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 was looking to change up my trusty old potato soup recipe and landed here. I never would have thought to add the chili powder! I’m going to try this tonight. I have to ask though, where did you get such cute silverware?
I hope you love it! And they came from Pier 1, I love using them in pictures but they’re actually super awkward to eat with, they just don’t fit in your hand right. I also dropped one once from only about 4 feet and it broke!! Just wanted to give you fair warning 😉
Easy and delicious!
Thank you so much, Aaron! 🙂
I don’t have any heavy cream. All I have is 2% milk and no chance of getting to the store. Is this going to turn out okay!?
Hi Kathryn! Sorry for the delay… The soup won’t be as thick as intended, but it should still turn out. 🙂
Tried this soup tonite and it is amazing! I used regular chili powder and also added a package of gnocchi at the same time I added the sour cream! Also, used a 1 lb of bacon. It’s my new go to potato soup for sure!
I am so glad you enjoyed it! 😊
How do I stop? Does it eventually run out or do I just eat this until I die?
😂 Tell me if you ever figure it out. 😂
Yummy!! I used only 3 Tbs of bacon grease, that was plenty. Never got to put out the cheddar cheese or green onion before it was gone!
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it!😊
Wonderful recipe, a lot of preparation, but worth every bite! Definitely would recommend putting in the ancho Chile powder, I used 1/2 tsp., made it extra special! Thank you! Everyone loved it!
Will definitely be making this again and again.
Hi, Dawn! I am so glad everyone enjoyed it! 😊 The ancho chilli powder really does add that extra great flavor.
Thank you for a wonderful recipe! I just made this alone with some grilled cheese sandwiches. Because my husband thinks he can’t eat soup without something to dip into it! I have to admit it was good in all that cream! I seemed to have lost my past potato soup recipes. I guess it was a good thing since this one is so good…. I’m printing this one to save! Thanks
That sounds like an excellent combination! I’m glad everyone enjoyed it. 😊
This Potato Soup was the best I’ve ever made and very easy… Thank you so much for the recipe.
Than you, Sandi! I am so glad you enjoyed it. 😊
I made this soup and it was amazing. I doubled everything in the recipe minus 1 pound of potatoes and added a pound of potato gnocchi (which i pre cooked for 5 minutes) and it was amazing… I also put the soup in a croc pot for a couple hours on low instead of simmering for the last 15 minutes. It was perfect. Def going into the recipe book. Thanks.
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Jacob. 😊
Hello! So I made mine but I like things spicy and hot, And I grow my own Carolina reaper peppers. So I added about .25 of a gram of dried pepper and WOW, this soup is amazing!! Sooooo good thank you so much!
Oooo that sounds good! I’ll have to try it! I am so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
This soup taste awesome! I’m not a real big soup eater but I made this because it’s chilly, just thought I’d try it .I would definitely be in this recipe again thank you so much .
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it, Terry! Thank you for commenting! 🙂
Made this tonight. Best potato soup I’ve ever had! A bit more prep time than anticipated but well worth it.
I am so glad you enjoyed it! ☺️
So delicious! My husband can’t put his spoon down! Thanks for sharing.
I am so glad you enjoyed it! ☺️
I don’t have ancho chili powder. Will regular chili powder change the flavor profile? Should I omit it instead?
It’s a very subtle difference, you can substitute with regular chili powder, or omit it.