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).
]
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.
Jill
Very good recipe I actually almost doubled the batch I still have to add the garnishes but it is delicious!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Jill! 🙂
Caitlin Carter
I don’t own any kind of blender, but really want to try your recipe. Are there any alternatives to this?
Sam
Hi Caitlin! You could really skip this step if you don’t have any way to puree the soup. It’s really done to add a little bit of texture and to break up some of the potatoes. If you have a potato masher or something similar you could break them up that way. 🙂
Sari
Great soup! It has loads of lovely flavors and was a huge hit. I did add a touch of parsley, and a bit of smoked roasted garlic. This has become a real go to in our house! Thank you!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoys it so much, Sari! 🙂
Lisa Sandoval
Hello, Can I substitute russet potatoes? Your recipe looks so good that I do not want to mess it up.
Sam
Hi Lisa! That should work just fine. 🙂
Lisa Sandoval
Thank you! I have a lot of russet potatoes that I am looking to put to good use and your recipe looks like the right recipe. I am also excited/curious to try the ancho chili powder. My son likes to try new dishes and I think that we will both enjoy this one. 🙂
Sam
I definitely think everyone will love it. 🙂
Jennessa
I accidentally put the sour cream into the boiling water with the cooking potatoes. Yikes, I really hope this “pans out” lol
Sam
O no! I hope it didn’t curdle on you. Good luck! 🙂
Savanna
Can i add Broccoli as well as potatoes?
Sam
Hi Savanna! That should work just fine. 🙂
Dani
Is there any way I could use only heavy cream instead of milk, would that throw the texture off completely? I’ve got a weird thing with lactose, which makes regular milk an absolute no-no, but for some reason that baffles everyone, heavy cream is usually okay? Or even better: just replaced both the cream and milk with extra sour cream? I don’t want to use almond milk or coconut milk because those have other flavors, so if i can just leave the milk out altogether, I’d like to.
Sam
Hi Dani! You could use all heavy cream. I would probably increase the heavy cream to 1.5 cups and then make up the difference with chicken broth. It will be just under a cup. 🙂
Lori
I’ve never made potato soup but need a soup for a get together. How many will this receipe feed?
Sam
Hi Lori! It will make about 6 servings. 🙂
Joyce Hanson
Can I substitute red potatoes?
Sam
Yes that would be fine 🙂
Barry Polenz
Can you sub chili powder for ancho powder?
Sam
Yup! Enjoy!
Heather
My husband is not a fan of potato soup, usually, and he said this is the best potato soup he’s ever had and that it tastes restaurant quality! Win for me because I love potato soup! Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Heather! 🙂
Shawna
How well does this freeze?
Sam
Hi Shawna! I don’t recommend freezing this. I am afraid it may separate.
Alix
Hi Sam, I can’t wait to make this! Thanks for sharing. Curious if it will freeze well? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Alix! Unfortunately I don’t think it will freeze well, but I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Daniella
Hello, can you use water instead of chicken broth?
Sam
Hi Daniella! You will lose a LOT of flavor if you do that. I don’t really recommend it. You will end up having to play with the spices a lot to get it tasting excellent.
Cat Summers
I made this soup in the morning to get ahead for the evening, but with family working from home they all passed by and got samples…it didn’t last til dinner. Absolutely awesome recipe, Thanks for sharing!!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed the soup so much, Cat! I guess next time you will just have to make double! 😉