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Potato Soup

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This easy Potato Soup recipe is truly the best! It’s quick and easy to make on the stovetop, it’s nice and creamy (without using heavy cream), and it’s always so cozy and comforting and delicious.

The BEST Potato Soup Recipe

Do you have a favorite potato soup recipe?

If not — psst — bookmark this one!

This easy potato soup recipe has been my tried-and-true, back-pocket, all-time-favorite for over a decade now. It’s perfectly rich and creamy (without using heavy cream), it’s full of flavor (because bland potato soup is the worst), it’s easy to adapt to be vegetarian and/or gluten-free (see below), and it is always, always a crowd fave. I promise it won’t let you down.

Let’s make some potato soup!

Potato Soup Recipe | 1-Minute Video

Potato Soup Ingredients:

To make this easy potato soup recipe, you will need:

  • Bacon: I recommend using center-cut bacon here, to keep it a bit more lean. But any kind of bacon you love will do. We will also use its leftover grease (or butter, if you prefer) to sauté the veggies for extra flavor. That said, if you would like to make this soup vegetarian, see my recommendations below for a delicious meatless version.
  • Veggies: Onion and garlic.
  • Flour: We will use flour to make a roux to thicken the soup. Or if you would like a lighter soup, you can skip this step and just puree part of the soup to thicken it. (See tips below.)
  • Chicken stock and milk: These will form the broth of our soup. Feel free to use chicken or veggie stock, and then whatever kind of milk you prefer (I used 2% cow’s milk).
  • Potatoes: I highly recommend making this soup with buttery Yukon gold potatoes. But russets or red potatoes would also do.
  • Cheese: I recommend a good sharp cheddar cheese here for maximum flavor.
  • Greek yogurt or sour cream: To make the soup extra-creamy.
  • Salt and pepper: Add in as much as you need at the end to season your soup well.

And finally…toppings! I’m a big believer that the more, the merrier when it comes to toppings and potato soup. Some classic options could include

  • Extra bacon, extra shredded cheese, thinly-sliced green onions or chives, sour cream, fresh thyme, sprinkle of Cajun seasoning

The BEST Potato Soup

How To Make Potato Soup:

To make this potato soup recipe, simply:

  1. Cook the bacon. Dice and then sauté it in a large stockpot until it’s nice and crispy. Then transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels, and reserve a few tablespoons of leftover grease in the stockpot (discarding the rest.)
  2. Sauté the veggies. Sauté the onion and garlic in the bacon grease until softened. Then stir in some flour, to create your roux.
  3. Add broth and potatoes. Then add the stock, milk and potatoes. Cook until the potatoes until softened, being sure to stir the soup regularly so that the bottom does not burn.
  4. Add remaining ingredients. Then stir in the cheese, Greek yogurt (or sour cream), and crispy bacon bits. Taste and season the soup with salt and pepper.
  5. Serve warm. Then serve it up, loaded up with all of your favorite toppings!

Homemade Potato Soup with Bacon and Cheddar

Possible Variations:

Guys, there are so many ways to customize this soup! Some possibilities could include:

  • Make it vegetarian: Nix the bacon. And in its place, add in 2-3 teaspoons Cajun seasoning for a bit of extra flavor. (Plus, use butter or olive oil in place of the bacon grease.)
  • Make it gluten-free: You could either:
    • omit the flour, and instead, whisk a tablespoon of cornstarch into the cold milk and then add it to the soup
    • don’t worry about cornstarch/flour at all, and instead, puree half of the soup to thicken it
  • Lighten it up: Feel free to:
    • omit the flour and 2 tablespoons of grease/butter, and instead, puree half of the soup to thicken it
    • use skim milk
    • use turkey bacon (although you may need to add in a little extra olive oil or butter to sauté the veggies)
  • Add in extra seasoning: If you would like to give your soup an extra twist, feel free to add in 1 tablespoon:
  • Use a mix of potatoes: For something different, feel free to use a mix of Yukon gold potatoes and sweet potatoes, for more of a sweet and savory blend of flavors
  • Add in some extra veggies: If you’d like to load this up with extra veggies, feel free to toss in a handful of chopped cauliflower and/or broccoli along with the potatoes. They work well with this recipe too!

