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.
Leslie Hall
Absolutely delicious! My husband said it was the best I’d ever made. The rich taste and perfect texture make it a must-try.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Leslie! I am so glad that your family enjoyed the potato soup. 🙂
Angie
Will this work without the heavy cream and using just milk?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Angie! If you’re looking for a substitute, half-and-half could work though the potato soup won’t be quite as creamy. Others have used milk with butter and had success. I hope that it works for you as well. 🙂
Shelly
This was the best I have ever had a must try
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the potato soup, Shelly! Thanks for trying my recipe. 🙂
Ariel Irwin
Turned out great and very easy to follow. The family loved it. Thanks so much
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that the potato soup was such a hit, Ariel! Thanks for trying my recipe. 🙂
Mary
This soup was really good! We made it without the bacon for Ash Wednesday, and it was an easy, relatively quick, simple meal-just right for tonight. I used Aleppo pepper which was really nice in this recipe, topped with shredded cheddar, and left off the sour cream and chives because I didn’t have any on hand. It was still good and I will try again another night with bacon for sure.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the potato soup, Mary! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Jenni
LOVE!! I couldn’t find ancho chili powder, so I just used regular chili powder. I was a little unsure, but it was delicious! You truly don’t taste the ‘chili powder’ but it really does give it fabulous depth of flavor! Also, we really like the potato chunks, and don’t like to blend the soup, so I added a cup or 2 (didn’t measure) shredded sharp cheddar cheese right at the end. It thickened it perfectly!
Truly tasted like loaded baked potatoes! Yum!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the soup, Jenni! The beauty of the soup is you can decide how chunky or creamy you like it. If you asked my husband he’d say there’s no such thing as too much cheese either. 🙂
Lou Ellen Nelson
I had to say I would do the dishes to just try the creamy potato soup.
EVERYONE loved the soup. I am to make this at least once a month
You said in your receipt we could use another chilie spice. I tried another and still EXCELLANT cream potato soup.
Sam
Thank you so much! I am so glad everyone enjoyed the soup. Sometimes cleaning the dishes is worth it. 😉
Lupe
Hello,
I already went to the store and got groceries before I seen your recipe. Will beef Broth be ok? I don’t have Chickens broth. I am cooking it tonight.
Sugar Spun Run
It will alter the taste, but that should be fine, Lupe! Let me know how it works for you. 🙂
April
Hey there I was going to make this soup for dinner tonight, I only have regular chili powder is it going to make that big of a difference?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, April! The taste will be slightly different but still delicious. I hope that you enjoy the potato soup! 🙂
Sherry
I’ve been making potato soup for over 48 some years..I have to say that yours is the best I’ve made..my husband said it was awesome..I’ll be making this soup again…thank you..
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you both enjoyed the recipe and I am so happy to hear that it was the best you’ve had. Thanks for commenting, Sherry! Enjoy! 🙂
Kathy
Love the soup❤Hate the pop ups!!!🥺🥵
Sam
Hey Kathy! What pop-ups are you seeing? I have a free-ebook offer that comes up on if you view my site from a computer (not from a cell phone) but there shouldn’t be any others. Could you let me know? There might be something I can do about it.
Glad you enjoyed the soup!
Luisa
Wow I just made this after watching the video last night and I must say that I got NO complaints. I followed the recipe to the T and it came out phenomenal. So tasty, so creamy, so delicious!
Sam
Yay! I’m so happy to hear this 🙂
Thanks for letting me know how the soup turned out for you, Luisa!
Deborah
making this right now fingers crossed….smells fabulous …
Sam
Hope you love it! 🙂
Tonya
Will try this tonight in my crockpot fingers crossed
Sugar Spun Run
I hope that you enjoy the soup, Tonya! Keep me posted on how it turns out. 🙂
Marcy
Can u share how u made it in the crockpot please ?
Jeanne Malimban
I dont have one of those blenders..can I just use a potato masher and skip the chili powder. We have all kinds of spices but none of that kind. Can’t wait to try tonight. Thank you for the clear instruction video
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Jeanne! You can use a potato masher, no problem! As far as the chili powder you can skip that too, however, it really adds so much flavor to this soup. I hope that you enjoy it. 🙂
Ariel Irwin
How many quarts for a dutch oven would be best for this recipe? Also how long do you puree half with an immersion or regular blender?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Ariel! The dutch oven I use is 5-1/2-Quarts. As far a pureeing goes, I usually puree until creamy, 30 seconds or so. 🙂