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Slow Cooker Potato Soup

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This Slow Cooker Potato Soup recipe is easy to make in the crock-pot, and it’s perfectly thick and creamy and flavorful (without having to use heavy cream)!

Slow Cooker Potato Soup -- so delicious, and made extra-easy in the crock pot! | gimmesomeoven.com

Alright everyone, I think this one tops the charts as our most requested recipe on the blog ever, so I hope you like it. :)

That’s right, I finally made you a recipe for Slow Cooker Potato Soup!!!

The keywords, of course, being slow cooker.

Many of you have already discovered my classic Potato Soup recipe on the blog, which will forever and always be my favorite. But nearly every other comment we have received about this soup is from all of you slow cooking fans, asking if you can make the soup in your crock pots. As someone who shares a deep and undying love of all things potato soup and slow cooking, I was right there with ya! Unfortunately, the traditional recipe wasn’t one that that easily converted to slow cooking. Or at least, you couldn’t just dump all of the ingredients in and expect thick and creamy and delicious potato soup afterwards.

But I tested out a few different slow cooker approaches and finally figured out one that I think we’re all going to love. Just like my classic potato soup recipe, this one is super rich and creamy (but made a tiny bit lighter without heavy cream – yay!), it requires less than 20 minutes of prep time (mostly just chopping those potatoes), and it’s wonderfully comforting and delicious. But unlike my classic potato soup recipe, your crock pot gets to be the one to slow cook this soup to perfection.

Alright, let’s do this.

 

Slow Cooker Potato Soup Recipe Video (1 Minute)

 

The first step in this Slow Cooker Potato Soup recipe is probably the most time consuming — chopping up a storm. Chop up lots of potatoes (I strongly recommend Yukon golds), a big onion (white or yellow), and lots of cooked bacon (you can fry or microwave the bacon while you chop, or buy it pre-cooked).Slow Cooker Potato Soup -- so delicious, and made extra-easy in the crock pot! | gimmesomeoven.com

Then toss everything in the slow cooker (<– this is the one I use!), along with lots of good-quality chicken (or vegetable) stock.

And then set the timer for 3-4 hours (on high) or 6-8 hours (on low), and walk away and let the slow cooker do its thing.

Slow Cooker Potato Soup -- so delicious, and made extra-easy in the crock pot! | gimmesomeoven.com

Then once everything has slow cooked, you’ve gotta do the final step on the stovetop. I know, I know, this recipe isn’t 100% slow cooker. But in order to have a soup that’s nice and thick and avoid using heavy cream, we need to make a quick and easy creamy roux on the stove.

So just melt your butter (or you can use reserved bacon grease, if you fried the bacon on the stove, which will be way more flavorful) and whisk it together with some flour to form a roux. Then whisk in a can of evaporated milk. And once the mixture comes to a simmer, it will thicken up into a really thick gravy-like mixture. Add that to directly to the slow cooker, and give everything a stir.

Slow Cooker Potato Soup -- so delicious, and made extra-easy in the crock pot! | gimmesomeoven.com

And then if you’d like an even thicker soup (which I recommend), use a potato masher to mash up about half of the potatoes in the soup. Or you can just leave them all chunky. Up to you.

(Or, some of you have asked about a slightly healthier soup. If you’d rather leave out the roux entirely and just have a brothy-er soup, you can do that, and/or just mash some of the potatoes if you’d like to thicken it up a bit.)

Slow Cooker Potato Soup -- so delicious, and made extra-easy in the crock pot! | gimmesomeoven.com

And then…ta da! A big crock pot full of delicious, creamy Slow Cooker Potato Soup will be yours to enjoy!
Slow Cooker Potato Soup -- so delicious, and made extra-easy in the crock pot! | gimmesomeoven.com

 

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Slow Cooker Potato Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 265 reviews
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 250 minutes
  • Total Time: 260 minutes
  • Yield: 8 -10 servings 1x

Description

This Slow Cooker Potato Soup recipe is thick and creamy (without using heavy cream), wonderfully flavorful, and made extra easy in the slow cooker!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 6 slices cooked bacon*, diced
  • 34 cups good-quality chicken or vegetable stock
  • 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes**, peeled (if desired) and diced
  • 1 medium white or yellow onion, peeled and diced
  • 4 tablespoons bacon grease* (or butter)
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 (12-ounce) can 2% evaporated milk
  • 1 cup shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt or low-fat sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, or more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
  • optional toppings: thinly-sliced green onions or chives, extra shredded cheese, extra bacon, sour cream

