Simple Potato Soup Recipe

You are going to love diving into this luxuriously creamy potato soup recipe WITHOUT all the guilt while your family sings your praises! It’s made without any heavy cream, thickened by its own puree, and optional cream cheese, laced with deeply flavorful aromatics and herbs – no bland, boring potato soup here! Best of all, this homemade potato soup is a dream to make ahead for stress free dinners or lunches throughout the week – it tastes even better the next day!

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Watch How to Make Potato Soup

top view of serving potato soup recipe in a bowl garnished by cheese, green onions and bacon

The Best Homemade Potato Soup

SUPER CREAMY. This potato soup is a creamy, comforting hug of velvety goodness bursting with layers of flavor with minimal effort that you will crave.
ZERO HEAVY CREAM. It tastes beautifully decadent and restaurant elegant with the help of evaporated milk and optional cream cheese.
UNBEATABLE FLAVOR. A mirepoix base (carrots, onion, and celery), chicken bouillon, and adept seasonings make this soup taste like it’s been simmering for hours!
CORRECT POTATOES. Using buttery, creamy Yukon Gold potatoes, instead of Russets, creates superior flavor and texture.
CUSTOMIZABLE CONSISTENCY. The homemade potato soup is naturally thickened by its own puree – blend more or less depending on your desired texture.
MAKE AHEAD FRIENDLY. It tastes even better the next day – winning!
INEXPENSIVE. Make a hearty pot full to feed the entire family at the fraction of the price of dining out.

top view of best best potato soup recipe with a ladle spooning the soup

Creamy Potato Soup Ingredients

Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients you’ll need to make the best potato soup recipe (full recipe in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post):

Potatoes: Use Yukon gold potatoes peeled and diced into 1/2” cubes. Don’t substitute with Russet potatoes because they can fall apart and turn mealy in the soup, whereas Yukon gold potatoes remain delightfully buttery.
Mirepoix: Yellow onion, carrots and celery are known as the holy trinity of cooking and provide a richness and depth of flavor that can’t be achieved any other way.
Garlic: Please don’t skip or your potato soup will taste bland! I use 6 cloves garlic, but adjust to taste. You may substitute with 1 teaspoon garlic powder in a bind.
Bacon: The bacon is cooked and reserved for garnishing the soup. Some of the bacon grease is left behind to infuse the soup with salty, bacony goodness. I suggest thick, center cut bacon.
Seasonings: Dried parsley, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper season the soup to perfection.
All-purpose flour: This helps thicken the potato soup recipe by creating a roux. You may substitute with gluten free flour, if needed.
Evaporated milk: This is used instead of half and half because it doesn’t split when boiled with the potatoes. It also has less calories – bonus!
Chicken broth: Use low sodium chicken broth to allow room for chicken bouillon.
Chicken bouillon: This is like salt with FLAVOR! Use bouillon powder, bouillon cubes or better than bouillon. Add it to the soup without dissolving in liquid first.
Cream cheese: Softened block cream cheese is pureed with some of the soup to make it extra silky creamy. Full fat has the most flavor, but less fat will also work.

Best Potato Soup Recipe variations

Add ham: Any type of cubed ham will work in this recipe. Depending on the time of they year, you may have leftover ham from Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas, otherwise, head to the deli counter and have them slice any ham ¼-inch thick and finish chopping it into cubes at home. Ham is very salty, so omit the salt in the recipe, then add to taste.
Add vegetables: Corn, broccoli, green beans, asparagus and peas, would be particularly tasty. Keep in mind different vegetable cooking times and add to the soup accordingly.
Use fresh herbs: I prefer dried herbs in this potato soup recipe because they are added to the soup at the beginning which infuses the creamy broth with more flavor. You may use fresh herbs, but use three times the amount. Add before pureeing and simmer for a few minutes. You may also garnish the soup with fresh herbs.

Spice it up: Add red pepper flakes for a kick.
Make gluten free potato soup: Use gluten free flour.
Make vegan potato soup: Skip the bacon and butter and use 4 tablespoons of olive oil or vegan butter. Skip the chicken bouillon and swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth. Be prepared to add additional salt to taste.
Potato Leek Soup: See this recipe.
Crockpot Potato Soup: See this recipe.
Serve it in a bread bowl: This is a fun and delicious twist, with a beautiful presentation!

up close of a spoonful of potato soup recipe in a bowl showing how thick and creamy it is

How to make Creamy Potato Soup

This potato soup recipe is easy to make and tastes 10X better than any restaurant! Let’s take a closer look with step by step photos (full recipe in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post).

