This easy creamy loaded Potato Soup recipe is so good! It’s loaded with hearty potatoes and savory, crunchy bacon in a creamy base made without using heavy cream. This quick, 30-minute recipe is a total comfort food that you’ll make over and over again.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
We love easy creamy soups all year long, like fresh Corn Chowder, Roasted Tomato Soup, Clam Chowder, and this baked Potato Soup, because they are simple to make and are hearty enough to serve as the main course, paired with crusty Sourdough or French Bread.
The Best Potato Soup Recipe
This creamy, homemade potato soup is one of our favorite restaurant copycat recipes. It’s so easy to make from scratch and beats any restaurant soup. The base is so filling that it’s like a delicious loaded baked potato with all your favorite toppings or Loaded Potato Casserole, but in soup form–yes, please!
You’ll love how we thicken this potato soup! Instead of using heavy cream, we make a roux (a mixture of butter, flour, broth, and milk). So it’s creamy without the extra calories in the cream.
Potato soup is perfect for meal prep since it keeps well in the fridge and freezer and can be saved in portion sizes for a quick and easy meal.
Ingredients for Potato Soup
The soup uses ingredients you most likely already have at home and can be made so quickly. Whip it up as a satisfying meal on a busy weeknight evening or serve it as a comforting weekend meal.
- Bacon – crumbled bacon is the traditional potato soap ingredient, but you can substitute cubed ham if desired.
- Potatoes – our favorite potatoes for soup are Russet or Idaho potatoes but Yukon gold potatoes also work well. NOTE: If you’re using Yukon potatoes, the skin may be left on.
- Vegetables – we only added onion and garlic, you can add cubed carrots and celery in step 3.
- Broth – a roux thickens the soup with butter, flour, broth, and milk. We add sour cream for a bit of acid and creaminess. Chicken broth or vegetable broth works fine here. For a Gluten Free potato soup, you can substitute flour with a 1:1 gluten-free flour.
- Cheese – Mild cheddar or sharp cheddar is great. Try to grate the cheese yourself, since pre-shredded cheese is coated to keep it from sticking, but shredded will work in a pinch.
Pro Tip:
For a spicy kick in the soup, add a 1/4 tsp (or to taste) of cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, smokey paprika, or chili powder.
How to Make Potato Soup
It’s simple to make this potato soup recipe for a weeknight meal or meal prep, but see our tip below for achieving the best consistency.
- Place potatoes in a pot, cover with water, season with salt, and cook until tender then drain.
- Saute bacon until crispy in a separate Dutch oven, remove and set aside, reserving 1 Tbsp bacon grease.
- Add onions and butter to the bacon grease and saute until soft. Add garlic, and cook for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Whisk in flour, milk, and broth until smooth. Bring the mixture to a soft boil.
- Add drained potatoes and season with salt and pepper.
- Stir in sour cream, cheese and bacon. Bring to a boil then remove from heat.
Pro Tip:
We like a chunky soup, but you can adjust the thickness by blending a portion or all of the soup. Before adding the bacon into the pot in step 6, use an immersion blender or scoop some of the hot soup into a blender and blend to get the creamy texture you prefer.
Toppings for Potato Soup
Serve this easy potato soup recipe with your favorite toppings! We like to make it a truly loaded soup, so here are some of my favorite options:
- Bacon bits
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream
- Diced avocado
- Cooked kernels of boiled corn
- Croutons
- Red pepper flakes
- Green onion or chives
What to Serve with Potato Soup
This hearty meal is thick and creamy and perfect for feeding a hungry family. To make it a more complete meal, try these side dishes that perfectly complement the warm soup:
- Crusty No-Knead Bread
- Soft Dinner Rolls
- Homemade Caeser Salad
- Garden Salad
- Carrott Apple and Walnut Salad
Loaded baked potato soup is comfort food at its finest. You’re going to love the combination of flavors in the soup. Every bite is loaded with creamy soup with chunks of potatoes, bacon, and cheese.
Storage
Loaded baked potato soup keeps well in the refrigerator and the freezer. Let the soap completely before storing.
- To Refrigerate: Store for up to 5 days in an airtight container
- Freezing: divide into portion sizes and freeze in freezer-safe containers for up to 6 months
- To Reheat: Thaw overnight in the fridge or reheat from frozen in a pot on the stove until heated through. You can slowly add more milk to get a creamier consistency.
More Easy Dinner Recipes You’ll Love
I love easy and quick but tasty meals for weeknight dinners, like this potato soup. Once you try this one, check out these other easy dinner ideas:
- Juicy Meatloaf
- Honey Garlic Chicken
- Monterey Chicken
- Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Cajun Chicken and Mushroom Pasta
- Taco Soup
- Pasta Primavera
- Egg Roll in a Bowl
Potato Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
- ½ tsp salt
- 8 oz bacon, bite-sized pieces
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ med onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour, or use Gluten Free 1:1 flour
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth, or vegetable broth
- 1 cup mild or sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- ¼ tsp pepper, or to taste
- green onions, to serve
Instructions
- Place sliced potatoes into a stockpot and completely cover with 1" of water. Season with ½ tsp salt and cook 8-10 minutes or until potatoes pierce easily with a knife then drain.
- Meanwhile, saute bacon in a Dutch oven until crispy and then transfer to a plate, reserving 1 Tbsp bacon grease in the pot.
- Add 4 Tbsp butter and chopped onions then saute until tender. Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Quickly whisk in the flour then slowly add 2 1/2 cups milk and 2 1/2 cups broth, whisking constantly. Bring the mixture to a soft boil.
