Baked Potato Soup
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Creamy Baked Potato Soup that is full of cheese, onion, sour cream and bacon. This hearty soup is perfect for cold winter days!
Baked Potato Soup Recipe
My kids LOVE potatoes. End of story. They take potatoes absolutely any way I can make them. I made this soup last week and shared it on my Insta story. Within half an hour both Braden and Kinslee had messaged me saying they couldn’t wait to get home for dinner to eat this soup. There was slight arguing over the bacon, but they totally thought it was worth the wait.
What kind of potatoes are good for soup?
There are two options for this recipe. We used a Russet potato. Russet potatoes are a high starch potato and will break down a little while they cook. This helps to thicken the soup and makes it more creamy. If you’re worried about your soup being too thick and would like your potatoes to stay more in chunks, use a red potato. They hold their shape well.
Side note…we like to leave just a little bit of peel on the potatoes. They are about 80% peeled, but I like just that little bit of peel on the potatoes in the soup. This type of potato is also good in chicken potato soup.
How do you make potato soup?
Potato soup can be slightly time consuming to make, but if you plan ahead, it’s totally worth the effort.
Here’s our hints for making this soup efficiently:
- Start the bacon cooking on the stovetop.
- While the bacon is cooking, microwave the potatoes so that they cook quickly. You could do them in the oven if you’d like…or even in the air fryer. Those methods will take slightly longer though.
- As soon as the bacon is done, start melting the butter and bacon grease together, then saute the onions and garlic in the butter.
- Peel and cube the potatoes while the onion is cooking.
- This step is where all the previous steps come together to make the soup! Continue as the recipe states, adding the ingredients as you go.
- Take advantage of the time the soup is simmering to clean up your pots and pans so you don’t have so many after dinner.
How do you make creamy potato soup?
Sour cream helps keep this potato soup creamy. The ratio of butter to milk to potato and cheese that we use also makes the soup perfectly creamy. If you like really creamy, rich soup, you can use whole milk or half and half instead of the 2% milk. Be sure to give the flour/butter/milk mixture time to thicken. The soup will get thicker as it sits!
How do I thicken baked potato soup?
The soup should thicken up nicely with the flour/butter roux. By using Russet potatoes you can make the soup thicker because the potatoes will break apart while cooking. If you’ve made a mistake and your soup is too watery, you could add a touch of cream, make a cornstarch slurry and thicken the soup…or even use instant potato flakes in a pinch!
What can I do if my soup is too thick?
If you’ve made your soup too thick, you can add a bit of chicken broth to thin it out a little. This soup will really thicken up the second day, so if you’re eating leftovers and don’t want thick soup you’ll have to add chicken broth upon reheating the soup.
What do you serve with baked potato soup?
Here are some of our favorites!
- Buttery Soft Rolls
- Asiago Cheese Bread
- Pimento Cheese Dip
- Italian Green Beans
- Side Salad
- Slow Cooker Cream Corn
Baked Potato Soup Recipe
Creamy Baked Potato Soup that is full of cheese, onion, sour cream and bacon. This hearty soup is perfect for cold winter days!
Servings 12
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/3 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups 2% milk
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 4-5 large baked potatoes (3 ½ pounds) (mostly peeled and cubed)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (divided)
- ¼ cup chopped green onion (for topping)
Instructions
- Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease. Drain off the rest of the bacon grease.
- Crumble the bacon and set aside.
- In a stock pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and bacon grease over medium heat.
- Saute the onion and minced garlic in the melted butter until the onion becomes translucent.
- With the burner on low heat, whisk in flour until smooth.
- Gradually stir in milk and then the chicken stock, whisking constantly until thickened.
- Stir in potatoes. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes 3-4 times just to break them up a bit.
- Increase the stove temperature slightly to bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
- Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
- Mix in the sour cream, salt, and pepper.
- Mix in 1 cup of cheddar cheese and ¾ of the bacon (reserve the remaining cheese and bacon for topping).
- Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted.
- Garnish the soup with remaining cheddar cheese, bacon and green onion when serving.
Video
Notes
The calories shown are based on the recipe making 12 cups of soup, with 1 serving being 1 cup. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**
Nutrition
Calories: 518kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 773mg | Potassium: 824mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 660IU | Vitamin C: 8.3mg | Calcium: 276mg | Iron: 1.8mg
I enjoy your recipes. I have gluten sensitivity and lactose intolerance…neither by choice..however; I am able to adjust your recipes e.g. no flour, cornstarch, lactose free milk, plant based butter, etc. All good! Thank you for sharing your recipes.
Planning on making this tonight for church tomorrow. Should I wait until I reheat tomorrow to add the sour cream or will it heat back up ok with it in?
Thanks!
Hi. My name is Lowell. For the potato soup how long do you microwave them for and are they peeled & diced before microwaving?
We use the bacon that is ‘Ready To Heat’ (Hormel brand from Sam’s Club & BJ’s. Can we used that or do I have to have regular ‘cook to serve’ bacon, aka real bacon as one of kids would say?
Thanks! We have tried many of your recipes & enjoy all those we’ve tried. Any recipe for wedding soup? My son misses that and we’ve tried making ir since moving south from PA but it’s not as yummy.
Any other recipes where splenda can be used – mainly desserts like cheesecakes, pumpkin roll, etc.
Can you freeze this soup?
I don’t ever comment, but had to after making this. It was amazing!11
This recipe is amazing! My family loved this soup! Thank you!!