Loaded Homemade Potato Soup Recipe

What To Serve With Potato Soup:

Looking for some side dishes to serve with this potato soup recipe? Here are a few of my faves:

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The BEST Potato Soup Recipe

The BEST Potato Soup!

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 591 reviews
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 6 -8 servings 1x

Description

This easy Potato Soup recipe is quick and easy to make on the stovetop, it’s nice and creamy (without using heavy cream), and it’s always so cozy and comforting and delicious.  See notes above for possible variations, including how to make this soup vegetarian.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 5 slices bacon, diced
  • 3 tablespoons (reserved) bacon grease or butter
  • 1 cup diced white or yellow onion
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
  • 2 cups milk, warmed
  • 1.5 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, diced
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon sea 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. Heat a large stockpot over medium-high heat.  Add diced bacon and cook until crispy, stirring occasionally.  Transfer the bacon to a separate plate, using a slotted spoon, reserving about 3 tablespoons of bacon grease in the stockpot.  (Discard any extra grease, or you can substitute butter in place of the 3 tablespoons of bacon grease.  Also, if you are short on time, you can dice the potatoes and onion while the bacon cooks to save time.)
  2. Add onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft.  Stir in the garlic and sauté for an extra 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.  Stir the flour into the mixture and sauté for an additional 1 minute to cook the flour, stirring occasionally.  Then stir in the stock until combined, followed by the milk and potatoes.
  3. Continue cooking until the mixture just reaches a simmer, before it begins to boil.  Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft, being sure to stir the soup every few minutes so that the bottom does not burn.  (The smaller you dice your potatoes, the faster your soup will cook.)
  4. Once the potatoes are nice and soft, stir in the cheddar cheese and Greek yogurt (or sour cream), salt, pepper and cooked bacon bits.  Taste and season with extra salt and pepper, if needed.
  5. Serve warm, garnished with desired toppings.  Or, transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Notes

  • Be sure to also check out our Slow Cooker Potato Soup recipe too — made easy in the crock pot!
  • This recipe was originally shared here in December 2014.

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The BEST Potato Soup Recipe from Gimme Some Oven

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1,351 comments on “Potato Soup”

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  1. This gives recipe gives the entire ingredients of what you need to make you the potato soup king/queen of the world. Put that bacon grease in there with garlic and butter to make the rue.. slowly brown it while stirring.. then add the flour, stir.. add stock and milk to prepare the diced potatoes… level out the mixture towards the end with milk to get the consistency right. Don’t forget salt, pepper, and cheese just like they say.. MmMmmMmm!






  2. A very good soup, easy to make. Thank you!






    • This recipe is off. It calls for 2 cups of chicken broth. The result was way too thick, reminiscent of fondue or nacho cheese. While it was edible, IT WAS NOT SOUP.

      I finally salvaged it by adding a full cup of extra chicken broth and it tasted okay.

      You need to recalibrate this. It doesn’t work as directed.

      I am not some amateur. I have been cooking for 50 years.






  3. Never made a potato soup before, but this recipe now has me hooked. It was like a loaded baked potato in a soup. Excellent.






  4. Great recipe, I used celery salt instead of regular salt and added heavy cream, added my bacon bits to each serving instead because my Mom has high blood pressure.






  5. Followed the recipe exactly and it came out beautifully. Probably the best soup I’ve ever eaten. Can’t wait to have it again!






  6. Delicious!!perfect every time.






  7. Very good soup.

  8. WOW! This soup is amazing! I’ve made a few of your soup recipes, and I’m so impressed with all of them. You make the recipes so easy to follow, and they always come out perfect. Thank you so much for creating and sharing!






