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!
First off, I decided to substitute the heavy cream with evaporated milk and I was still very pleased with how this came out.
Secondly, WOW!!!! This recipe was simply perfect and tasted amazing. I was looking to make soup a couple of days ago and wanted to make something different than my regular chicken noodle soup. I stumbled upon your recipe and had all the ingredients (with the exception of heavy cream previously stated above) so I decided to dive in. It came out with the right thickness and taste that my wife who usually has one bowl of soup had a second helping and said it was the exact thing she needed.
Finally, thank you so much for the recipe. To anyone who wants to try making potato soup this will be the only recipe you’ll need. I almost thought I lost the webpage but was lucky to find it and pin it on my board.
Thank you so much! I am so glad you enjoyed the soup so much! 🙂
This soup was beyond outstanding…Amazingly delicious thanks for sharing…
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Jeff! 🙂
I searched the Internet and found your recipe. I’m glad I did. This recipe is delicious. I knew what I was getting into as far as the ingredients go. At my age I have to start watching, and most of the time I try to eat healthy. It’s hard to find a cream soup as good as this and be healthy. I was wondering, have you ever tried cutting some of the fats and replace them with light cream or olive oil? Thanks for a tasty recipe. 😀
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Renee! I have not tried cutting the fats. It’s definitely worth a shot. It may not be as creamy/flavorful, but I think it could still work. 🙂
So decadent and delicious. I have made this twice. The first time I followed the recipe exactly. The second time I only washed the potatos and cut them up…I didn’t peel them. And I used whole milk instead of half and half. And finally I eliminated the sour cream because I don’t think it really made a difference. With my changes I didn’t taste any difference. A bit time consuming to make but oh so worth it. Great recipe!
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Karen! 🙂
Do you have to use the bacon?
Nope! Just use an additional 2 Tablespoons of butter.
This soup is amazing! I’m sick and it makes me feel so good! We didn’t feel like only using half a pack of bacon, so we put 12 strips in here, and it was definitely a good idea. My family is full of cheese lovers so we decided to add a bunch to the soup itself, along with some once the soup was in the bowl. I was trying to replicate a soup from my childhood, and while it’s definitely not the same potato soup, it’s one of my new favorites! Can’t wait to make it again!
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Rylie! 🙂
Can u freeze this soup?
Hi, Laurie! I typically don’t recommend it because the cream can separate out. 🙂
Could you make it in a crockpot?
Hi Karen! I’m not quite sure how it would work in a crock pot because you have to add different things at different times and it’s really best to cook the bacon in the pot first. 🙂
I don’t like garlic, but decided to try it with two cloves. Oh my, so yummy! Thank you.
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Lin! 🙂
I’m going to make this!
Instead of bacon can I use ham or prosciutto ?
Hi Sofia! Others have reported that they’ve made it with ham with success! Enjoy 🙂
Wow, delicious, now I can down in history with my my babies saying “grandma makes the best potato soup” this is really good!
🤣 I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Shanna! 🙂
If you are watching your diet then DON’T make this soup. Lucky I don’t care!!! Absolutely easy and extremely tasty.
AND you must not omit bacon ever. It is the standout here I feel providing depth and character.
I doubled recipe so I can freeze portions.
I used a masher instead of puréeing. I find that easier and no halving of soup as all in same pot plus easy to control which spuds remain intact.
I’m not keen on ‘hot’ foods so little by little chillie was added.
Can top with chillie flakes when serving for people who love it like that.
Will make the same recipe and add clams next…yumbo!!
Good work Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Karen! 🙂
My husband and I used to go get homemade Potatoe Soup at a little cafe close to where we lived. It was Heaven on earth, and a closely guarded family secret, that sadly went to the grave with the cafe owner. I made your soup tonite and my husband swore that I had been holding out on him and had Miss Sally’s recipe all along!
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Sara! Now you can enjoy potato soup just like you used to. 🙂
So easy and tasty!! I will definitely be making this again!!
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Sarah! 🙂
So I’ve never made homemade potato soup before but OMG this recipe turned out AMAZING!! I’ve nearly eaten two whole bowls all by myself haha. I’m pregnant, so maybe that’s why. But it was so easy and simple to follow and just turned out freaking fantastic. HUGE fan here. Thank you!
Congratulations Ashton!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup. Sounds like the baby does too! 🙂
I made this soup for dinner on Sunday. It was absolutely delicious. My husband and I just had some for lunch today as well. This will always be my go to potato soup recipe. Thanks!
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Kelly! 🙂