Valentina Ablaev
This easy potato soup recipe is a classic comfort meal! The soup is thick and creamy, and every bite is full of flavor! This is one of those easy recipes that brings so much comfort in the colder season, and it comes together in just one pot!
Everyone loves an old-fashioned loaded baked potato, and this loaded potato soup recipe makes the perfect soup variation!
As a mom, there’s nothing I love more than an easy meal that I know will be a hit with the kids! This easy one-pot potato soup is one of my favorites because of its simplicity, but it lacks the flavor. We make a simple soup base and make it rich with milk, and the potatoes make it perfectly thick. The key, however, is lots of cheddar cheese and, of course, a healthy amount of bacon bits!
We love this stovetop potato soup and have created slow cooker-loaded potato soup and instant pot potato soup versions.
Why Make This Recipe?
Nothing beats a comforting soup in the colder seasons; this best potato soup recipe always hits the spot! The steps are super simple to follow, and chances are you already have all of the ingredients!
Ingredients for Loaded Potato Soup
The ingredients for this soup can be split into 4 categories:
- Protein: For this soup, we use bacon to get that incredible flavor and protein.
- Base: The chicken broth is made thick with flour and creamy with whole milk.
- Potatoes: Large and peeled russet potatoes are cooked in the broth, absorbing all that flavor.
- Toppings: A combination of sour cream, cheese, sliced green onion, and more of that bacon!
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Creamy Potato Soup
- In a large Dutch oven, sauté bacon until crispy, then remove, leaving 1 Tbsp of bacon grease.
- Add butter and sauté diced onion until translucent, then add minced garlic. Whisk in flour and cook for a minute.
- Stir in milk and chicken broth, bring to a soft boil, then add the peel and cut potatoes. Simmer the soup until the potatoes are pierceable with a fork. Lightly mash the potatoes using a potato masher or even an immersion blender for the perfect creamy texture.
- Season with salt and pepper, then mix in sour cream, shredded cheese, and cooked bacon (reserve some for topping). Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.
- Serve with extra sour cream, cheese, green onions, and bacon bits.
Expert Tips:
Use toppings: Each bowl of potato soup is made delicious with the extra toppings! Top with those bacon bits and garnish with green onions, shredded cheese, and a dollop of sour cream.
Serving Suggestions
- Soup and salad: Pair this loaded potato soup with a bacon chopped salad.
- Bread and soup: Serve this potato soup with a slice of freshly baked italian bread.
Recipe FAQs
You can mash the potatoes in the soup lightly, depending on your preferred texture.
You can cook the potatoes directly in the broth. This will thicken up the soup lightly.
The bacon can be substituted with ham in a pinch! Our ham and potato soup is also a delicious option!
Yes, you can use heavy cream and even half and half for a richer soup.
Store & Reheat
- Storage. Keep leftovers in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheat. Add the leftover soup to a saucepan and warm up on low-medium heat until fully reheated.
- Freeze. We don’t recommend freezing this soup.
More Recipes
If you enjoyed this loaded potato recipe, be sure to try our other comfort soup recipes; here are some of our favorites:
If you tried this potato soup recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below – we appreciate it!
Easy Potato Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 large potatoes peeled and cubed
- 8 oz bacon bite-sized pieces
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 med onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper or to taste
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 cup mild or sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- green onions to serve
Instructions
- Peel 4 potatoes and cut them in small cubes. Add the potatoes to a bowl of cold water.
- In a large dutch oven, saute the bacon bits until crispy. Once the bacon is cooked, remove it from the pot and leave 1 Tbsp of bacon grease.
- Add butter to the pot and saute diced onion. Once the onion is translucent, add in the minced garlic.
- Whisk in the flour and allow it to cook for about a minute.
- Add in the milk and chicken broth. Bring the pot up to a soft boil and add the potatoes into the pot. Simmer on low for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Mash the potatoes lightly with a potato masher or you can use an immersion blender for an extra creamy texture. Season the soup with salt and pepper.
- Stir in the sour cream and shredded cheese, and add the cooked bacon back in. Reserve some of the bacon for toppings. Bring the soup up to a boil and turn off the heat.
- Serve the soup with more sour cream, shredded cheese, green onion, and extra bacon bits.
Notes
- Use toppings: Each bowl of potato soup is made delicious with the extra toppings! Top with those bacon bits and garnish with green onions, shredded cheese, and a dollop of sour cream.
- Storage. Keep leftovers in a container and store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Reheat. Add the leftover soup to a saucepan and warm up on low-medium heat until fully reheated.
- Freeze. We don’t recommend freezing this soup.
