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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”

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  1. It looks amazing! This potato soup goes a long way for meals and is so so so good! Plus, nothing beats a slow cooker meal that is just perfection :)

  2. This is the best recipe you have ever posted. And bacon is the way to any man or woman heart. I’m in love with this soup and am going to get my mom, I mean…my wife…..I mean myself right on it! That cheese, bacon and chive on top, oh yeah coach, put me in, I’m ready to play. 

    • That’s such a nice compliment, thank you Tom! We’re thrilled that you love this soup! :D

  3. Of course I’m going to go big and doctor it up! Cheese and sautéed mushrooms are on my list. Slow cooker is the way to go.

  4. This looks so perfect and creamy :) I’ve been obsessed with slow-cooker recipes, so can’t wait to add this potato soup to the list!

  5. Great idea to mash up half of the potatoes to thicken it up!  I also have found (if you are REALLY short on time) that frozen hashbrowns work great to use in potato soup.  SUPER lazy, but good for short on time!  I also add a mixture of sour cream, egg yolk, and parsley to my soup in addition to the roux.  Thanks for sharing!  You always have great recipes and beautiful pictures!

    • Thanks for your sweet words Carrie! We think your roux sounds amazing, and that’s good to know about the frozen hash browns! :D We hope you enjoy this!

  6. This is perfect timing bc my parents are coming this Thursday and staying through Christmas.  I have never made potato soup and my mom loves it.  I’ll surprise her with this easy one.  Thanks!

  7. Do you think I could substitute 1 cup of the chicken stock with a nice ale to make a beer cheddar soup? 

  8. I am obsessed with my slow cooker lately. And I love that all these ingredients I have on hand right now! AKA totally making this later in the week. I can’t wait!

  9. Another crazy busy day CHRISTMAS IZING, left overs for 3(WHAT!)DAYS!, got 500pounds of fudge, bark and truffles to make, but…. Also have 10 pounds of potatoes, so… Am going to make your crockpot potato soup!! YEAH! love potato soup, haven’t adapted or even thought to adapt my recipe for potato soup to the crockpot, so THANK YOU! AM ALL OVER YOUR SOUP! HAPPIEST OF HOLIDAYS! 

    • Wow, that’s a LOT, good luck with everything! We hope you enjoy the potato soup, and happy holidays to you as well! :)

  10. Oh my, that’s a nice soup. I’m totally making it in my pressure cooker. 

  11. Hi Hayley, this potato soup is making me so hungry and I’ve already eaten dinner!  I recently upgraded our crock pot and have been having tons of fun and using it almost Every day. The rains have finally begun here in Nor California, boy we need it!  Your potato sounds like just the ticket to add to our warm comfort food repertoire.  The health coach in me is going to find even more ways to lighten it up (turkey bacon anyone?). Thank you for figuring out how to make a creamy crock pot version of your tasty soup!  ??hugs and cheers, Bita

    • Hi Bita! This is actually Ali’s recipe (all of the recipes on the blog are), I just work with Ali. :) But we’re so happy to hear you are into the soup – we hope you love it – stay dry! :)

  12. You had me at potato, then pulled me in at soup. This looks divine!

  13. Just made this tonight! DELISH! Added in some carrots because I had some on hand, and served it up with a loaf of toasted crusty bread! YUM! YUM! YUM!

  14. How many people will this soup feed

  15. Love these recipesI only cook for   2 how do I cut down on ingedients to still come out right? And I wish you had a place where I could save these recipes,Also do you have e a cook book with your recipes?

    • Hi Sylvia, we would just recommend cutting the recipe in half and using a smaller slow cooker. Unfortunately there’s no book at the moment, but stay tuned! :) We hope you enjoy the soup!

  16. I made this tonight and both of my children ate two bowls AND my husband declared the recipe a keeper. It’s so good and so rich and perfect for the rainy week we’re having. I would recommend serving it with a salad, as it’s quite hearty!

  17. Thanks for this yummy potato soup recipe! I am an American expat in South Korea. We don’t have those scrumptious Yukon gold potatoes you mentioned, but I think the small, tender spuds we have in S.K. will be good.  I am whipping this up for Christmas eve (tonight). I decided to add a bay leaf for part of the cooking, as well as small amounts of thyme and crushed red pepper.  I made my own chicken stock last night, so that’s the base. Lots of other goodies to complement the meal, too.  Happy holidays and happy cooking :)

    • You’re very welcome Pam, we hope you enjoyed this and that you had a wonderful Christmas (isn’t homemade stock the best?!) :)

  18. This looks like a wonderful recipe to put together for a post-snowshoeing meal.  Adding in a few shrimps at the end would take it over the top!

    • Thanks Jill, we hope you love it and we think shrimp would be a wonderful addition! :)

  19. Hi! Thank you for the recipe! Id like to try it sometime soon. Can you please explain what “milk mixture” you are talking about in #3 section? I only see evaporated milk which was added earlier/ Thanks! ” Immediately pour the milk mixture into the slow cooker with the potatoes, and stir until combined.”

    • You’re welcome Eugenia! So for step 3, the milk mixture is just what you made in step 2. :) We hope you enjoy!

  20. Great recipe, but there is a way to cut out the stovetop step. I am 64 years old, and my mom and grams fixed great potato soup by cooking the potatoes really really low overnight, or sat them on the back of the wood stove. So, being the lazy person I am, I decided to do it in the crockpot (about 40 years ago), which had one heat – high…for 8 to 10 hours works, and cooks enough of the potatoes down to thicken it well. Could also use instant potatoes to thicken, without adding the extra calories.

