This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
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)!
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!!!
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).
Then toss everything in the slow cooker (<– this is the one I use) along with lots of good-quality chicken or vegetable stock. Set the timer for 3-4 hours (on high) or 6-8 hours (on low). Then walk away and let the slow cooker do its thing.
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.
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.)
And then…ta da! A big crock pot full of delicious, creamy Slow Cooker Potato Soup will be yours to enjoy!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.)
*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.
I just made this potato soup. It was GREAT! The only adjustments I made were to go with the 4 cups of stock. Did 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes. Went with regular sour cream because that’s what I had on hand and used 2 teaspoons of regular salt. Paired it up with some Hawaiian rolls and it was delicious and so filling. This will be a regular meal in my house.
I used a whole yellow onion, a half of a large can of cream of chicken, I used an entire carton of chicken stock and would definitely recommend adding ham or bacon to cook throughout, a sprinkle of corn, and definitely add the cheese and sour cream at the end with plenty of salt and pepper.
This is the absolute best soup by far…I have always been afraid to make a roux but uour directions are awesome and now I make this at least a few times a month
I just made this recipe and YUM!!!! So so super easy and quick to throw everything together. I left out the bacon. I will definitely make again. I am having a hard time not eating the whole thing 🤤
Easy and delicious! I did not have any bacon on hand so I used the recipe’s suggestion to add 2 teaspoons of old bay seasoning (which definitely has a kick to it!) in the beginning with my old Russet potatoes that were getting rubbery and slightly shriveled! I also added several slices of chopped up ham that another person had suggested. We love our soup thick so I only used the 3 cups of chicken broth, never needed the 4th cup. Full of flavor, didn’t even miss the bacon. Fantastic recipe, the can of evaporated milk with the butter + flour thickened the soup perfectly!! I made a loaf of homemade bread and dinner was delicious! Thank you for an easy, and flavorful recipe! Perfect way to use up potatoes that are starting to get old!
I have a problem with cooked bacon becoming rubbery when added to soup. Any suggestions?
Sandy —
To avoid bacon becoming rubbery in anything, cook it separately and add it in at the end to keep the crispiness. You can add bacon grease during cooking for that extra bacon flavor.
Haven’t actually sat down to eat because my partner is running late *eye roll*. BUT it’s already so delightful. Literally eating bites from the crockpot because I’m a monster. That’s what encouraged me to go ahead and write a review, though. I plan to finish the bowl off with some green onions and then a little bit of a smoked gouda. Fried crispy bacon would be 10/10 – just for the crunch. What can I say, I’m a texture gal! Anyway, will very likely make again. Curious to try with red potatoes as they are absolutely some of my favs.
This soup is amazing. I was afraid it would taste like evaporated milk, but nope! Definitely go with the bacon grease and the Yukon gold potatoes. I threw in some cooked corn when it was done, which was delicious. Next time I may try stirring in some crab once it’s cooked! 8 hours on low was perfect. Did not bother peeling the potatoes. A keeper!
I made this tonight and it’s a really delicious, flavorful soup. The potatoes were a bit hard to mash even after several hours in the crock pot, so once assembled and warmed it, I put most of it in the food processor to blend. That’s just personal preference.
I may make this one again, but would be open to suggestions to make it freeze-able. I may also boil potatoes a bit to make it easily mash-able. live alone and don’t know if I can finish all of this in a few days. Plus I like to have some on reserve for cold days.
Fantastic! This is so thick and creamy, it’s exactly what I was looking for. I made it close to the original recipe. I had extra raw potatoes, onions and carrots from a stew about a month ago and froze the veggies I didn’t use. I pulled that out of the freezer for this recipe and decided to leave the carrots in just because it all was frozen together. I followed the rest of the recipe to the letter using butter instead of bacon grease for the roux. I’ll make this again for sure (minus the carrots)! I did end up adding just a dash of hot sauce to my bowl of soup (because that’s how I roll) but it was already perfect the way it is written.
I took a risk making this for the first time for a large group of people. Huge hit!! The kids and adults loved it. Making it again tonight for me & hubby.
This tasted just like a loaded baked potato. I only had russet potatos. I used a cup and a half of whole milk because I didn’t have evaporated milk. I used an immersion blender and blended about half of the soup for a creamier consistency. Used some fresh scallions on top with some fresh italian bread on the side. OMG! So Good!
Wow this was soooooooooo good!! I did add more chicken stock but other than that, it was delish!! Not sure why I can’t freeze what is left over though?
Made this soup twice.Once with Yukon golden potatoes and once with red potatoes because I was lazy and didn’t want to shop just for Yukon potatoes..I won’t be that lazy again!! Soup with golden was delicious and with red it was good but I sure noticed the difference.