- Add drained potatoes and season soup with 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper or season to taste.
- Stir in 3/4 cup sour cream, 1 cup shredded cheddar, and half of your cooked bacon (reserving the rest for serving). Bring to a boil then remove from heat and serve with your favorite toppings.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Hi! I’m Natasha Kravchuk, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, food photographer, and writer. Here you’ll find delicious, reliable recipes made with simple ingredients, plus easy step-by-step photos and videos to help you cook confidently at home. 
Amazing! I’m 14 and I love to cook, and this recipe was super easy and delicious!
Hi Basil! Keep up the good work! I’m so glad you tried my recipe. Thank you.
I cook for only 2 people and freeze lots of leftovers. I’d like to make the potatp soup. Can you freeze it? If so, for how long?
Hi Deborah! I haven’t tried but I think that would work fine to freeze. Others shared that they doubled the recipe and it was great!
Made tonight!! Perfect soup on this cold Sunday! Added some toasted French bread on the side.
Yum! So glad you loved the soup, Cindy. Thank you.
You may have overcooked your potatoes. That would result in making the soup grainy.
I used two cups of water and 1/2 cup heavy cream instead of chicken broth, and it came out delicious!
So glad to hear that!
Can I double this recipe easily? Thanks so much! I made this once and everyone wanted seconds but there were none, ha!
Hi Tiffany, Others shared that they doubled the recipe and it was great!
Hi Natasha!
I just made the Loaded Potato Soup and it’s so delicious!! Instead of whole milk I used almond milk! Thanks so much!
You are amazing!!! 😘❤️
Aww, thank you, Magda! I’m so glad you loved this recipe.
I made this soup because I love all of your dishes but this came out way too thick. It was chunky and like a potato salad. Please help? I followed the directions.
Hi Julia, it sounds like either too much potatoes or too little broth. I would thin it out with a little more chicken broth and then season to taste.
The best potato soup ever. It is not so thick as most potato soups are. I added some finely chopped celery and carrots. Love love the consistently. Sent some to my oldest daughter. Her remarks, “mom your soup is off the chart!, please tell me you have the recipe. (I alter recipes and never write them down ). She finished her comments with, “it’s so good and I love that it isn’t so thick”.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Judy!
Looking forward to making it tonight!! If I choose to use heavy cream, how would I go about that?
Hi Cece! I have not made this with heavy cream to give the exact instructions. You could use it in place of milk but it will be richer and thicker. Just be careful not to overheat or it will split.
We made this tonight and by far the best potato soup.
The taste was outstanding and fairly easy to make. We would highly recommend giving this one a try. Our only change is we added a little more pepper because we like the heat.
Hello Cindy, thank you for sharing. We’re happy to know that you enjoyed this soup!
I am making this potato soup, but using leftover baked potatoes instead of boiled potatoes. I was trying to figure out a way to use these leftover potatoes and this soup is perfect.
Thanks for sharing, Judy! 🙂
Just made this for dinner! Everyone loved it but we all agreed that the soup had a bit of a grainy texture. I thought it might’ve been from adding the cold sour cream into the hot soup but after googling, I found that using russet potatoes makes soups have a grainy texture. So if you make this recipe i suggest using yukon gold potatoes. Other than that, this soup was a hit!
Natasha, I love your recipes! I’m curious though, that some of them have the name Valentina Ablaev on them. Is Valentina a relative? Regardless, the recipes are fantastic!
Hello Carol Ann, good to hear that you’re enjoying my recipes. I have A couple of friends who are bloggers that occasionally guest post their best recipes on our blog. The Author box at the bottom of the post is how you can tell if it is a guest post recipe. Several of her recipes have become reader favorites on our blog and I know her recipes to be really good. Thank you for the feedback and for checking in on that. I hope you are staying safe and healthy.
Always love using Natasha’s recipes, this one wants definitely a hit! My boyfriend wouldn’t stop saying how good it was.
Aaaw that is so awesome! Thank you for sharing.
This soup is so delicious and the perfect comfort food on a cool fall day! Highly recommend!
Thank you for the review, Danielle!
I never know which potato is good for this soup. Please help!’n
Hi Pamela, We have a note on the best potatoes to use in the recipe; you can use Russet, Idaho, or Yukon gold potatoes. NOTE: If you’re using Yukon potatoes, the skin may be left on.
What a great recepie to use leftovers in!
After finishing the first recipe done by the book, I realised what a universal( blank canvas) this recipe is.
I used pulled pork diced and extra pepper Jack cheese. Added some sweet corn and chick peas.
Came out wonderful.
That sounds delicious, Dan! Thank you for sharing. I love to hear how my readers re-create these recipes.
Hey there! Great recipe! I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream bc it’s what I had. Could I double this and freeze it?
That’s a good substitution. I haven’t tried but I think that would work fine to freeze. Others shared that they doubled the recipe and it was great!
Currently making this….I find the instructions aren’t written properly….I’m sure this will taste good though
Could you be more specific in your feedback? Which parts are not written properly so we can check. We’d like to know how it goes if you try it!
Followed the recipe exactly and it came out perfect!!! Best tasting loaded potato soup I’ve had.
That’s great, Josh! I’m so glad you loved this recipe. Thank you for the review.
Good googly moogly – I made this during my lunch break and it really is only 30 minutes. Instructions are easy to follow and ingredients are simple but so flavorful. This is absolutely amazing, thanks Natasha!
I’m glad you enjoyed it!!