This easy potato soup recipe has all the flavors of a loaded baked potato, but it’s ready in 15 minutes.
Who doesn’t love a bowl of Cream of Potato Soup? All those carbs in a creamy broth. It makes me feel as warm and comforted as when I slip on my favorite grey wool socks. I especially love the versions of creamy potato soup that are topped like a loaded baked potato. Cheese. Green onions. Sour cream. Bacon. Mmmmm… Loaded Baked Potato Soup.
Ingredients
- Chicken broth – I always go for a low or no-sodium version so that I can control the salt levels. Remember, the bacon will be adding saltiness too.
- Neutral cooking oil like vegetable or grapeseed, for cooking the potatoes.
- Baking potatoes – About 3 medium sized Russets is perfect.
- 6 strips of bacon – You’ll be putting some in the soup and some on top at the end.
- Salt and pepper
- Flour
- Your favorite baked potato toppings
How To Make Easy Potato Soup
The thing is, baked potato soup usually starts with baked potatoes, like in this recipe. That means that the cooking time is as long it takes to bake a potato PLUS soup-cooking-time. You’re looking at least at a good hour before your dinner is ready.
I wanted a quicker potato soup recipe that still had a creamy texture. I tried a bunch of different techniques before getting this one down. The quickest tastiest thing I tried was to really finely chop the potatoes (a ¼-inch dice) and then sauté them a bit before simmering them in chicken broth. I do this is a wide 6 quart stock pot so that the potato chunks have space enough to get hot quickly and to heat through quickly. A big pot is key here.
While the potatoes are cooking, you get all of the other stuff ready. Cook up bacon and then chop it. But don’t discard the bacon fat! It’s going to be central to this soup.
Most of the chopped bacon goes in with the potatoes and broth. Some stays out to use as a topping for the soup. Any other toppings such as shredded cheese and chopped green onions can be prepared while the potatoes cook as well. Set all that aside for later on.
When the soup is simmering and the potatoes are tender, use a potato masher to break up the cubes of potato. You’ll add your bacon fat mixture as described below to thicken the soup and then mash it up until it’s to your liking. Then, it’s time to serve and add your delicious toppings.
How To Thicken Potato Soup
To thicken this easy potato soup, you measure the flour and water into a mason jar and then put on the lid and shake it like crazy. Add that to the bacon fat you saved and heat it and stir until it gets thick. This bonds the fat to the flour.
Now when you add it to the soup it blends in and doesn’t separate out, resulting in soup with a nice non-greasy bacon flavor throughout. And that not only thickens up the soup, it makes every bite taste like loaded baked potato. Click here for more tips for making quick and easy soups.
Potato Soup Toppings
In my recipe below, I’ve chosen to use chopped bacon, Cheddar cheese, green onion, and a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt. That’s what I like on top of my baked potatoes, but there’s so many possibilities.
Try out a variety of cheeses for your soup! Substitute chives for the green onion or ham for the bacon. (Though the bacon fat adds a lot of flavor to the soup, so I encourage you to keep that.) You could also top with cooked and chopped broccoli. I would love to hear in the comments what you love on your soup.
Oh, and if you love potato soups, you should also check out this hearty tomato potato soup recipe.
How To Store Leftover Soup
If you have leftovers of this creamy potato soup, let them cool down before putting away. You can store the soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Store any leftover toppings separately in ziptop bags.
More Delicious Soup Recipes
If you love soup as much as I do, you’re going to love looking through my whole soup recipe collection. There are over 70 delicious soups here for you to choose from. I’m also going to link to a few of my favorite comforting soups right here for you:
- Beef and Farro Soup
- Green Pea Soup With Ham
- Pizza Soup
- Venus de Milo Soup
- Easy Cabbage Soup
- Chicken and Dumplings Soup
Podcast Episode About Making This Potato Soup Recipe
Listen to learn how to make this recipe, along with some great tips from me along the way!
PrintEasy Loaded Potato Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
The key to making this soup so quickly is to chop the potatoes really finely. The key to making it so tasty is the bacon fat mixed with flour and water that is stirred into the soup. This spreads a bacon flavor throughout every mouthful.
To get this soup done really quickly, read through the recipe first. As you read it, gather together all ingredients, pots, pans, knives and other tools that you will need so that everything is at your fingertips. Enjoy! -Christine xo
Yield: 7 and ½ cups
Ingredients
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 Tbsp. cooking oil
- 3 medium baking potatoes, in 1/4 inch dice
- 6 strips bacon
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 4 Tbsp. sour cream
Instructions
- Measure the chicken broth into a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, warm the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the finely diced potato to oil. Stir and cover. Stir often but keep covered between stirs.
- Meanwhile, put the bacon in a large pan over medium high heat. Cook flipping occasionally until cooked through, 5-6 minutes. Once done, transfer bacon to a plate but leave the bacon fat in the pan.
- When microwave is done, pour heated broth over the potatoes and add the salt. Increase heat to high. Stir. Keep it covered until it reaches a boil. Reduce heat to a vigorous simmer stirring occasionally.
- While soup is simmering, measure flour into a large mason jar. Add the water and shake a lot until well-incorporated. Pour flour mixture into the bacon fat. Stir well. It should thicken from the remaining heat in the pan. If not, heat it over low until thickened. Add the bacon fat mixture to the soup and stir it up a lot.
- Use a fork to test if potatoes are tender. If fork goes into a cube easily, then they’re ready. Use a potato masher to mash up some of the potato a bit.
- Transfer cooked bacon to a cutting board. Chop it and stir three-quarters of it into the soup. Save the rest as a garnish for the soup.
- Ladle soup into bowls. Top each serving with some of the bacon, the shredded cheese, the chopped green onion, and some sour cream.
This post originally appeared in October 2014 and was revised and republished in November 2022.