This old fashioned, comforting potato soup is seriously hearty. Loaded up with bits of crisp salty bacon, rich cream, and sharp cheese. One bowl of this gloriously filling soup will warm you up on the coldest of days!
All About this Loaded Potato Soup Recipe:
- Simple ingredients: this recipe has all the classic ingredients, just punched up a bit!
- Make it as creamy as you want: control your consistency based on the ingredients you use (cream/milk, flour) and how much you want to blend the soup at the end.
- Perfect for family dinners: this is one of those recipes that everyone loves. How could they not? It’s loaded up with all the toppings you would find on a baked potato.
Ingredients Needed:
Notes on some ingredients:
- Milk & Cream: you can use any milk of your preference, I would recommend using a 2% since we are adding cream. You can of course use whole milk and not use the cream. Or use any combination.
- Onion: this can always be swapped out for leeks for a sweet, earthy flavoring to the soup.
- Flour: we are using this in combination with the sour cream and the potatoes themselves to make the broth thicker.
- Potatoes: Gold Potatoes are the best option due to their low starch, they hold their shape well when boiled.
- Cheese: for more flavoring use an Extra Sharp Cheddar, for a more mild flavoring use a Sharp Cheddar.
How to make (step-by-step)
- Step 1: Cook the bacon, dice and saute the bacon in a large dutch oven until it reaches your desired level of crispiness. Then remove the bacon and set aside. Keep at least 2 tablespoons of the grease for using to sauté the onion.
- Step 2: Add Flour, stir the flour into the vegetables, this creates a roux and helps thicken our soup.
- Step 3: Pour in broth and milks. Add seasonings. The seasonings can always be adjusted at the end to taste. Add the potatoes in and let this simmer until the potatoes are softened and easily mashed with a fork.
- Step 4: Blend, to desired consistency. Then add in the sour cream and cheese, stir into the soup until combined. Stir the bacon back into the soup while leaving some set aside as an extra topping.
Expert Tips:
- Dice the potatoes fairly small. This helps them to cook up quicker. The quicker they cook, the quicker you can get dinner on the table.
- Lighten this soup up: omit the bacon or use a turkey bacon. Add some extra veggies, cauliflower is a great option. And sub out the cream for milk, or sour cream for greek yogurt. Make sure you check out my recipe for Secretly Healthy Potato Soup for more ideas!
- Extra Seasonings: this soup is simple and can easily be adjusted to your tastes, add a sprinkle of your favorite seasoning mix (taco seasoning, cajun seasoning, Italian seasoning) for more flavoring. Or just add in a pinch of chili powder or paprika for a touch of heat.
- Sneak in more veggies: since this is a great family dinner recipe, feel free to sneak in some extra vegetables, peas and carrots are a great option.
FAQ’s:
Use a low starch or waxy potato. They have thin skins and are high in moisture, low in starch. They hold up well and keep their shape when boiled. Yukon Gold potatoes are my favorite choice for this particular recipe.
Yes! This soup is made to be ultra creamy, you can leave out the flour if desired, the soup will still be creamy, just blend the soup to get your desired consistency.
Be careful not to overblend, this is going to be the main cause of making a soup that is too thick. To thin it out, gradually add more liquid (heated broth) until the soup reaches your desired consistency.
What to Serve on the side:
- Autumn Apple Salad or Grilled Mexican Street Corn.
- Buttermilk Drop Biscuits or the BEST Homemade Southern Biscuits
- Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
More Soup Recipes to Make:
- Roasted Red Pepper Soup
- Cheeseburger Soup
- Chile Relleno Soup
- Leftover Ham Bone Soup
- 30 Minute Beer Cheese Soup
- Corn Chowder
If you tried this recipe please leave a comment and a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below! Thank you so much!
Creamy Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon , chopped
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 3 tbsp all purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken broth, unsalted
- 1½ cup milk
- ½ cup cream
- 3 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Optional Toppings:
- green onion, diced
- bacon, cooked and diced
- cheese, shredded
- sour cream
Instructions
- Cook Bacon: Add the bacon to a large dutch oven or pot and cook over medium high heat until the bacon is crispy. Remove the bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel and set aside, leave the grease in the pot.
- Saute Onion: Add the diced onion and cook until softened and translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add Flour: Stir in the flour and allow this to cook for about 2-3. This cooks the flour.
- Create Broth: Pour in the chicken stock, milk and cream. Add in the diced potatoes, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Simmer: Bring the pot to a simmer and cook stirring occasionally until the potatoes are softened and easily mashed.
- Blend: Turn heat off and using an immersion blender, blend the soup until some of the potatoes are blended, be careful not to overblend, leave chunks of potato in the soup. IF you don't have an immersion blender then carefully pour portions of the soup into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Return soup to the pot after blending.
- Add Final Ingredients: With the heat still off, stir in the sour cream and shredded cheese. Return the bacon to the soup. Stir to combine.
