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!
I’ve made this a few times and it’s always a hit. I added some diced celery because that’s how my mom used to make it. Does this freeze well? Thanks for a fantastic recipe
You’re welcome, Tad! I’m so glad it’s been such a hit! I don’t recommend freezing this as it could potentially separate. 🙁
I love this recipe and I’ve been making it for years! Thank you so much!!
I’ve made this soup so many times a really love this recipe!! 10/10
my husband claims that this was the best potato soup he’d ever had! I will definitely be making this again!! Thanks 😊
I’ve made this a handful of times now. It is a favorite in my house! Kids and adults!
This is a great potato soup. My family likes the potato chunks. So I don’t blend the soup.
I make this soup all the time and it always comes out so good! Super easy and quick as well!
easiest and best potato soup ever! better than my mothers!!!
I know this may be a crime, but am I able to make this soup without the bacon/bacon grease? I’m not a vegetarian, but not the biggest fan of bacon.
Hi Bri! You can, but you’ll definitely lose some of the flavor.
I ended up making it with kielbasa to still get a smoky meat flavor and it was delicious! My husband is not a big soup person and he loved this. Will definitely be making it again! 🙂
I have no heavy cream. Got Pet and Eagle brand. ????????????????????
THIS WAS AMAZING!!!!! I made tonight for my family and they ate it up! I forgot to add the chili powder, but it was very delicious even without the extra zing. I also got carried away with the immersion blender and blended almost all my potato chunks, but this was an excellent recipe. Saving this one!
We’re so happy it was such a hit, Patricia! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 💕
Tho soup is delicious and I get many compliments serving it guests! Thank you for sharing it!
Please send me: ‘do not use generic, parts 1 and 2.’ Also, I live alone like so many empty nesters. Would you please include if it would work to cut many of your recipes in half? Thank you!
Hi Linda! Most of my recipes are fine to cut in half. I do have part 1 on Youtube right now. The second one will come out this week so be sure to check my Youtube channel to see part 2. 🙂
I used 1 cup of 1/2 and 1/2, and one 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese. Fried the bacon, the onion (til browned and crispy) and added some of the celery tops, chopped (the leafy part). Really adds a lot of flavor. I used iodized sea salt, not as pungent (Morton makes it) because I need the iodine but sea salt has better flavor than plain Morton salt.
I was so hungry for potato soup when I saw this recipe I made it the same day.
This is hands down the best creamy potato soup I have ever had or made. I did do a couple of slight alterations to really put it over the top. I only put bacon in the bowl when served and I put about half cup of shredded sharp cheddar in at the end and stir it in. Excellent recipe. Make this soup, tou will not regret it!