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.
Marhia Papaya
Don’t let the ease or quickness of this soup fool you… it’s amazing! Just what I needed on this cool , rainy day! I made the recipe as directed, but added garlic powder, onion powder, & about 1/4 cup of roasted garlic paste. I would definitely recommend if you like even more flavor. Also I added fresh shredded cheddar after blending the soup because we like it that way. Saving this recipe for sure!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Marhia! 🙂
Perry
So I made this twice in a week…shared it around to friends…..my opinion is that it is the best soup I’ve ever eaten…and made!..agree on the anchor chili.great…..I thin sliced 3 celery stalks …very good….a keeper, thanks!
Sugar Spun Run
Your comment made my day, Perry! Thank you! I am happy to hear how much you enjoyed it. 🙂
Elaine Rogers
Oh my goodness such a delicious and filling soup !!! I made it because it was so quick and simple but I was immediately addicted !! Made it again for my sister’s family with a side salad and bread sticks and now I have 5 sister’s addicted 😂 Thank you for this delicious love in a bowl 😋
Sam
I am so happy to hear that it was such a success! Thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out for you, Elaine! 🙂
Jodi
I made this tonight and I literally think my husband ate over half the pot by himself! He said, “I’m full but I can’t stop eating this”. He raised to spoon from the pot and said, “just one more spoonful”. The spoon was actually a ladle! Thank you for posting!
Oh, I added some grated up carrots just to add a little color!
Sam
Haha! I am so glad he enjoyed so much! Thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out for you, Jodi! I love the addition of the carrots, too. Yum! 🙂
Linda
This sounds like a hit! I don’t know why, but we haven’t made potato soup for years. At that time my husband just put in whatever he felt shouldn’t be left out. Going to make it this week. The recipe sounds wonderful! Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you! I look forward to hearing how it turns out! 🙂
Patty Price
Can you freeze the soup?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Patty! I don’t reccomend it. When you reheat it after being frozen the soup becomes mushy. 🙁
Alicia
Delicious! My family loved it and asked me to repeat it again soon, which I definitely plan to do. I left the potato skins on, which I feel enhances texture & nutritional value. I also added some egg noodles, which my kids love in all soups. Very delicious recipe, highly recommend!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Alicia! 🙂
Michelle
Can I use russet potatoes instead?
Sam
Hi Michelle! That will work fine.
Briann
Hi, I am thinking of making this for dinner but want to have a side with it or have it as a side to a main dish. Do you have any recommendations on what this might pair well with?
Thank you
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Briann! Sorry for my delay. I love serving this in a homemade bread bowl and a side salad. I hope that you enjoy the soup! 🙂
Kristen
Hi! Plan on making this recipe this weekend, I do not have ancho chili powder and was wondering if you had a recommended substitute or just go without it?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Kristen! You can substitute regular chili powder or go without. 🙂
Angie
I made this soup tonight! It was delicious! My family loved it. The only thing I did different was add 1 tsp thyme.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Angie! 🙂
Marc
I’d rate this recipe 25 stars if I could. Wonderful soup!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Marc! I am so glad that you enjoyed it! 🙂
Vicki
This was delicious and so easy.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Vicki! I am glad that you enjoyed it! 🙂
Melissa
We have a Jewish friend dining with us and I was wondering if this can be made with turkey bacon?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Melissa! I personally have not substituted using turkey bacon but you should be fine. I hope that they enjoy it! 🙂
Lisa Haluck
Just made this and all I can say is YUM! Have tried many potatoe soup recipes and this tops the list. Thank you for sharing.
Sugar Spun Run
What an amazing compliment! Thank you so much, Lisa! 🙂
Kim
Can this be done in a crock pot on low? It looks like I can do the bacon, butter, garlic, and flour and transfer to a crock pot. Thanks!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Kim! Yes, that will work just fine. 🙂
Kim Tyrrell
I ended up going ahead and trying it in the crock pot, and it was fantastic. Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy to hear it, Kim! Thanks for letting me know and I am glad it was a hit! 🙂
Keith
Easy to follow recipe. I added celery, red bell pepper and cayenne pepper to mine. Absolutely delicious, taste just like a baked potato. I have recently lost 180 pounds and was able to stop taking blood pressure medication. As such I try to cut salt where possible. I left out the salt and used no salt added chicken broth.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Keith! 🙂