Step 1: Cook bacon. Add bacon pieces to a large Dutch oven and cook until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the grease.

showing how to make potato soup by cooking bacon until crispy in a Dutch oven

Step 2: Sauté vegetables. Melt the butter in the remaining bacon grease. Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are softened, add garlic and sauté 30 seconds.

showing how to make potato soup recipe by sautéing onions, carrots and celery

Step 3: Sauté vegetables. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables, and cook 2 additional minutes (it will be thick).

showing how to make potato soup by adding flour to create a roux

Step 4: Add potatoes. Add the potatoes, broth, evaporated milk and all seasonings.

showing how to make potato soup by adding cubed potatoes, broth and seasonings

Step 5: Simmer. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, uncovered for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

showing how to make potato soup by simmering until the potatoes are tender

Step 6: Make it creamy! Working in batches, remove half of the soup (vegetables and liquid) to a blender along with the cream cheese.

showing how to make potato soup by blending part of the soup in a blender until creamy

Step 7: Season. Stir the pureed soup back into the pot.

showing how to make potato soup by pouring pureed soup back into the soup pot

Step 8: Adjust to taste. Make it perfect for you!

showing how to make potato soup by stirring in pureed soup

TIPS FOR making best Potato Soup Recipe

Use the correct potatoes. Use Yukon gold potatoes and NOT Russets for their superior flavor and texture. Russet potatoes can fall apart and turn mealy in the soup. Yukon gold potatoes remain delightfully buttery.
Chop potatoes uniformly. So they cook in the same amount of time.
Don’t burn the bacon. Otherwise, the rest of your soup will taste burnt!
Scrape up the golden bits. After you cook the veggies in flour, there will be golden bits on the bottom of the pan – these are flavor gold! Make sure to scrape up the bits when you add the broth.
Don’t forget to stir. The potato soup can stick and burn while it simmers due to the roux, so make to stir every few minutes.
Cook the potatoes until tender. By using Yukon Gold potatoes instead of Russets, you don’t need to worry about them falling apart or overcooking, It is better for your potatoes to be on the softer side than the firmer side so they puree easily and become mega creamy.
Use a blender. You can use an immersion blender, but I find a high-powered blender results in a smoother soup.
Don’t overfill blender. Don’t fill blender more than ⅓ way full or it can overflow and explode.
Don’t let the blender explode! It’s crucial to let smoke escape the blender from the hot soup, or it will build up inside and explode. Leave the blender cap open and cover with a paper towel or loose dishtowel.
Salt to taste. Potato Soup requires more salt than your average soup to awaken the rest of the flavors. If you feel like the soup is missing something at the end of cooking, it probably just needs more salt or pepper – so adjust to taste.
Adjust consistency. As written, this soup is very thick and creamy. For thinner soup, add milk at the end of cooking until it reaches desired consistency.
Adjust texture. For a smooth soup, puree all of the soup; for a chunkier soup, don’t puree all of the soup.

up closer of a ladle full of homemade potato soup showing chunks of potatoes in the creamy soup

How to serve this Recipe for Potato Soup

This creamy potato soup tastes amazing plain, but even better with toppings! Here are a few to try:

bacon
cheddar cheese or blue cheese
green onions
chives
fresh parsley
sour cream
crackers
croutons
dashes of chili powder, cayenne

Side dishes to serve with Potato Soup

This creamy potato soup pairs with well with just about anything, but we love it with either bread or sandwiches, a salad and fruit. Here are a few sides to try:

Bread: I love mopping up potato soup with a hearty piece of bread or softy and fluffy Dinner Rolls, Parmesan Breadsticks, or Garlic Bread.
Sandwiches: Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, Reuben Sandwich, French Dip Sandwich, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Lobster Rolls, BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Italian Beef Sandwich, or Philly Cheese Steak.
Salad: Fall Salad, Pear Salad, Garden Salad, Caesar Salad, Apple Salad or Green Bean Salad.
Fruit: Bright, fresh fruit is always a welcome side to creamy soups. Go as simple as grapes, melon, etc. or you’ll love this perfect Fruit Salad or Winter Fruit Salad.

MEal Prep Potato Soup

The flavors of this creamy potato soup only get better the next day, so it’s great to make 100% ahead of time. You can also prep individual components ahead of time which is helpful because the veggies/potatoes do take some time to chop:

-Mirepoix: The onions, carrots, celery, and garlic can be chopped/minced and refrigerated.
-Potatoes: Peel and chop the potatoes; submerge in water, cover and refrigerate to prevent them from browning due to oxidation (from turning brown). This works like a charm!
-Toppings: The cheese can be shredded and any other toppings prepared and refrigerated ahead of time.

