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!!!
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).
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!
Slow Cooker Potato Soup
- 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
- 6 slices cooked bacon*, diced
- 3-4 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
- 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.)
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.
Made this soup today. It was very flavorful and delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
We’re happy to hear you enjoyed it, Tracy! :)
Made this soup last night. I’ve tried several different potato soup recipes and this one is by far the best. My husband LOVES it! Will be making this again.
Thanks, Chastity — we’re so happy you and your husband love this one! :)
I love soup. And I love to make soup. I consider myself a bit of an expert. But WOW! This stuff is fantastic! It is not only the best potato soup I have ever made, it is the best potato soup I have ever had! I used ham rather than bacon and cooked the onions and ham together before adding them to the slow cooker but other than that I followed the recipe. This will regularly appear on our table in the future.
Thanks for sharing with us, Cara — we’re so glad to hear you loved this! :)
Would adding in a couple carrots with the potatoes be ok?
Sure, we think that should be fine!
Not good at all. Very plain taste
We’re sorry you didn’t care for this, Dan — we hope you can find another recipe that you enjoy!
I made mine with red potatoes because that’s what I had on hand and oh.my.goodness. this soup makes me look like a French chef! I followed the recipe to a “T”, because it was a new recipe to me and that’s how I cook in general- and it turned out fantastic! It’s a great fix it and forget it meal as I woke up early before church and finished it up when I returned. I will say it was my first time making a roux and I started it with bacon grease so when it turned thick very quickly when adding milk to the flour I panicked and had to Google what a roux is supposed to look like. Thankfully, my roux was just fine and supposed to be thick. I added a good 3 teaspoons of salt to the crock pot soup and it goes lovely with a glass of white wine and buttered toast. Yes, I drink on Sundays! Hehe. Thank you Gimme some Oven!
Thanks for sharing with us, Sarah! We’re happy you enjoyed this and that it worked well with the red potatoes! :)
Hi! Love your blog and recipes. I know you recommend Yukon Gold potatoes, but red potatoes are all I have on hand and I can taste the soup already so want to get cookin’! Should I go ahead and cook red potatoes or save this recipe for another rainy day? Thank you!! Sarah
Thanks for your sweet words, Sarah! We think you’ll be fine to use the red potatoes. We hope you enjoy this — let us know how it turns out for you! :)
Hi Linda, just reading through your recipe comments a couple of questions were answered re: using heavy cream & leaving our pork products, suits me fine. What I don’t understand is why bother leaving out the heavy cream when there are other dairy products being added eg. 2% evaporated milk, low fat cheese & Greek yogurt or sour cream with more added at the end. Sounds a bit like the fat person going into McDonald’s & buying the double cheeseburger & a diet coke – why Bother?
Hi Leigh! We’re not sure who Linda is but Ali and I are happy to answer your question for you. We left out the heavy cream because it is just that…heavy. It adds more calories and fat content that we felt weren’t necessary here. Using low fat cheese, 2% evaporated milk, and Greek yogurt (a much healthier dairy product, especially if you use low fat or nonfat, like we do), also eliminate fat content and calories from this typically high-caloric, high fat dish.
I’m making this dish right now actually started it around 3 hours ago. I just wanted to know is the soup mixture supposed to look all loose, liquidy, water consistancy like? And will that change once I smash some of the potatoes and add the other ingredients?
Yep, the consistency will definitely change once you add the other ingredients (and mash the potatoes, if you’d like).
Hey I’m making you’re recipe today. It looks absolutely delicious. My question for you though is are there any other tyes of cheese’s you could use?
Awesome Amanda — we hope you love it! And sure, you could use any other cheese you like.