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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. 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.

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 266 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.

 

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

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1,136 comments on “Slow Cooker Potato Soup”

  1. This soup turned out wonderfully! Make sure you get the Yukon Gold potatoes, they have a buttery flavor and great texture.






    • This is my favorite all time potaoe recipethank you for putting it out there! I add italian meatballs to it and everyone raves. My fiance doesnt care for potatoe soup but so loves this!






  2. I use Potato flakes to thicken my potato soup. Works great, just be sure to add a little at a time as the flakes do not absorb liquid quickly. If you’ve add to much just add a little liquid to get consistency you want. By using the flakes you still keep the potato flavor.






  3. Very good thanks for sharing.

  4. Turned out great! I followed all directions except I used Idaho potaotos. I didn’t mix the bacon in at the beginning, just used it as a topping since we like it crunchy, Also added cheese as a topping, not mixed in. Third time trying to make potato soup n this turned out perfect. Thank you so much!

  5. Made this today..hubby and daughter enjoyed. I did use russet potatoes as I had them on hand and no onion because they are evil in my opinion. Very easy and perfect on this very rainy, cold Florida day!






  6. This was honestly the best homemade potato bacon soup ever!
    Seriously husband gobbled it down and told me to make it again, even my two year old picky eater ate it.
    Thanks for the amazing recipe!






  7. Hands down BEST soup recipe ever, easy to follow recipe as well.
    The entire crockpot was gone in less than 24hours.






  8. This soup freezes fine. And it tastes great, both freshly made and thawed/reheated!






  9. Initially this wasn’t my first recipe choice as I am not big into soups or potatoes but I had some potatoes that I wanted to use up and I happened to have every ingredient in this recipe so I made this earlier today. It was fairly easy to make and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted. I can’t wait for my potato loving kid to get home from work and try it.






  10. I’ve made this twice now. Outstanding! So easy to make.






  11. I have this in the crockpot now and it smells so good. I’m sure it will be delicious. Thanks for sharing.

  12. I’m my goodness! What a fabulous soup! It was a hit with my family on a cold day in February. Thank you!

  13. I made it in my instapot in less than 1 hour! My done and husband said it was, hands down, the best potato soup they’ve ever eaten.

  14. ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS GREAT Love it






  15. I cook for an elderly woman and I leave her home before dinner time rolls around, so I need to have her meals ready to “heat + eat”. Can I add the roux halfway into cooking time without it seperating ? Thank you….Annie

  16. This is a delicious recipe that I made as written. The amount of roux was perfect, and using the bacon grease to make it enhanced the soup flavor. I used my immersion blender, but left plenty of whole potato chunks as well. The texture was perfect.






  17. This is a delicious recipe that I made as written. The amount of roux is perfect, and using bacon grease to make it enhances the soup flavor. I used my immersion blender, but left plenty of potato chunks as well. The texture was perfect.






  18. I did not need the evaporated milk. I just made a roux with flour and butter and poured that into the crockpot and added a little heavy cream and it thickened up just as well. I only used a touch of sour cream as well. It came out good. I added cloves of garlic while it cooked too






  19. Hi from Western Australia. I love this recipe! So easy to make. I made a gluten free version by substituting the flour for gluten free all purpose flour. Didn’t have any sharp cheddar so I used Colby. Turned out absolutely delicious and no one could tell that it was gluten free. Thank you.






  20. This was so delicious ! I was nervous it wouldn’t come out as good and I have never used evaporated milk. I used turkey bacon instead of regular to cut the fat . If tased so decadent ! Hard to believe no heavy cream . I am printing it to save as a regular soup! I bet you could add more to it like green chilies or corn or even okra. Also I used scallions instead of onions .






  21. Very easy to make and very delicious!! My family loved it. Thank you for sharing your recipe. ❤️






  22. This first time I made this was back in August 2017. Have made it many times since then.






  23. Turned out beautifully! Family loved it. We used Greek yogurt vs sour cream. Also used nonfat evaporated milk, but used butter still for some body to the soup. Yummy!






  24. Love potato soup and this recipe by far and away is the best I have ever tasted, hands down. Made a second batch just to freeze. My admiration and respect to the person that put this comfort food gem together.






  25. This soup is just the best. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I make this on a regular basis now. I double it to feed my family of 7 (two crock pots!) and there are rarely any leftovers.






