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!
This was fantastic! I’ve made it twice now and both times it’s been a huge hit! The second time I accidentelly overdid it on the cream so I added just a splash of sherry to cut the richness and it was still phenomenal. This is definitely a keeper!
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Dee! 🙂
Love this soup! Short cut using the Real Bacon Chunks in a jar I had on hand because I forgot to get “real” bacon but turned out great. Even my picky husband requests it! This is a must try.YUM! Cooking it as we speak…
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Danelle! 🙂
This soup was delish ! I like mine creamy so I puréed half only. My family like more chunks so i portioned theirs separately. The ONLY thing I would do differently is less 🧅 onion. Very yummy for a cold day and leftovers too. 😋
I’m so glad you enjoeyd it so much, Shannon! 🙂
Not that you need any more glowing reviews 🙂 BUT I have to say this is easily our favorite soup! I’ve made it twice now, with slight variations each time depending on what we have on hand and it always turns out amazing! My 4 year old is slurping it right now! Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you so much, Erin! I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much. I love seeing reviews like this so keep them coming! 🙂
I am so excited to try this it sounds delicious, but my question is, is ancho a brand name or a type of chili powder, or can you just use normal chili powder. I’m fairly new to cooking and have been trying many of your recipes and absolutely love them. Thank you so much!!!
Hi David! Ancho chili powder is just a type of chili powder. It has a little bit of a different flavor profile, but you could use regular chili powder if that’s all you have on hand. 🙂
I’ve made this recipe so many times and I always come back to it. It’s perfect. When I can get it, I add fresh corn at the end and it’s incredible. Thank you for sharing this recipe that I hope to pass down in my family!
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Julie! 🙂
Love this! I cooked it for just me, though, so I’m wondering if the leftovers could be frozen and reheated without losing all the delicious flavors.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Jacky! I haven’t tried freezing it but I would be worried about some separation occurring.
This soup is WONDERFUL. I use a full teaspoon of ancho chili powder and then add more to my bowl. I honestly believe I could live on this soup alone!
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Terri! 🙂
Will this recipe feed a family of 6 or should I double it? My family loves soup and always go for extra servings
Hi Angela! It makes about 6 servings so you may want to double it just to be safe. 🙂
Loved this soup. I made a small batch just for me. I used skim milk and half and half and it still came out well.Rich and creamy. Very satisfying.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Robin! 🙂
Definitely to die for!! Added chives , cheddar and croutons worth every calorie.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Kim! 🙂
Yummy and easy to follow
This impke recipe did not disappoint one bit; it was very flavourful. I added some chopped parsley for presentation- this is going to be added to my collection for sure.
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Tamara! 🙂
As I am lactose intolerant I substituted with almond milk and coconut whipping cream. Holy Cow! The aroma and flavor are amazing!
I am so happy to hear that the substitutes you used worked so well and your soup smells amazing, Darren! Enjoy! 🙂
Okay I’m now making this for the second time in a week! I’ve made several different versions of potato soup before but this one is not only delicious but easy and fun! Probably my favorite and I love that cheese is added at the end before serving! Instead of removing some to a blender or using an immersion blender I just used an old fashioned potato masher right there in the pot and was not disappointed! Thank you for sharing this treasure!
I am so glad that you have enjoyed it, Brian! Thank you for commenting! Enjoy! 🙂
this is almost exactly like my mothers recipe. so good! a tsp of msg does magic in this dish
Can you make it and put it in a crock pot for several hours to keep warm?
Hi Sarah! That should work just fine. 🙂
Fixed this soup for my lunch folks. We all loved it! Thank you for sharing.
I’m so glad to hear everyone loved the potato soup, Phyllis! Thank you so much for commenting 🙂