Gimme Some Oven

Potato Soup

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

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:

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
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.

This post contains affiliate links.

The BEST Potato Soup Recipe from Gimme Some Oven

Share this Post

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

1,351 comments on “Potato Soup”

1 15 16 17 18 19 21
  1. OMG That is so cool, I can’t wait to try it out !!!!!!!






  2. Absolutely delicious!






  3. This soup is absolutely delicious!
    I microwaved my cut up potatoes for 10 minutes to cut down on cook time. Added some Mexican cheese along w/ sharp cheddar & couple splashes of hot sauce! Yum ? and of course any additions are your own preference!






  4. Yes! Absolutely the best potato soup EVER!






  5. Fantastic. I made this while snowed in and did not have sour cream or Greek yogurt, so used a mix of ricotta and goat cheese crumbles, and it turned out well! I also added a good spoonful of miso for an umami kick. The fresh thyme put such a nice note at the end!






  6. I did add a carrot and a celery stalk chopped small before adding onion. Best potato soup ever!






  7. Super easy and very good!!






  8. This has become one of my favorite recipes!






  9. I made this recipe today, delicious!!!!






  10. What are the nutrition facts for this recipe?

    • Same I totally made this thinking that the nutrition facts would absolutely be on here as I’m diabetic and they aren’t how sad!!

  11. Big hit with the neighbors

    Thank you!

  12. Everyone loves this! I made the vegetarian version with Cajun spices and it’s delicious.






  13. Made it today and love it! Used sour scream and couldn’t stop eating it






  14. This my fourth time making this soup and the 2nd time in the last 3 days!! Its so delicious I make it as is and it’s truly amazing. I love it and you will too!!






  15. Absolutely delicious! I made a vegetarian version of this using some of the recommended substitutions. My family loved it! I will definitely make this potato soup again.






  16. This is a great soup, that’s all I can say. I made it vegetarian-ized and it’s wonderful.






  17. Made several versions of potato soup and this was the best. Followed instructions x 2 because I had 4 cups home made chicken stock. Only thing is added 1 lonely leek from my fridge!!






  18. I used sour cream. Perfect.






  19. This was absolutely delicious! We now have a new solid recipe on our rotation. What I really appreciate about Allie’s recipes is how accurate and precise they are. Not to be negative, but in my experience, there are a lot of bad food bloggers out there. These recipes I trust because I’ve never had a negative experience with cooking or eating her wonderful food. Try this soup…you will love it!!






  20. Hello! I came across this recipe and wanted to try it but I’m Muslim and can’t use bacon. Turkey bacon isn’t easy to come across either. Can I substitute it with chicken instead?

    • I have used chicken and/or turkey. I have found though, both are not very strong if flavor, add a lot more poultry seasoning. Taste as you go along to get it flavorful.






    • Use liquid smoke – it works in place of the bacon and has no pork in it. I also use olive oil in place of butter. Works great!

  21. Wow, reminded me of my grandma’s potato soup. Sorry but I added corn to the recipe like grandma. I forgot the roux (flour) and the soup thickened up nicely without it. Very, very good soup. I will be making this again.






  22. Best potato soup I ever made. I recommend finishing it off with the sour cream because it adds a silkiness to the soup.






  23. I made potato soup a few times before this is my favorite recipe. I can appreciate that she goes into detail with what potatoes work best. Love it when there is a video. The measurements for the ingredients are a perfect combination. I added a little ‘better than bullion’ stock because her chicken stock looked darker than mine and I knew my would need a pinch more flavor because of that.






    • I’ve made this twice and I absolutely love it! One of my favorite recipes I’ve come across. I added celery and carrots for added flavor as well as garlic salt. Will definitely make again, my husband couldn’t stop eating it!






  24. This recipe is great, but I would say it’s more like 4 dinner servings instead of 6-8. Maybe it would be 6-8 small appetizer cups worth.






  25. I made this tonight and it was fantastic! Thanks for the nice easy recipe!






  26. Fast, delicious and a huge hit. Thank you! :)






  27. I had left over pork loin roast and potatoes (russets) so I decided to use to make this potato soup. It was so delicious, like what you would have ordered in a restaurant. I used whole milk and chicken stock. I’ll be making this again!






    • This has to be one of my all time favorite recipes. As long as you stick to the general structure of the recipe you can’t go wrong. I made it tonight and added 2 celery stalks (diced) and 2 carrots (also diced) about 2 minutes before I added in the onions, and used oat milk instead of regular milk (substitution courtesy of lactose intolerance, yay). I also used a potato masher and smashed the cooked potatoes until everything was about 1/2 to 3/4 mashed. But, regardless of how you make it, this recipe is made of joy and happiness. Go cook, eat, and be merry.