  26. Hi, I made this soup today. It’s a good recipe. I am not fond of using low fat anything or yogurt but with regular sour cream and good sharp cheddar it was an excellent soup on this chilly day. I had two leeks to get rid of, so after pouring off the recommended bacon fat, I sauteed the thinly sliced leeks. As one commenter said, this soup is a great starting recipe for your personal tastes. Hatch chilies and extra cheese would be killer. I agree.

  27. I found this recipe awhile ago. It is now a family favorite. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good hearty soup! Love this recipe.






  28. Made this and I will never go back to making potato soup on the stove again. Very delicious.






    • I’m 14 and love to cook I cooked this for my family since its cold out. It isn’t done yet but it smells delicious. I bet it taste as good as it smells.






  29. This is so easy and delicious. So thankful for this recipe. I can provide a meal for several people without a ton of work. I’ve made this soup many times to share with friends, family and neighbors. Thank you






  30. Absolutely delicious, though I replaced the evaporated milk with normal whole milk as I find evaporated milk too sweet for this kind of recipe.
    I used this recipe to try out my new slow cooker and was very happy with the results. This soup is just the thing for miserable winter days.






  31. This recipe was ridiculous! We also added steamed broccoli as a topping and drizzled A1 sauce on our 2nd bowl. I love this recipe and it goes great with a sourdough loaf and blue cheese and bacon wedge salad.






  32. I love this recipe! I’ve made it several times in the past few weeks, both in my slow cooker and on my stovetop. It’s a keeper. I keep extra chicken stock on hand to add when I reheat it.






  33. Best potato soup ever!






  34. This potatoe soup was delicious! Would make it again. I really enjoyed it!






  35. Excellent———I had some left over so next day I added cauliflower and cheese and it was fabulous. This is a great recipe.






  36. Just made this soup and it was delicious. Thanks for sharing. This one is a keeper. Cheers and Happy New Year

  37. Made this yesterday, it was soooooo good. The only thing I changed was instead of mashing to thicken, I slowly added some loaded bake potatoes instant flakes until thickened to my taste. Oh so good.






  38. My family just loves this soup & so easy to make. We serve with some crunchy or toasted bread of some sort or even garlic cheese bread…….. Yum!!!! Sometimes through in veggies too. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us all!!!






  39. Made this today. I used the bacon grease instead of the butter. It came out great. Very easy to make.






  40. I just made this and it tastes wonderful! The whole family loves it. Thank you

  41. Going to give this a try!

  42. Best recipe I have found. The family loved it.






  43. Going to try looks awesome for a after church dish

  44. Can you use cauliflower instead of potatoes?

  45. This was an easy 5 stars to give. I made this recipe, and was not disappointed in the least! My whole family loved it (which consists of me, my husband, and our 1-year-old). My baby has been a picky eater lately, but he was ready to dive in! I put in 3 pounds of potatoes instead of 2, and used a hand blender to blend half of them for a SUPER thick soup. It was divine. I loved that it was thicker, like a chowder. It is hands down something I will make again. Thank you, GSO!






  46. A hit and I even made without the bacon! Didn’t have evaporated milk so substituted 9 oz milk and 3 oz half n half. Added tabasco to ny bowl. Very good and easy…will definitely make again






  47. This was super easy to make with delish flavor! I added carrots, garlic, and red bell pepper for more texture! Also through in a Bay Leaf! Thanks for the recipe!






  48. Delicious!! I already had cooked bacon in the fridge so I made the roux with butter. I also added in a lot of garlic at the beginning with potatoes & onion. The last hour of cooking in the Crock-Pot, I added in lots of thyme, basil, powdered rosemary, white pepper, a little salt, and a Montreal steak spice (includes salt, black pepper, red pepper, garlic, fill and paprika). I didn’t have any evaporated milk but I used a mix of heavy cream and buttermilk for the roux, it turned out perfectly. I also topped it off with white cheddar cheese (add your own). Garlic bread on the side, delicious!! Totally making it again.






  49. Loved this Potato soup! Super easy and so delicious! I followed this recipe to the exact and my family and I loved the outcome!






  50. Amazinggg recipe it’s perfect. ( I used unsweetened almond milk instead of 2%)