  9. Haven’t made this yet, but sounds like all the things that my Mom’s Potato Soup had in it. As soon as I get to the store for recipes adhoc ask for.

  10. I rarely find a recipe that calls for ingredients that are already in my pantry! It was so nice to not have to make an extra stop for that one thing I forgot at the store. AND it’s delicious!!

  11. I loved this! I cut out the flour, cut the dairy down by half (didn’t add any sour cream or cheese while cooking, but did it when I served it (a dollop of sour cream in each bowl and about 2T of fresh grated cheddar). I used veg broth and added a large bunch of brocolini at the end of the cooking process and lightly puréed to a lightly chunky texture. I topped with the aforementioned sour cream and cheese, as well as green onions from my garden, the bacon and a healthy dash of my fav local hot sauce… we all loved it, even the baby! :)






  12. Wow this was delicious and my 2 picky eaters loved it. My husband said it was up there with Schlotzky’s potato soup ?. I followed the recipe exactly except I had to double it for my guys plus I added 1/2 cup of celery to saute with the onion. I’ve tried a lot of potato soup recipes but this is the best and I had all the ingredients on hand. I will definitely make this again. Thanks for sharing with us!






  13. I make life easier on myself by using the plain diced hashed brown potatoes from the freezer section. That way they’re the same size and cook up faster. Delicious!






  14. Can I get the nutritional information of this?






  15. Love this recipe! I make it all the time; its easy, delicious, cheap. And all ingredients I have on hand all the time.






  16. So easy to make and very delish !! My go to potato soup recipe now !!






  17. Made it and loved!






  18. This is a GREAT recipe!! I made it gluten and dairy free.

    I did tweak it a little bit too. I used a bone broth I made for the 4 cups chicken broth.

    My bone broth was made with a grass-fed organic chicken, a few grass-fed organic chicken livers (with some blood) for Vitamin A, about 4-5 fresh organic carrots, 4-5 stalks of fresh organic celery, a medium size organic yellow onion, some fresh organic rosemary and fresh organic thyme.

    I used non-GMO unsweetened almond milk for the milk and non-GMO almond/coconut milk for the heavy cream. I used millet instead of flour.

    I sautéed the onion in the butter. Then I stirred in the millet in until it was thickened. Then I added the chicken broth, heavy cream and milk and let it mingle a little. THEN I added the potatoes. I put a dash or two of organic chili powder. I didn’t add garlic because my kids would herx on it too bad. I did however tell them when we have leftovers I might let them add garlic powder on their plate.

    We couldn’t add sour cream or yogurt because I didn’t have any dairy free sour cream on hand. We didn’t even add the bacon because I didn’t have any on hand.

    Both kids LOVE it. And my kids are really picky. They both said it tasted AMAZING.

    Thanks SO MUCH for sharing.

  19. Delish and simply quick to make! I will keep this recipe!






  20. Delicious! I cooked the potatoes on my quick pot for 6 minutes and after draining the water left added to my soup, 15 minutes later everything came together. Definitely will be making again.






  21. This recipe is delicious! I’ve made it three times in two weeks! We all love it!

  22. Sounds yummy, I’m trying it tonight. I will shred some carrots snd out some cauliflower in it too for vegetables.

  23. Fantastic!






  24. Best potato soup I’ve ever eaten. First time I’ve ever made potato soup. Turned out perfect. This recipe is a keeper. Will try flavor variations, too, as suggested by you and those who commented with their ideas! Thank you so much.






  25. Soooooo delicious. Your not playing about the cajun seasoning. It really takes the soup up a notch. I also blend half the potatoes and add them back into the soup for more potatoe flavor. This recipe is a must during a cold winter’s night!!!






  26. Made this tonight. Wonderful! I used ALL of the bacon grease; included a 1/2 cup of celery; used almond milk instead of regular; and the recommendation of Cajun season was ON POINT! Also used a little more chicken stock than the recipe called for. A new fave!!