Instructions

  1. Add bacon, 3 cups chicken stock, potatoes and onion to the bowl of a large slow cooker, and stir to combine.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours, or until the potatoes are completely tender and cooked through.
  2. Once the soup has slow cooked and is about ready to serve, cook the butter in a small saucepan on the stove over medium-high heat until it has melted.  Whisk in the flour until it is completely combined, and then cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.  Gradually add in the evaporated milk while whisking it together with the flour mixture, and continue whisking until the mixture is completely smooth.  Let the mixture continue cooking until it reaches a simmer, stirring occasionally, and then it should get really thick.
  3. Immediately pour the milk mixture into the slow cooker with the potatoes, and stir until combined.  Add in the cheddar cheese, Greek yogurt (or sour cream), salt and pepper, and stir until combined.  If you would like the soup to be even thicker, you can use a potato masher or a large spoon to mash about half of the potatoes (while the soup is still in the slow cooker) to thicken the soup up.  If you would like the soup to be thinner, add in an extra 1-2 cups of warmed chicken or vegetable stock.  Stir to combine, then taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
  4. Serve warm, garnished with desired toppings.  Or transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.  (This recipe will not freeze well.)

Notes

*You can either fry the bacon, cook it in the microwave, or buy pre-cooked bacon.  If frying or microwaving, I recommend dicing the bacon before cooking it.  And if you are frying it, I highly recommend saving the bacon grease for later and then using it to make your roux (instead of butter).

**I highly recommend using Yukon gold potatoes, which have the perfect texture and buttery taste for this soup.  But Russet potatoes or red potatoes would also work just fine in this recipe.

***If you would like to make this recipe vegetarian, use vegetable stock, omit the bacon, and I would recommend adding in 2-3 teaspoons of Old Bay seasoning for extra flavor.

This post contains affiliate links.

Slow Cooker Potato Soup -- so delicious, and made extra-easy in the crock pot! | gimmesomeoven.com

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1,135 comments on “Slow Cooker Potato Soup”

  1. If I make this soup the day before I serve it what would be the best way to reheat without burning it

  2. Can’t wait to try this ! Looks so yummy!

  3. Will try soon, sound delicious

  4. I was wondering about what to serve with the soup. Do you have any suggestions?

    • Hi Jennifer! We think a salad is always a good side, as well as some bread — we hope you enjoy! :)

  5. Can I just tell you I am not a great cook at all, and I made this soup.  And it was delicious!! I’m so excited and can’t wait to make it again in the winter when it’s really cold out.  Plus my family loved it, and my really picky daughter loved it too!  Great recipe!! 

    • We’re so happy to hear that, Jennifer — thanks for sharing with us and for giving the recipe a try! :D

  6. What happens to the bacon after cooking several hours in the soup?  I would have thought to add it as a topping.

    • Hi Kathy! The bacon just makes the soup so much more flavorful and delicious when added at the beginning (it doesn’t get dried out or mushy or anything like that). You can definitely still add some more as a topping if you want. We hope you enjoy!

  7. That sounds really good. I have been looking for soup recipes with fall here and winter coming on. Can this recipe be reduced. There is only one of me. I can’t possible eat that all in 3 days. I try to find soups that I can freeze.

    • Thanks, Kathy — we hope you enjoy! And of course, you could definitely reduce the recipe. :)

  8. i have never made soup in a crock pot untill now and omg  i love this.  this is a yummy soup. will be making it again. i added a little minced garlic to it    . ^.^

    • Thanks, Sherri! We’re so glad you enjoyed it, and we think minced garlic would be a wonderful addition! :)

  9. Love making soups and this is a great recipe. I was at work and my husband – who never texts me – texted that it was the best soup he’s probably ever had! I’m making it for a big crown next week. Thank you!!!

    • Thanks for sharing with us, Linda! We’re so glad you and your husband enjoyed this! :)

  10. Hi Hayley,
    What happens to the bacon after cooking several hours in the soup?  Does it get soggy? Does it still taste like bacon?  :)

    • Hi Kathy! No, the bacon doesn’t get soggy and it definitely still tastes like bacon. :) We hope you enjoy this!

