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.
Lani
I wanted to make this for a lunch at my work. If I make this the night before and reheat it on low in a crockpot will it reheat well? Thank you!
Sam
Yes I love the leftovers. ☺️
Brooke Rose
Omg best soup recipe EVER!!! There were no leftovers. Thank you!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it Brooke! ☺️
Tina McCormic
I added crawfish the last 15.
It was AWESOME!
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR RECIPE.
Sam
I have not heard of anyone doing that. I also have not ever had crawfish before. I am glad you enjoyed it. ☺️
David
Great potato soup! The idea to purée 1/2 in a blender is a good idea. I have not tasted a better potato soup.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it David! ☺️
Bethany
Alright, this one is going IN THE (recipe) BOOKS. Well, it’s a box, but still. I made this exactly as written, besides using regular chili powder and garlic powder since I was out of fresh. I also doubled it and I’m SO glad I did. I’m a self declared potato soup lover and I’ve been happily eating this for 3 meals a day for dayyys, breakfast included! Even my hubby who claims most potato soup tastes like “dish water” likes it! My question is, though, I’m wanting to make this for a get together, but several people are gluten free. Is there another thickening agent I could use besides flour that you think would work?
Sam
Corn starch is gluten free and would work to thicken it up. You would need to use a lot less of it, but I am not sure exactly how much.
Ryan Ocepek
Wonderful! Turned out perfect!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Ryan! ☺️
Beth M.
I’m eating my first tastes of this now, marveling at how deliciously creamy, tasty and fabulous it is! Always seems rude when people make changes to a recipe, but I’ll admit I did make one alteration: I added carrot and celery and turnip at the beginning, to help up the health factor and allow me to feel slightly less guilty as I slurp away in happy soup bliss. This is a keeper; thanks for sharing! Added bonus: the house gets that comfy soup smell. Happy camper city.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it, Beth! Those are some great ideas for additions. ☺️
Linda Shamblen
I loved this soup. Would like to make it for a few older friends who do not cook. If I put this in canning jars will it keep or does it have to be refrigerated. How long would it last in an air tight jar in refrig.? Thank you. I have never canned anything before
Sam
Hi Linda! I am not sure about canning it as I am not very familiar with canning myself. It will last 3-5 days in the refrigerator in an air tight container. ☺️
Neva
Made the soup this morning using my homemade chicken stock (rotisserie chicken carcass boiled for a few hours with all the onion/celery/carrot/root vegetable ends/skins I keep stocked in the freezer), omitted the bacon (but served it on the side for the pork eaters) and used a little extra butter in place of. Okay, twice the butter. Added some finely minced celery and carrots to the onion and garlic. Otherwise, I followed the recipe to the letter — and I absolutely agree about the Ancho Chili Powder. Your recipe should be in the Potato Soup Hall of Fame, many, many thanks!
Sam
Thank you so much, Neva! I am so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
sarah
I am making this now I added more bacon.I hope everyone loves it.I also used red potatoes.
Sam
I’m sure they will! 😉
James
$44 in ingredients later it tasted very bland and was very watery. Complete waste of time and money. Had to throw it all out.
Sam
So disappointed to hear this! Did you puree the ingredients? I’ve never had this come out watery, or even close to it. Maybe I can help figure out where things went wrong for you.
Terry L Morris
Potato soup is bland unless you add ingredients to enhance the flavor. Ingredients like cheese, bacon bits (freshly fried in a skillet not the kind you buy in a bottle), salt, pepper, chives, and garlic. I am not good with spicy hot as the lady suggests with the Ancho Chili powder. If your soup comes out bland and watery you probably didn’t season and have too much liquid. My opinion. I’ve been cooking for many years. Mom began teaching me at 9y. Grandma’s and Great-grandma’s were helpful too. I have cooked for a crew but now just myself at nearly 71y.
Becca
Well bleh! Maybe add mashed potatoes next time! I do not feel the recipe called for $44 in ingredients. Where did you shop? I made this recipe for less than $10 and delicious. I don’t understand how it came to $44.
Saleena
I just went and bought the ingredients this called for had a few things already like milk pepper salt garlic and milk had to buy the rest and spent a little over 20
Mandy
Does it matter what kind of potatoes I use?
Sam
Did you have a certain kind in mind? Quite a few varieties will work in this recipe. 🙂
Bethany
I used regular ole russets and it came out great! Washed and peeled!
Steven Hall
All I added was Polish style dumplings which I’ve always added to my potato soup and it was excellent, thank you!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Steven! The addition sounds delicious! 🙂
Elizabeth
Omg delicious!!! My picky four year old and husband couldn’t stop eating it!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed! Thanks for commenting, Elizabeth! 🙂
Rose
I made the soup, I had burned the bacon a little bit. I thought it was still goid but my husband picked up on the burnt bacon flavor. Is there something I can add to it to help get rid of the burnt flavor?
Sam
Ooh unfortunately I am not sure of what would temper the burnt flavor, sorry Rose 🙁 Unfortunately the flavor is pretty strong and persistent, my best suggestion would be to pick out the burnt pieces.