  21. Thank you for this recipe!  We just made this and it was a huge hit with the whole family!

  22. The soup is amazing.  I loved it.  Tasted great on a cold day in Michigan.  I also added a carrot and some celery.  Will make it 
    again!

  23. I use instant potatoes to thicken my Potatoe Soup. Would it work here?

    • We honestly haven’t tried that ourselves Marie, but if you’ve tried it before and had good results, we say go for it! :D

  24. To me, potatoe soup is sooo the best Soup.. such a comfort zone … not even chicken noodles comes close… Love It .. tytyty

  25. Just got the stuff to try this tomorrow night. Looks delish

  26. Can I use milk instead of evaporated milk?

  27. If you cook the potatoes etc in water, you can just add cream of chicken in the last hour of cooking time. I also have used cream of mushroom. I add milk and velveta for a perfect cheesy addition. Yummy!

  28. WOW!!!!! So GOOD. So EASY! I am a Fan. Thank you!!!!! :)

  29. I fixed this soup today. Oh my, it is so good! My husband and mother in law  loved it also. I will be making this again and again. The recipe was easy to follow and came out perfect!

  30. I had this on low for 8 hours, potatoes were still not soft, rather crunchy hard actually. I recommend putting your cooker on high, or par cooking your potatoes first. Other than that, the over all flavor was good.

  31. This recipe is so amazing! It’s pretty fantastic the flavour the potatoes absorb from cooking in onions, bacon and stock for 6 hours. 
    I kinda screwed up when halving the recipe and ended up with a much greater potato to liquid ratio. So I ended up with mashed potatoes. But the most AMAZING mashed potatoes. Keeping this forever and I’m never going back to normal mashed potatoes ever again. 

    I’m excited to make the full unedited recipe next time for the true potato soup experience! But wow those mashed potatoes…amazing.

    Thank you for the recipe!! (bookmarked forever <3 )

    • Thanks for your sweet words Campbell, we’re so happy you’re a fan! We’re glad you were able to make some awesome mashed potatoes out of it too! :)

  32. This is an awesome recipe. I left out the yogurt, only because I didn’t have any of it or sour cream and it was still good. Will definitely make this again.

  33. Can I use chicken broth, instead of stock? 

  34. This potato soup recipe sounds heavenly!  I love potato soup, but no one else in my household will eat it.  I was wondering how well it will freeze?  Thanks

    • Thanks Kathy! Unfortunately this soup is not ideal for freezing, due to the high amount of dairy it has. Freezing will likely cause it to separate.

  35. Made this today in my 7 quart crock pot. I used 3 heaping tablespoons of low sodium chicken base powder with three cups and water and added a little celery that I had left in the fridge. It took only 6 hours on low to cook before it was ready. Very yummy and thick. No need to mash the potatoes here. At the end I used sour cream and topped with green onions, bacon and more low fat old fort cheddar cheese.

    If I was to do this recipe again with my 7 quart crockpot, I would double the recipe, use a little less flour and cook for 8 to 10 hours. May even experiment with a small batch with free evaporated milk or 2% milk instead and use use chives.

    Thanks for sharing this wonderful wintertime soup :)

  36. Hi. Is it possible to take a few articles to my website?Of course the link to your site I’ll leave .

    • Hi Ellen! Is this for a recipe roundup you’re doing on your blog? If so, I know Ali is fine with that, as long as you attribute proper content and image credit, and link back to her recipe on her blog.

  37. With St. Patty’s Day coming up, I’m thinking there will be leftover corned beef. Would that work as a substitute for the bacon? Maybe even some of the broth from cooking the corned beef…

  38. Made this for dinner tonight. Playing the waiting game for another 15 minutes and it will be ready! We added a little extra bacon (2 more slices) a little of the bacon grease to the soup for extra taste, and a little extra cheese. It smells and tastes delicious so far!

  39. The best potato soup recipe I have found on the internet yet! Going into the “Moore family archives”! Lol 

  40. hands down one of the best potato soups i’ve ever made!  so easy and super yummy.  i literally just got done making it and had to post how awesome it is!

  41. This was so amazing!! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! My husband is a picky eater and he loved it too!! 

  42. This looks so good, but I would like for it to be gluten free.   What type of flour do you recommend to use?
    Thank you so much!
    Cheryl Munday

    • Thanks Cheryl! We would suggest a gluten-free all purpose blend. You could also use cornstarch, but it won’t be the same amount (use 2 TBS + 2 tsp) for this recipe. We hope you enjoy!

  43. Can this recipe be made without sour cream or Greek yogurt?

  44. This sounds delicious. I plan to make it with diced chicken breast instead of bacon. Our church is having Lenten soup and salad programs and we have Muslim guests joining us. So bacon is out. Has anyone made potato soup with chicken? 

  45. This was so good!!!

  46. Can I make this soup and day ahead and reheat it in the crock pot? Thanks.

  47. Obsessed — thank you so much for sharing the recipe :) 

  48. This looks so delicious and creamy! Is there a way just to do this in a deep pan or stock pot, if you’re short on time? TIA!

  49. Thanks for the recipe!  Loved it!

  50. This recipe sounds really great and super easy to make a vegan version! I threw in some corn, garlic and thyme as well. Planning on using cashew milk for the roux as I’ve done for many of my gravy recipes before. Can’t wait for it to be finished!