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 soup is SO amazingly delicious! Can’t wait to make it again!
I’m so happy to hear this, Ashley! Thank you for trying my recipe 🙂
Delicious
We’re happy you liked it, Deb! Enjoy 😊
So good ! Exactly what the fall weather called for
It’s truly perfect for this time of year! Enjoy, Danielle ❤️
This is the second time I made this divine soup. On this go round I left out the sour cream and I didn’t miss it. I think the tartness of the sour cream masks the potato flavor. Also, I thoroughly scrubbed my Yukon gold potatoes and left the skins on. My blender is powerful and it does a great job of pulverizing the skins. This separates a bit when frozen, but if you run it thru your blender it makes the soup smooth again. Restaurant quality recipe…Thankyou!
We’re happy you were able to modify this batch to your tastes, Karen. Thanks so much for your five-star rating and kind review–we really appreciate it! ❤️
I made this tonight for my vegetarian daughter. Skipped the bacon and used low sodium no tomato veggie broth. She still eats dairy so no issues with the butter, milk, heavy cream, or sour cream. It was delicious! She enjoyed it which is awesome because she doesn’t like soup (in general). She even had a second bowl!
We’re so happy you could modify this recipe to suit your daughter’s diet, Lisa! Thanks so much for commenting and leaving a five star review. 😊
Looking forward to trying this soon! Have you tried it with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream? Wondering if that would separate or not? Thanks!
Greek yogurt should work fine. We hope you love it, Courtney! 😊
Made it tonight! Oh wow, this is so luxurious. My husband said best potato soup ever. Feels like it came from a fancy restaurant. Definitely going to add this to my winter meal plans! Thanks so much ❤️
We’re so happy you both loved it, Courtney! Enjoy! ❤️
Would like to try your potatoe soup… it sounds fantatsic! My question: does the ancho chili powder give it a Mexican taste? Thanks!
Hi Debra! It gives it a subtle smokey flavor 🙂
Awsome potato soup
Thanks for letting us know how you liked it, Thomas! Enjoy 😊
Such a good and fairly simple recipe, it doesn’t take too longer either which is great 🙂 I blended the entire pot and the end result was thick and delicious. Definitely will make again
We’re so happy you loved it, Mariah! ❤️
I’m just curious? About how much is 1 serving? It’s just me and hubby so I want to cut the recipe in half.
Hi Amanda! A serving is about 1.5 cups. We hope you and your husband love it! 😊
The soup turned into glue after I puréed half of it. How do you avoid that?
Hi Bry! We’re so sorry this happened. It may have simmered a little too long…adding some liquid back in should help. We hope it still tasted great! 🙂
Made this today. Only had four small potatoes that I needed to use up. Since it’s only me and my husband it worked well. I broke the recipe down into thirds. This is delicious!
We’re so happy that you enjoyed the soup, Sheryl! ❤️
Very well written! It was delicious! My son has requested it for Christmas Eve! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much, Donna! We are so happy everyone loved it, and we think it would make a very cozy Christmas Eve dinner 😊 Enjoy!
Can the heavy cream be substituted or left out?
Hi Jamie! Yes, but the soup will not be as creamy.
Google tells me:
To replace 1 cup (237 ml) of heavy cream in your recipe, add 2 tablespoons (19 grams) of cornstarch to 1 cup (237 ml) of milk and stir, allowing the mixture to thicken. You can use whole milk or opt for skim milk to help slash the calories and fat content of your recipe.
Haven’t tried it myself, but I’m about to! Wish me luck.
Can leftovers be frozen? I’d be sure to thaw in the frig. Thanks
Hi Sandy! We typically don’t recommend freezing this soup because it tends to separate as it thaws.
Can you substitute russet potatoes for the gold?
Hi Krista! Yes that will be fine, enjoy!
I use a combination of Yukon and russet to get a different textural complexity. Consider it if you’re into that. 🙂
Made this today (along with the delicious chocolate cake) and it was a huge hit! I used small yellow potatoes and cut them into four pieces each, left the skin on, and the soup turned out perfect. I used an immersion blender which was super convenient.
Thanks for letting us know how it turned out for you, Amanda! Sounds like a delicious dinner and dessert 🙂
I never make a rue if it’s to Runny I just throw in a bag of the instant potatoes and it thickens it and gives it a bammm taste. All my kids love it. I also save time and buy the real bacon bits and it gives it a wonderful taste. Do what works for you. But remember to only add a little at a time of the instant potatoes (they have such a great selection at the store for a buck) it will thicken pretty fast. 🥰
How is this soup if you make a day ahead? Does it seperate?
Hi Marina! It should be just fine. Enjoy! 😊
What a great soup, wonderful taste. I’m mexican, so the chili was a perfect add to the recipe. I will definitely try more of your dishes.
Thank you
We’re so happy you loved it, Laura! Enjoy ❤️