This was a big hit at my house
I just made this potato soup. It was GREAT! The only adjustments I made were to go with the 4 cups of stock. Did 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes. Went with regular sour cream because that’s what I had on hand and used 2 teaspoons of regular salt. Paired it up with some Hawaiian rolls and it was delicious and so filling. This will be a regular meal in my house.
I used a whole yellow onion, a half of a large can of cream of chicken, I used an entire carton of chicken stock and would definitely recommend adding ham or bacon to cook throughout, a sprinkle of corn, and definitely add the cheese and sour cream at the end with plenty of salt and pepper.
Wow! I added a bag of shredded cheese towards the end. It was so delicious!
Going to make that potato soup. Looks delicious.
My 12-year old is obsessed with this soup. She requests it often, including as her birthday meal!
This is the absolute best soup by far…I have always been afraid to make a roux but uour directions are awesome and now I make this at least a few times a month
I just made this recipe and YUM!!!! So so super easy and quick to throw everything together. I left out the bacon. I will definitely make again. I am having a hard time not eating the whole thing 🤤
Easy and delicious! I did not have any bacon on hand so I used the recipe’s suggestion to add 2 teaspoons of old bay seasoning (which definitely has a kick to it!) in the beginning with my old Russet potatoes that were getting rubbery and slightly shriveled! I also added several slices of chopped up ham that another person had suggested. We love our soup thick so I only used the 3 cups of chicken broth, never needed the 4th cup. Full of flavor, didn’t even miss the bacon. Fantastic recipe, the can of evaporated milk with the butter + flour thickened the soup perfectly!! I made a loaf of homemade bread and dinner was delicious! Thank you for an easy, and flavorful recipe! Perfect way to use up potatoes that are starting to get old!
Does anyone have the nutritional values for this recipe? Trying get the WW points figured out. Thanks!
Did you get an answer to this?
My go to recipe for years now!!! So delicious and I always get so many compliments!
Definitely a family favorite!!💞💞
I have a problem with cooked bacon becoming rubbery when added to soup. Any suggestions?
To avoid bacon becoming rubbery in anything, cook it separately and add it in at the end to keep the crispiness. You can add bacon grease during cooking for that extra bacon flavor.
Haven’t actually sat down to eat because my partner is running late *eye roll*. BUT it’s already so delightful. Literally eating bites from the crockpot because I’m a monster. That’s what encouraged me to go ahead and write a review, though. I plan to finish the bowl off with some green onions and then a little bit of a smoked gouda. Fried crispy bacon would be 10/10 – just for the crunch. What can I say, I’m a texture gal! Anyway, will very likely make again. Curious to try with red potatoes as they are absolutely some of my favs.
This soup is amazing. I was afraid it would taste like evaporated milk, but nope! Definitely go with the bacon grease and the Yukon gold potatoes. I threw in some cooked corn when it was done, which was delicious. Next time I may try stirring in some crab once it’s cooked! 8 hours on low was perfect. Did not bother peeling the potatoes. A keeper!
Yum! The family loves this!
I made your crockpot potato soup today 11/11/2022 and I would like to thank you for sharing your recipe!
It is delicious , we just love it so much.
Delicious, made the potato soup,left the skins on,tiny potatos
I made this tonight and it’s a really delicious, flavorful soup. The potatoes were a bit hard to mash even after several hours in the crock pot, so once assembled and warmed it, I put most of it in the food processor to blend. That’s just personal preference.
I may make this one again, but would be open to suggestions to make it freeze-able. I may also boil potatoes a bit to make it easily mash-able. live alone and don’t know if I can finish all of this in a few days. Plus I like to have some on reserve for cold days.
Fantastic! This is so thick and creamy, it’s exactly what I was looking for. I made it close to the original recipe. I had extra raw potatoes, onions and carrots from a stew about a month ago and froze the veggies I didn’t use. I pulled that out of the freezer for this recipe and decided to leave the carrots in just because it all was frozen together. I followed the rest of the recipe to the letter using butter instead of bacon grease for the roux. I’ll make this again for sure (minus the carrots)! I did end up adding just a dash of hot sauce to my bowl of soup (because that’s how I roll) but it was already perfect the way it is written.
Turned out perfect!!
what about substituting swiss for chedder
I took a risk making this for the first time for a large group of people. Huge hit!! The kids and adults loved it. Making it again tonight for me & hubby.
This tasted just like a loaded baked potato. I only had russet potatos. I used a cup and a half of whole milk because I didn’t have evaporated milk. I used an immersion blender and blended about half of the soup for a creamier consistency. Used some fresh scallions on top with some fresh italian bread on the side. OMG! So Good!
Wow this was soooooooooo good!! I did add more chicken stock but other than that, it was delish!! Not sure why I can’t freeze what is left over though?
Made this soup twice.Once with Yukon golden potatoes and once with red potatoes because I was lazy and didn’t want to shop just for Yukon potatoes..I won’t be that lazy again!! Soup with golden was delicious and with red it was good but I sure noticed the difference.