Simple Potato Soup Recipe storage

Let the potato soup cool to room temperature, cover, and store in your Dutch oven or transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 5 days. It will thicken upon standing, but will thin as it’s reheated.

How to reheat potato soup

-Stove: Reheat large batches on the stove over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. You may need to thin with additional milk.
-Microwave: Transfer individual servings to a microwave-safe dish, cover with a microwave-safe lid or paper towel. Microwave for 90 seconds, stir, then continue to microwave for 15-second intervals, if needed.
-Crockpot: Transfer soup to a crockpot and heat on low for 1-2 hours. The time will depend on how much soup you have remaining.

Homemade Potato Soup FAQs

Why isn’t my potato soup creamy?

Several factors can contribute to a lack of creaminess in potato soup:
1. If you use the incorrect potatoes, like Russets, they can become mushy or mealy, instead of creamy, if overcooked. Stick with Yukon Gold potatoes for the creamiest potato soup.
2. Undercooking the potatoes will result in a grainy or gritty texture. Make sure the potatoes are cooked to a fork tender consistency.
3. Not thoroughly blending the ingredients will also result in a less creamy soup. I prefer a high powered blender over an immersion blender to puree the soup and create a smoother texture.
4. Lastly, if you skip the dairy – the evaporated milk and cream cheese, the soup will be less creamy.

Can you leave the skin on when making potato soup?

Yes, you can leave the skin on when making potato soup for added nutrients provided it’s well-washed and suits your taste preferences. However, leaving the skin on potatoes when making potato soup will lead to a less creamy soup with an uneven texture. I always prefer to peel the potatoes first.

How do I thicken my potato soup?

This potato soup recipe should already be luxuriously thick and creamy, but if you would still like a thicker soup, you can use any of these methods:
1. Puree more of the soup. The more potatoes that are pureed, the thicker the soup will become. You can also cook a peeled potato separately and puree with some milk or water.
2. Cornstarch slurry: Whisk 1 -2 tablespoons cornstarch with ¼ cup water until smooth, then whisk the slurry back into the soup. Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Repeat if needed.
3. Puree beans: If you want to keep all of the potato chunks in the soup, puree a can of cannellini beans with a little water. Stir back into the soup and warm through.

What kind of potatoes are best for potato soup?

Use waxy potatoes such as Yukon gold, red potatoes, Dutch baby potatoes, new potatoes or fingerling potatoes. Waxy potatoes do not absorb moisture while they cook so they retain their shape despite extended high heat. This doesn’t mean waxy potatoes aren’t melt-in-your-mouth or flavorful! They taste soft, buttery and tender without ever tasting mealy.

Can chicken broth be substitute for vegetable broth?

I do not recommend vegetable broth because it’s not as flavorful as chicken broth, but you can certainly use it if you wish.

Can I freeze potato soup?

No, I do NOT recommend freezing potato soup because the fat in the dairy can separate resulting in an unpleasant texture when reheated. Potatoes also don’t freeze well as their texture becomes mealy and mushy.

Looking for more Creamy Soup Recipes?

Potato Leek Soup
Ham and Potato Soup
Crockpot Potato Soup
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Tomato Basil Soup
Cream of Asparagus Soup
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Clam Chowder

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Tools Used in This Recipe

Cast Iron Dutch Oven 7.25 qt. (All Colors)

BlendTec Blender

Garlic Press

Vegetable Chopper

Kitchen Knife Set

Cheese Grater

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Creamy Potato Soup Recipe

You are going to love diving into this luxuriously creamy potato soup recipe WITHOUT all the guilt while your family sings your praises! It's made without any heavy cream, thickened by its own puree, and optional cream cheese, laced with deeply flavorful aromatics and herbs – no bland, boring potato soup here! Best of all, this homemade potato soup is a dream to make ahead for stress free dinners or lunches throughout the week – it tastes even better the next day!

Servings: -10 servings

Total Time: 1

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 30

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Ingredients

6 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (optional, recommended)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes peeled, chopped (about ½ inch)
4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon (powder, base, or 1 crushed cube)
1 tsp EACH dried parsley, salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 tsp EACH dried thyme, dried oregano (plus more to taste)

ADD LAST

3 oz. cream cheese, softened
Toppings: bacon (in recipe), cheese, sliced green onions, etc.

