. 🙂
Best potato soup on the planet!
Help!! I’m making this at home in a snowstorm, and I don’t have any sour cream!! What should I use in it’s place?
Hi Chasity! Sorry for the delayed response! Greek yogurt can work in a pinch, or you could omit it. You will lose a bit of flavor omitting it though. I hope you loved it! 🙂
This soup is sooo good, espcially with this cold spell right now!
I didn’t have ancho chilli powder so instead I did 1tbsp of salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 & 1/2 tsp of chilli powder and smoked paprika, and 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper and added it in before my flour. Delicious !!!! This is my go to for a yummy winter meal
I am going to make it this evening for tomorrow. I live in Florida and tonight it will be 27 degrees with winds at 35mph. But not as bad as Michigan and other states up north. Enjoy the soup.
Best Potato Soup EVER! Florida is having some freezing temps this week, and we needed a good warm comfort soup. This was PERFECT. Creamy flavorful and delicious. 🙂 Will be making this again. Also very easy to make for any skill level.
Can this be done in a crock pot?
Hi Kristie! There are many steps that develop the flavor in this recipe. I can’t say for sure how it could be done in a crockpot and have similar results. It can be kept warm in a crock pot after making it. 🙂
Best potato soup I’ve ever had. I use smoked paprika instead if ancho powder and I cannot imagine ancho powder as any better. Everyone whose had my soup (work, sick friends) asks for the recipe
How much smoked paprika do you use?
How much is a serving
Hi Mary! A serving is about 1.75c of soup. 🙂
This is my go-to potato soup recipe! never disappoints! Thanks so much for sharing. Going to make it again tonight on this cold evening!
I’m making this again tonight. It is really cold in Central Florida.
I’ve made this many times because it’s so amazing. Perfect right now with such frigid temperatures outside!
YES!! You’re absolutely right about that. This weather is DEFINITELY soup weather. ❤️ I have a question. should I cover it with a lid, to make the potatoes steam while they’re boiling?
Hi Heather! There’s no need to cover with a lid. 🙂
ok so great recipe. but remember to stir potatoes while boiling. I burnt my batch. didn’t even think about stiring the potatoes while boiling. headed to store for the ingredients again.