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!
My daughter and I just made this in about an hour and we loved it!!
I’m so glad to hear that the potato soup was such a success! Thank you for commenting, Julie! 🙂
My family can be picky about potato soup but they loved this recipe. We have some lactose sensitive stomachs and a gluten allergy so I substituted the flour with gluten free flour substitute, lactose free milk and left out the heavy cream. Didn’t really need it. Was nice and creamy without. Definitely will make again.
So glad to hear it was a success, Kathy! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out and for sharing your substitutions, I appreciate it 🙂
Could you mix the cheese in at the end to make it more of a potato cheese soup?
Hi, Nicole! Yes, you can! I hope that you enjoy the soup. 🙂
Hi! I just want to ask if you can leave this overnight? And how long will it be able to last in the fridge?
Hi Lanie! When you say overnight do you mean leave it out overnight? I would not leave it out. You can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days. I hope that helps, and I hope that you love the soup! 🙂
I followed the recipe and it was delicious and so filling. As soon as it was done, my picky eaters sped into the kitchen and asked for a serving. Once they had their first spoonful, their eyes lit up and requested more. I used a garlic paste because I was out of fresh garlic and it worked out fine. The entire dutch oven is empty and I have some teenages who are happy and full. My son asked if this can be a side dish for our holiday dinner. This is impressive. Thank you!
I am so happy to hear that the potato soup was such a success, Jackie!! Thank you so much for commenting and letting me know how it turned out, I really appreciate it! 🙂
Thank you for this amazing recipe!! I just made it for dinner and my son absolutely loves it!!
I’m so happy to hear it was such a success! Thanks for letting me know how you enjoyed the potato soup, Alexandra! 🙂
Hi there, can I make this the day before so I can just warm up when guests arrive or would you not recommend that? Will that change flavor or consistancy?
Hi, Karen! Yes, that will be fine. I hope that your guests enjoy the Potato Soup! 🙂
Can you make this a head, except adding the cream, and leave it on the stove or in the crockpot to warm without it curling or making the potatoes mushy? I would not want to be cooking while my guests are there
Hi, Lori! Yes, you can make the recipe in advance and keep it on warm in the crockpot before your guests arrive. I hope that the potato soup is a hit. 🙂
I had a hankering for some potato soup. My mom gave me a recipe that was much more detailed and labor intensive. I read yours and the ease of it, decided to try it. I like easy so I used minced onion spice and garlic powder, and didn’t puree, and it was amazing! Delicious! My whole family loved it! Three of the six of us had two bowls. This is a great soup recipe!
I am so glad that the soup was such a hit with your family, Cyndi! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for taking a moment to comment. I hope you enjoy it for years to come. Happy Holidays to you! 🙂
Could you move this to a crockpot after preparing to keep warm for a couple hours?
Hi, Nadine! Yes, absolutely! I hope that you enjoy the potato soup. 🙂
Just made this soup. I burned my bacon so only ended up using 3 strips, which seemed fine. Left the skin on the potatoes too. I used chili powder as i was unable to find ancho chili powder. My food processor worked wonderfully to puree the soup. I served with crusty sourdough croutons and shredded cheddar cheese.
I am so glad you enjoyed the soup Ken! 🙂
Can you freeze leftovers?
Hi Deanne! I would be worried about the soup separating. That being said, I have had others tell me they were able to freeze it with success. 🙂
I didn’t use fresh onion and garlic as i cant handle the texture but i did use it in seasoning form. I also didnt blend part of it. My family loves this and I will be making it again soon!
I am so glad that you adjusted the recipe to your liking and that it turned out fantastic, Lindsay! I am happy that you enjoyed it. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
I make this all the time my son and his wife loves it and so do i.I follow the recipe just as you posted it and its perfect
Thank you so much Happy Holidays
From my family to yours…
Thank you so much, Stella! I am so glad that your family enjoyed the potato soup. Happy Holidays to you! 🙂
Awesome soup! I’ll probably use this as a base for corn chowder in the future.
I did make a couple changes (I know, I know) because boiling dairy products is a reallyyyyy easy way to curdle it. So, I added the heavy cream and cheese at the very end after reducing. Not sure if we used more potatoes than 2.5 lbs, but it didn’t need a lot of reduce and was still super thick.
Thanks so much for the recipe! It beats having to do a real roux like I usually would for a lot of soups.