  28. I’m a crap cook. Tried this recipe. BRILLIANT. If l can make this delicious soup, anyone can. Give it a go!






  29. I added minced celery and carrot but otherwise, made the recipe as written. It was fabulous! New fave!






  30. I made this vegetarian, doubled the recipe and I did use half and half instead of milk to add a little more richness since I omitted the bacon. I also added 2 cups of finely chopped fresh broccoli, and used way more garlic, not because this recipe didn’t call for enough, but because we are insane garlic lovers and I triple or quadruple it in any recipe. It was a huge hit. Very delicious and the leftovers over a couple of days were nice to have alongside salads. I don’t usually eat a ton of dairy in one dish but this was very balanced flavor wise and didn’t give me that too much dairy icky feeling I get with some meals, like alfredo for example lol This brought me back to one of my favorite childhood meals at one of my family’s favorite restaurants, I loved to get a cup of loaded baked potato soup and the side salad. It was a wing place and this was well before boneless wings existed, and I just hated eating meat on the bone and getting my hands messy. (It’s not a surprise to anyone I’m a vegetarian now, haha.)






  31. It’s rare I find a recipe I love on first try, but this was one of them. I made it vegetarian style (switching the bacon for Cajun spice-mix), used sour cream in place of yogurt and nixing the cheese (as that ingredient is prohibitively expensive where I live). But the end result were delightful, and everyone went for second helpings! What I feared would be a slightly boring version of potato soup were delightful! A new staple in my home :)






  32. I make this soup 5 times. My family loved.






  33. Delicious!!!I have made this a couple of times now per family’s request! Thank you for sharing!






  34. Used sour cream and bacon, and added corn. Delicious. Everyone loved it.






  35. Wonderful recipe! I added a can of cheddar cheese soup.
    Thank you for sharing

  36. used purple potatoes and added some chopped celery & sweet corn to the recipe. garnished with fresh black pepper, bacon bits, crispy garlic chips, and green onions. amazing and i don’t even care that it’s 90°+ in july






  37. Excellent potato soup!






  38. It’s good but I think what I did wrong was add yogurt instead of sour cream. The yogurt dulled down the flavor so it was actually more flavorful before I added it in. Next time I will not add the yogurt. Made me sad because of how good it was before I added the yogurt in.

  39. I can’t find where it says how many potatoes, how much bacon, the details regarding ingredients?

  40. I make this in late summer with fresh red potatoes green beans and peas.

  41. Omg! This is the best potato soup I’ve ever made. I substituted cream cheese for the sour cream though. Thank you so much. So yummy!






  42. This is delicious! But im wondering about nutrition information. Do you have that?

  43. Delicious! My husband loved it, he said “this is the best potato soup I’ve ever tasted!” I agree, and it tasted rich and was filling, I’m defiinitely sharing this recipe with friends!






  44. Wonderful and delicious comfort food on a cold evening !






  45. I have made this twice in the last week. I had to share so I wouldn’t eat it all myself. It was wonderful without the extra toppings for me. I have made with russet potatoes and gold potatoes. Both were excellent! I only had 1 tablespoon of bacon grease so I used that and two tablespoons of Kerry gold butter.

  46. Very similar to the potatoe soup my mom (now 94 yo)used to make. Love it!!! I think making the rue with bacon grease is the secret.🤫 The cheese adds a whole extra flavor. TYvm.






  47. This recipe is always a winner in our house!






  48. Sooo yummy. Trying to watch caloric intake so I didn’t do the bacon or bacon fat. I used a stick of butter Lol
    This was my first time doing it like this. My 6 kids had 3rds and 4ths. Full bowls too. I didn’t expect them to like it that much. Usually we use bear creek soup mix. I’ll never use one again. This was so much easier and way healthier. Thank for such a great soup recipe!






    • Watch how much flour or you’ll make it to thick. Don’t get mad or complain about the amount of flour. Just add more milk, broth or water and reseason to taste

  49. I used sour cream and the Cajun seasoning version. Was a big hit! I don’t eat bacon, so I used butter instead of bacon grease, and then left the bacon on the side for the boys to put in their soup. Topped with green onions and more shredded cheese. 10/10 will make again!






  50. I read a bunch of the comments and everyone seemed to like it. I used almond milk, butter, vegetable broth, and sour cream. I don’t know if it was the almond milk and veggie broth, but it had like zero flavor. :( Have have you made with these?

    • I used Oatmilk, Toney’s creole seasoning, lawrys, vegetable broth, and olive oil and it was amazing! Oatmilk is way thicker than almondmilk and perhaps that held all the seasonings because it was thick..

    • You need to increase the salt content, and do it much earlier than the recipe suggests. Many chicken broths have way more salt content and I have noticed that when you swap out chicken broth for a veggie broth, you need to increase the salt. And if you omitted the bacon, then you really need to increase the salt as the bacon adds a ton of flavor and salt.