  11. OMGGGGGGGGGG this soup so SOOOOO GOOD!! I had high hopes for it, but it completely surpassed them. It’s like eating a loaded baked potato, but with less chewing effort. I used turkey bacon instead of regular bacon because that’s what I had on hand, and still, absolutely amazing. I will definitely be making this again, except next time I’m doubling the recipe so everyone can have leftovers!

  12. Hi! I love the idea of not using heavy cream. Have you tried freezing g this soup or know if it will freeze well? I’ve been looking for more make ahead soup recipes and potato soups are my favorite! Thanks!

    • Hi Megan! Freezing this soup isn’t ideal (it affects the texture of the potatoes), and soups with high dairy content such as this one typically don’t freeze well. Some people freeze them anyway and are fine with it, but we haven’t had the best luck. We hope this helps and that you can still try the soup! :)

  13. Any suggestions on how to make this gluten free?

  14. My Grandmother always added leftover madhed potatoes to her potato soup as a thickener and used cream of celery soup instead of cream of chicken soup. It was awesome!! Miss her terribly.

  15. Now this is a good potato soup recipe! I’ve never used dairy in potato soup; always chicken stock and a bacon roux. Will definitely be making this in the slow cooker this weekend ?

  16. I’m known for my potato soup and have requests to fix it all the time…… I really want to try it this way but I want to add a ton of celery, frozen cauliflower and some dice ham.  After its finished a add 1 1/2 lbs of velvetta cheese.  Do you see any problem with the above additions?? TIA

    • Hi Marjorie! We think you would be fine to add celery and cauliflower (we would let it thaw first and add it towards the end of cooking), and diced the diced ham. And velvetta after it’s finished would be fine as well. We hope you enjoy! :)

  17. Quick question. I can’t have milk, what would you recommend as a substitute. I have a plethora of soy milk and I can easily get lactose free milk, which would be better?

  18. have to try this one..

  19. You could use instant mashed potato flakes to thicken it as well and adjust the seasonings to taste.  

  20. I also like to mince a roasted red pepper and add it to my soup. That smoky flavour is wonderful.

  21. How about potato flakes instead of the cream???? Would that work?

    • Hi Sharon! We haven’t used potato flakes before, so we aren’t sure, however, we know some people use those in other recipes for this soup.

  22. I’m getting ready to make this and am wondering how much it makes? I’m going to have 5 adults plus two boys with big appetites to feed and I’m thinking I should double?

    • Hi Tiffany! This makes 8-10 servings. If you want to double so you definitely have leftovers, you’ll need to make sure you have a larger slow cooker to accommodate (we used a 6-quart for a single batch of this). We hope they all enjoy! :)

  23. Made it using what I had instead of yellow potatoes used sweet potatoe still came out great.

  24. Oh, my this was good. After I got home from grocery shopping I found that I didn’t have as much cheddar in the fridge as I thought so I used parmesan and what was left of the cheddar. It was really good. And because I was in a time crunch, I pressure cooked the potato mixture for 8 minutes and set to simmer for 2 hours. I did the roux on the stovetop as directed. It came out great. I will be making this all winter. Thank you!

  25. Made this tonight and it was a hit with my husband and friends. Followed everything to a T, except for using leeks instead of onions. I just like the texture of leeks in the slow cooker. I also did the bacon grease for the roux instead of just butter. Wow. Just wow. Definitely a keeper recipe! Thank you!

  26. Is there anything else I can use instead of evaporated milk? {evaporated milk has too much sugar}

    • Sure, you’re welcome to use cream, half and half, or regular milk. Although evaporated milk shouldn’t contain extra sugar — maybe you’re thinking of sweetened condensed milk?

  27. Can you use cauliflower instead of potatoes?

    • Hi Terri! We haven’t tried that, but we like the idea and feel like it should work! If you try it, let us know how it turns out! : )

  28. Do u cook the bacon before adding?

    • Hi Wendy! We included a note on this at the bottom of the recipe:

      *You can either fry the bacon, cook it in the microwave, or buy pre-cooked bacon. If frying or microwaving, I recommend dicing the bacon before cooking it. And if you are frying it, I highly recommend saving the bacon grease for later and then using it to make your roux (instead of butter).

