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.
Lorna m
I made the potato soup and it was wonderful. I did not have ancho chili powder and I substituted hot Hungarian paprika. It was good with some hot rolls
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you loved the soup, Lorna! Thanks so much for your five star rating and review.
Ashley
I love how you make it easy to follow and understand. OMG my family loved it and even my picky son loved it . So this will be a regular for cold weather nights …Thanks again .
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you and your family liked this recipe, Ashley! Enjoy 😊
Keith
I found recipe today and made a batch…. Unfortunately covid has robbed me of my sense of taste and smell so I have no idea if it was good or not. It was warm and and looked great. I followed directions to the letter. Too bad rest of my family also has covid and can’t give an opinion either. Going to call a friend over to try it.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Oh no! Hopefully you can taste it soon, Keith 🙁
Malori
Could you substitute flour for almond flour?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Corn starch would probably work better, and you won’t need as much. We hope you love the soup, Malori!
Destiny Duncan
This was easy and absolutely delicious! Blending half the soup made all the difference in the world. Whole family loved it…even my super picky daughter! We’ll be making this again! Thanks for sharing!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks so much for letting us know how you liked it, Destiny! Enjoy 😊
Nikki
I don’t eat meat, so I skipped the bacon and still, oh my goodness I think I just fell in love with a soup. Thank you for this outstanding recipe
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you liked it, Nikki! 😊
Ashlei
My husband requested soup for dinner on this very rainy and windy Football Sunday. Followed this one to a T and it was beyond delicious! Now we just need a Niner win 🙂 Will definitely be adding this to my recipe book for a go-to potato soup.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sounds like this soup really hit the spot for you, Ashlei! Thanks so much for your five star review! Enjoy ❤️
Diana
This was a delicious recipe!! I have text it to my son for him to make. He’s very excited to try it. Thank you for the recipe!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you loved it, Diana! Thanks for sharing our recipe ❤️
Donald
My family and I love this recipe. So much better than the others.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks so much for your review, Donald ❤️
Jackie
I plan on trying this recipe this week. I not scared…..everything I make from her/here is FANTASTIC!!! I use these/your recipes more often than not and your recipes NEVER disappoint!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thank you, Jackie! We hope you love the soup ❤️
Aubree
I have baby honey golf potatoes. Can I use that? Also that would be a lot of baby potatoes to peel. I am thinking of just leaving the skin on. Is that going to be a problem?
Love your recipes! Thanks!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That will probably work fine, Aubree. Enjoy the soup!
Gina Sidor
You’re talking my language doll!
Love the fall chill*
Haven’t tried it yet
Looks top notch!
Angela Robbins
I just made this! It is definitely a favorite!!!! The only thing I changed was I added 4 green onions to my sweet onion while sautéing. Can’t wait till my children come home for the holidays so I can make this for them❤️
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sounds like a tasty addition, Angela! Enjoy the soup and your time together ❤️
Christine
The flour in the beginning is for thickness? Can corn starch be used instead? I find it doesn’t clump up like flour, so am hoping I can use that instead. If so, same amount?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Christine! You could substitute corn starch, but you probably won’t need as much. Enjoy!
Daisy
I just made this cause I was feeling soup. I used turkey bacon, and just added a tbsp more of butter to make up for the missing bacon grease. Also didn’t feel like having to clean my blender, so I just mashed potatoes against the side of my pot with my spoon/fork until I got the consistency I wanted. I personally don’t mind a chunkier potato soup, so its perfect for what I like. Very good recipe
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sounds like you were able to make this recipe work just right for you, Daisy! Thanks so much for your review. Enjoy the soup 😊