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!
My husband and I Love potato soup!! I have made it by several different recipes. I can tell ya … This is the only Potato soup recipe I will ever use from now on. Thank you sooo much!!!
I am so glad I found this recipe. It is incredible! My 12 year old foster daughter is a super picky eater but she loves this soup. Finally something the whole family enjoys! Thank you!
I added more bacon than called for (because why not?!) and my whole family loved this soup. They never agree on anything and all have asked me to make this again.
This is beyond restaurant quality potato soup. Absolutely amazing, best I’ve ever had. Better than Panera Bread, Corner Bakery, you name it!
I did a couple extra things that I really enjoyed:
1) I used a stainless steel pot which collected a ton of fond from the bacon. After taking the bacon out I used about 2 table spoons of white wine to deglazed it before adding the onions.
2) I seasoned the onions with fresh ground pepper and a bit of seasoning salt as they were cooking rather than adding all the salt at the end.
3) when it came time to add table salt at the end I did it 1/4 teaspoon at a time and tasted after each one until it was perfect.
This is my new permanent potato soup recipe! 🙂 Thanks for sharing it!
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Josh! 🙂
I’ve made potato soup so many times and this last time I tried this recipe. My husband said it was the best he’s ever had and I’d have to agree! Even my super picky child ate it! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe! 💗
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Dawn! 🙂
Made the soup this evening. My husband says “the best potato soup I’ve had”. Hallelujah for you and your recipe… I finally made something he loves. The purée for 1/2 of the soup is a wonderful idea! Truly makes for a creamy and chunky potato soup. Husband says “this soup makes my palate dance” . “It’s rich without being overwhelming”.
My son made and served this this soup on New Year’s Eve; It was insanely good and I have been craving it ever since! The chili powder was a perfect addition without overpowering. Now I have the recipe and can’t wait to make it!
Not baking the potatoes you miss something. It was OK, but I’d bake the potatoes and skip the chili powder.
This soup was absolutely delicious! We enjoyed every spoonful!!
Made this as written, so good. Will be my go to potato soup from now on!!
Made this tonight and we thoroughly enjoyed! I’m glad I used the gr ancho, could have used more. Will make this again, thank you!
This is a great recipe! I also added andouille sausage for extra depth in the flavor profile and to appease the meat addicts in my family. I definitely will use this one again!
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Emily! 🙂
So good, my family loved it, i even put in ham chunks 🤤
This was absolutely the easiest and quickest potato soup I have made. It was sooo good! Family loved it. I will be making it again.
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Tammi! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing!! I made this for lunch today. Went by your directions, except I did not have enough potatoes, so I also used hash browns with onions and peppers. I did not blend. It was fabulous!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Tanya! 🙂
I had a question I posted but I didn’t see a response?
What is the serving size? 1/2 cups, 2 cups???
Hi Stacy! This recipe makes about 10 cups of soup. The servings I have listed say it serves 6 so about 1 & 2/3 cup is a serving. 🙂
Absolutely the best potato soup I’ve ever had. My husband said it’s a keeper.