      We hope you enjoy the soup! :)

  29. i was just wondering if you could replace the sour cream with cream cheese. I am in need of some comfort food and can’t get out to the store for sour cream

  30. Is there any way to do potato soup dairy free

    • You’re welcome to use almond milk in this recipe, and thicken it with a cornstarch slurry instead of the butter roux. It won’t be quite the same, but still pretty close. Hope that helps! :)

  31. Made this soup today and it turned out great! I added a little more bacon to it. Love this recipe!!

    • We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Jenny (and you can never go wrong with a little more bacon)! ;)

  32. I add leeks to both potatoe soup and mashed potatoes.

  33. Can you use heavy whippping cream? Instead of evaporated milk? 

  34. This was fabulous! My husband is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so I just threw in some ham along with the bacon! So good and perfect for fall.

  35. This will be perfect for dinner this week. Having chilly fall weather here in Ohio. Nothing like cuddling up with a bowl of potato soup. I love using my Crock-Pot to make soups, stews and sauces. Thanks

  36. I made this, with some slight substitutions to use only what I had on hand. I diced a steak instead of bacon, used beef stock instead of chicken, forgot the onion and used garlic and pepper for spice. Along with full fat sour cream and bacon grease for the roux. It turned out incredible!! Will definitely make this again.

  37. What would the recipe be if you did not use evaporated milk n used cream or milk? 

    • It would be great — you’re totally welcome to add cream or milk instead. (I just recommend warming up the milk in advance so that it doesn’t curdle when added to the hot soup.)

  38. This is currently cooling on my stove right now it is delicious!  I used Russet Potatos and the only things I added were one carrot and one stalk of celery (in cooker at the beginning) for some colour.  Otherwise I followed the recipe to a T and it came out amazing.  

    My husband is always going on about how much he loves potato soup and we argue about the ridiculous price of a bowl of soup in restaurants but he always wants it when it’s on the menu.  Now he’s got a whole slow cooker of it to eat himself in the next few days.  It’s sad that it doesn’t freeze well but that’s potatoes for you. 

    (Thank you for the note on the freezing  btw, otherwise I would have froze it!)

    • Thanks for sharing, Niaomi, and for giving this a try! We’re so glad you enjoyed it, and we hope your husband does as well! :)

  39. I made the soup today. I made,some changes . I used frozen organic hash potato, bacon bits,and cooked all ingredients in a big pan. I added a few potatoe flakes to thicken.. it was wonderful. It was,cooked in about 30 mins.

  40. Is there a way to make your potato soups without the chicken or vegi stock?? I am allergic to onions and cannot find any stocks that do not have onion in them.

    • Oh no, what a bummer! :( We would suggest making your own stock if you have the time. Otherwise, the only thing we can think of is water (but you’ll need to add more salt and possibly other seasonings). We hope this helps!

  41. I made this soup tonight and it’s awesome!!

  42. Thank you for your recipes, I love TO Cook and Bake

  43. I just made this last week and instead of bacon I added diced ham and I also added some corn!!! I did crisp bacon to add as a garnish!!!! Very good and I will make again!!! I’ve had 2 people ask for the recipe since I served it at a party!!!!

  44. It still includes the video when you try to print the recipe, any way you can fix this?

    • I’m so sorry — our web designer has been working to fix this, and we’re having troubles. Hope to have it resolved asap. Thank you SO much for your patience, I know it’s super annoying. :(

  45. I am going to make this but we do not use or buy evaporated milk (personal preference) – I assume I can use cream in it’s place, correct? I might try this in the dutch oven as well – but either way this looks delish! Thanks for there recipe. 

    • Sure, you’re totally welcome to use cream. And if you’re looking for a stovetop recipe, this one is my favorite: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/potato-soup-recipe/

  46. can I make this in regular pot?

    • Sure, here’s a link to my favorite stovetop potato soup recipe — https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/potato-soup-recipe/

  47. Question i am going to make this then travel 2 hrs away for my dads bday how will it hold up any ideas?

  48. what are the calories and fat grams????

  49. I made this soup twice in one week. Once because the recipe looked so easy and the second time because everyone enjoyed it so much they wanted it again. Not to mention by college age son came home that week.