Simple Potato Soup Recipe (2024)

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 willcrave.
• 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.

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,ThanksgivingorChristmas, 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!

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.

• 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.

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

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

• Step 5: Simmer. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, uncovered for 10-15 minutes, 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.

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

TIPS FOR making best Potato Soup Recipe

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• 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.

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.

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