  27. Absolutely amazing. I did add 2 additional cups of chicken broth and 1 cup heavy cream, used chopped Black Forest ham in lieu of bacon. The onions and ham were sautéed in bacon grease. The taste of this simple dish is wonderful.






  28. So yummy! I recently discovered that I have a gluten sensitivity and was curious if I could use corn starch as a thickener instead of making the roux?






  29. This was delicious! I added 1 lb of sausage because my husband always wants meat, but it turned out amazing! I left my diced potatoes a bit larger so it did take a little longer, but we prefer some potatoes to stay chunky. We will definitely make this again!






  30. This was delicious and so easy to make. I have mobility issues that limit how long I am able to stand so the ease of this recipe was refreshing. The results were amazing and my wife insists that it is the best potato soup she has ever had and I agree. I give full credit to the recipe and it creator. Thanks and I look forward to trying as many more as I can.






  31. when you drain the salted potatoes reserve the “vegetable broth” and use it instead of purchasing broth

  32. Very easy recipe. I used left over ham instead of bacon and left out the sour cream. It was very good.

  33. I just made this potato soup as written. Didn’t change anything and it did not disappoint. So creamy and delicious. I will make this recipe often.






  34. I love this recipe but I was wondering have you ever subbed out the cheddar cheese for Nutritional yeast? If so how much would you add and when would you add it to the recipe?

  35. Made rhis tonight. I didnt use bacon so used butter and olive oil equivalent. I also added broccoli and creamed corn. I even added some left over rotisserie chicken from the night before. My husband loved it and wants it in every Monday night. ?






  36. Finally, finallyyyy I’ve found the perfect potato soup recipe. I made this last night and it’s amazing. Thank you!






  37. Absolutely delicious! Only thing I changed out was sprinkling the bacon on top instead of mixing into the soup.
    Cudos!

  38. I like this recipe but it took *way* longer than 15 minutes for the potatoes to get tender. Like 30-45 min. I would suggest boiling them on their own before adding to the soup, or noting in the recipe that it will take longer if you don’t want crunchy potatoes.






  39. Best potato soup I’ve ever tasted. My husband said next time I should make it less filling so he could eat twice as much! He kids…it is perfect as instructed. Thank you for posting!

  40. So good tastes like restaurant baked potato soup






  41. I’ve made this soup 3 times and people LOVE it as much as I do! What a treat. Made some over quarantine and dropped it on friends’ door steps – they were SOOOOO Happy. Thank you for a super recipe!

  42. A little bland, I should have added some pulverized cauliflower to give it flavor.






  43. Next week I will use suggested ingredients. It was fabulous with substituted mozzarella shredded topping and a combo of milk and chicken stock. Lots of thyme and basil with small red potatoes. Extra black pepper. Want to try paprika. And another time, Cajun spices.






  44. Can I use evaporated milk instead of regular milk?

    • Sure. Use as much or as little as you want until your soup is the consistency and color are what you desire. That’s all I ever use as it doesn’t separate the way regular milk, cream etc. has a tendency to do. I also heat/melt the cheeses in the microwave in the soup bowl I intend to use so I don’t have to be concerned with separation during re-reheat. I make enough soup for a couple of days and I don’t want to have to stand guard over the stove attempting to reheat it.
      Best wishes!

    • Look at the crockpot version – she uses evaporated milk in that one, if I remember correctly. :)

  45. I’ve made this now a few times and it’s so delicious!






  46. Nothing like a half inch of floating bacon grease/butter on top of the soup. Yum yum. Too bad it gave all my guests tummy aches.






  47. I have always made mine the same way! So delicious! Great you have a vegetarian recipe also for this soup!






  48. Fantastic!!!






  49. Quick question, how do I stop myself from eating the entire pan?






  50. Very yummy. Im looking for the nutritional values, cant seem to locate. Can I get that?