Instructions

Cook bacon: Add bacon pieces to a large Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Cook until crisp and the fat is rendered (they will overlap, then shrink). Remove bacon with a slotted spoon. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the grease.
Sauté vegetables: Melt the butter in the 2 TBS bacon grease over medium heat (if omitting bacon, use 2 additional TBS butter or 2 TBS olive oil). Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring often, until onions are softened; add garlic and sauté 30 seconds. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables, and cook 2 additional minutes (it will be thick).
Add potatoes: Add the potatoes, broth, evaporated milk, chicken bouillon (don't dissolve in water first) and all seasonings. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender.
Make it creamy! Working in batches, remove half of the soup (vegetables and liquid) to a blender along with the cream cheese. Don’t fill the blender more than ⅓ of the way full or it can overflow and explode. Blend until very smooth, being careful to let smoke escape or the blender will explode. You can do this by leaving the blender cap open and covering with a paper towel or loose dishtowel. You may also use an immersion blender but I don’t find the soup gets as smooth.
Season: Stir the pureed soup back into the pot. Taste and season with additional salt, pepper, oregano and/or thyme to taste. If you would like a thinner soup, stir in milk to reach desired consistency. Garnish bowls with cheese, bacon pieces and green onions.

Video

Notes

Storage: Let the potato soup cool to room temperature, cover, and store in your Dutch oven or transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 5 days. It will thicken upon standing, but will thin as it’s reheated.
Make ahead: The flavors soup only get better the next day, so it’s great to make 100% ahead of time. You can also prep individual components ahead of time. If chopping the potatoes ahead of time, submerge them in water, cover, and refrigerate to prevent them from browning due to oxidation (from turning brown). This works like a charm!

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Leave a Review, I Always Love Hearing From You!

18 Comments

Jakalyn says

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Hello Jen, just finished making this soup for tomorrow’s lunch when guests will arrive. It will be perfect for the snowy day we’re expecting.
Easy to prepare, wonderful flavor. The tip to make it creamy is perfect. Your directions are always so thorough and easy to follow. Can’t wait to serve it!
Thanks for sharing another wonderful recipe.
Best to you and your family, Jakalyn

- Jen says
  
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  Yum! This will make the perfect cozy snowy day lunch! I am so glad you loved the recipe! Best to you as well:)
  
Connie says

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This was amazing. Just in time for our cold weather in Colorado. Thanks.

- Jen says
  
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  Thanks Connie, I’m so pleased you loved it to cozy up to!
  
Heidi says

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Soup looks amazing and I want to make for dinner tomorrow night. Could you clarify more on the amount of chicken broth to use? The recipe looks like it’s just a bouillon cube but the video shows liquid broth being poured into soup. Thank you!

- Jen says
  
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  The soup calls for 4 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth as well as a bouillon cube! Hope you love it!
  
  - Heidi says
    
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    I just made this soup today and it was AMAZING! My husband said this is a Keeper Thank you for all of the amazing recipes you create and the beautiful and detailed info and instructions you share. You are truly an amazing chef!
    
    - Jen says
      
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      Thank you Heidi! I am so glad that you enjoy the recipes! I appreciate you and hope you’re well!
      
Amy says

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This soup was 10/10. I will be making again

- Jen says
  
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  Thank you Amy! I’m glad it will be a repeat!
  
Valerie says

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Thank you so much for this divine potato soup recipe. The wonderfully creamy texture, achieved from the blending with cream cheese, is out of this world. It creates the perfect balance of smooth base with some chunks of potato and vegetables. Great flavor. Perfect for cold weather.

- Jen says
  
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  Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it on many future chilly nights!
  
Cheryl says

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Wow! Another fantastic recipe! This was delicious. I decided to try a new potato soup recipe . I’ve made the same potato soup for 15 years. My husband said yours was better! Throwing away the other recipe. Thank you for sharing your recipes. Your website is my go to site to find recipes.

- Jen says
  
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  I’m thrilled that this soup was a winner for you and your husband! Thanks for making the recipes, I appreciate you!
  
Lindsey says

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This soup is SO good! My family loves it! We’ve added a head of broccoli when one needed to be used up, and that’s delicious, too.

- Jen says
  
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  I’m so so glad!! And adding broccoli is a perfect idea!
  
Debra says

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Is it possible to get the nutrition information for the potato soup please?

- Jen says
  
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  You can calculate it here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator Enjoy!