- Serve warm with any additional toppings of your choice.
Video
Equipment
Notes
- Milk & Cream: you can use any milk of your preference, I would recommend using a 2% since we are adding cream. You can of course use whole milk and not use the cream. Or use any combination.
- Onion: this can always be swapped out for leeks for a sweet, earthy flavoring to the soup.
- Flour: we are using this in combination with the sour cream and the potatoes themselves to make the broth thicker.
- Potatoes: Gold Potatoes are the best option due to their low starch, they hold their shape well when boiled. Dice them fairly small for quicker cook time.
- Cheese: for more flavoring use an Extra Sharp Cheddar, for a more mild flavoring use a Sharp Cheddar.
- Thickness: to create a thick, creamy soup blend more of the potato. If your soup becomes too thick, heat up extra chicken broth and pour into the soup until desired consistency is achieved.
- Leftovers can be stored sealed in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat on stovetop, while stirring.
Nutrition
Recipe first published October 17, 2018. Updated August 20, 2021 with new images and information, recipe remains unchanged.
Photography done by the talented @KJandCompany.co
So tasty! I’ve made this a few times now and love it every time! Using bacon grease as the base to cook everything makes it incredible!
The best potato soup!
A very nice recipe indeed, just as posted. Wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks for sharing with us!
Hi Serene,
This soup looks so cozy and delicious! It’s so cold here, and I’ve been looking for new soups to try out to warm me up. I’m putting this one on my list for sure. I also can’t wait to try your chicken pot pie soup. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Easy to make and flavorful. I added diced celery, carrots & red peppers.
Hi! Great soup! I’ve made it a dozen times! Question- under nutrition when it says “serving:1” does that mean one cup or what?
Thanks!
This makes a large pot of soup, so we shared with another family. I had barely gotten back home when. they called to tell me how much they enjoyed it. Thanks for a great recipe.
Delicious!! Used russet potatoes because that’s what I had and all almond milk, will definitely make again. Thanks!
Love this soup. I’m wondering if I can freeze the leftovers?
Sooo delish!! Even without the bacon!
I only have medium cheddar will that be enough flavor?
Yes absolutely!
Hi, can you use creme fraiche instead of cream?
This recipe is the bomb! Everyone that has tasted it loves it. Easy to make and instructions are great. I make this recipe a lot.
Absolutely excellent! Great recipe and great taste! My granddaughter, daughter and myself absolutely loved it! Thank you for sharing! It will definitely be made again and in our home!!
Easy Peasy. Not sure if I used Yukons or not; I bought Speisekartoffeln at the local German store. Added butter. No sour cream. Cut the recipe because there are just two of us, and have enough left for a light lunch. DH had two servings. Hadn’t made potato soup in ages, and wanted a recipe. This fit the bill. Oh—always fry more bacon than the recipe calls for. 🙂
wow, this is the best potato soup I have eaten. My son says it is awesome as well….this recipe is a keeper!!!!…thank you!
Made this recipe tonight as a polar vortex is descending on Michigan. It is wonderful and has the perfect consistency and is so creamy. I did add some diced celery and shredded carrots to the soup with the potatoes. Thanks for an awesome recipe!
It wasn’t for my family. I cooked the onions until they browned but the flavor was too strong. I took all the onions out after cooking them with the chicken broth, cream and milk but it was still too strong. I added more cream and milk but it was still too strong. I cooked it for 2 hours to try to cook the potatoes enough but they still needed more cooking. I couldn’t cook them very high with milk and cream in the mixture. I added some bacon to the mix and cheese but it still had a strong onion taste. I eventually decided we needed to eat so I put the rest of the potatoes and sour cream in. It helped quite a bit but I couldn’t get the onion taste out enough for my liking and my husband and daughter felt it needed less onion as well. It has some good ideas but I would probably leave out the onion, cook the potatoes separately, and add butter. I love butter.
Hi Kris. Sorry you had issues with the recipe. Some notes I have for you: the onion flavor most likely came from browning the onions. The recipe doesn’t call for them to be browned. Browning them would cause a more intense flavor.
Due to using cream and milk in the recipe, the fats actually make it ok to bring the liquid to a boil, it won’t separate. Most likely the long cook time came from cooking at too low of a temperature. The potatoes should be fully softened within 20 minutes of cooking in the soup.
Seeing that you and your family aren’t huge onion fans, maybe you should’ve used 1/2 or 1/4 of the small onion, or even onion powder! Down here in the south ,the more onions the better, lol! I also add some fresh diced celery, along with the leafy part of the stalk, to the simmering pot of potatoes.
This soup is wonderful! Made it tonight and we all loved it! I did add some cut up ham and it was delicious especially with toasted garlic bread dipped in it! It’s a keeper!
Can I leave off the half & half?
You can substitute the half and half for cream or just more milk. The half and half just makes it a bit thicker and creamier than using regular milk only. But use what you have on hand 🙂