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!
We just chowed down on this yummy soup and everyone loved it!! Great for this chilly winter afternoon.
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it, Cynthia! 🙂
Threw in some sweet potatoes and mushrooms (end-of-the-week pantry sweep!) and it turned out SO delicious. Thank you for the much-needed inspo!
I am so glad that it was a hit, Suzanne! Thanks for trying my recipe! 🙂
Made last night for my bf, my first time making home made soup & it turned out amazing!!! So tasty 🤤
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, April! 🙂
Gonna give this recipe a whirl. Sounds good. I’ve never heard of the ancho chili powder so I’ll look for it at Publix. I usually have to eyeball some things to make a larger portion for the fam. and add a lot more bacon;). Enjoyed reading all the happy comments. I’ll let you guys know how it turns out!
I am so excited for you to try my recipe, Tiffany. The ancho chill powder really adds a whole different level of flavor. Keep me posted on how it turns out! 🙂
Made this recipe tonight. The only thing I did different was I poured off most of the bacon fat and I didn’t have any ancho chili powder. Soup was delicious. Whole family loved it. I’ll definitely make again!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Shellie! 🙂
This recipe was a household hit! I loved how it only took one pot and the recipe was easy to follow. Many thanks!
Peeled the potatoes but realized I don’t have sour cream. Can I add sour cream later or do partial recipe? When can I stop?
Hi, Diane! You can omit the sour cream entirely, but it won’t be as creamy. It will still taste delicious. 🙂
I have made this soup 5 or 6 times. It is so delicious and easy! Thank you for the recipe it is a keeper!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Emmy! 🙂
Would red potatoes be ok to substitute for the yellow?
Hi Tiffany! That should work just fine here. 🙂
Can I add velvettta?
Hi, James! I have not tried it, however, you are welcome to. Keep me posted on how it turns out if you do. 🙂
I’m planning to make this for my family next week. Does the ancho chili powder make it pretty spicy? My kids are 100% against spicy food. Can my husband and I just sprinkle a little into our bowls when we serve it?
Hi Katie! It doesn’t make it spicy. You could certainly sprinkle a little bit into your own bowls if you would like. 🙂
Delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Sam! I’m trying to track calories, I see that a serving size is 480 cal… is a serving considered 8oz?
In this recipe I have a serving as about 1.5 cups of soup. 🙂
Easy to make and yummy to eat on a cold winters day
This will be my go to potato soup recipe now, loved it!
Cooked this at my job and recieved rave reviews. Excellent. Thanks