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Delicious Baked Potato Soup that’s super easy to make, creamy, hearty and loaded with potatoes, bacon and lots of cheese. Perfect for a weeknight meal!
This baked potato cheese soup has such a real depth of flavor. It’s super creamy, cheesy and screams comfort in a bowl. There are so many rich and creamy elements in this soup, that your taste buds can’t get enough!
This soup is so easy to make because we cook the potatoes before, you can either choose to boil them, or just bake them like I did. If you have leftover mashed potatoes, that’s even better, use them in this soup and save lots of time! Top it with all the classic favorites like crispy bacon, sour cream, chives, and cheddar.
Baked Potato Soup is great as meal on its own or as a starter to your dinner. It is pure yumminess in a bowl.
Ingredients Needed for Baked Potato Soup
Here’s what goes into my soup. Make sure to scroll down for the complete printable recipe.
- Potatoes – I usually like to use large potatoes such as Russet. These are perfect for baking.
- Onion and Garlic – Lots of chopped onion and garlic to really flavor this soup.
- Milk and Sour cream – You can add whole milk or even 2% milk to this soup for added creaminess.
- Chicken broth – buy a good low sodium or no sodium added chicken broth, or make your own.
- Bacon – use as much as you want. This adds flavor to your soup. You can use also turkey bacon for less fat.
- Flour – All purpose is all you need. This is used to thicken the soup.
- Butter – I always use unsalted because this way I can control the salt in all my recipes.
- Cheddar cheese – I use yellow cheddar cheese for adding to the soup and for topping.
- Spices – such as chives for topping, and salt and pepper to taste.
How to Make Baked Potato Soup
- Bake the potatoes: Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees. Pierce the potatoes with a fork several times then place them on a baking sheet. Bake until tender for 65 to 75 minutes. Alternatively you can microwave them for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender. Cool completely. Once cooled, peel them and cut into bite size pieces.
- Cook the bacon: While the potatoes are baking, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate to drain and cool. Drain the bacon fat from the skillet, reserving 1 tbsp of the bacon fat. Once the bacon is cool, crumble it up or chop it up into small pieces.
- Saute onion and garlic: In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat then add the reserved 1 tbsp of bacon fat. Add the onion and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the onion has softened and is translucent. Stir in the garlic and saute for 30 seconds just until it becomes aromatic.
- Add milk and chicken broth: Add the flour and slowly whisk it in with the onion. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes to remove the raw flour taste, then slowly whisk in the milk. Gradually add the chicken broth and whisk. Bring to a simmer then season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Finish Soup: Stir in the potato chunks and heat through, another 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the sour cream, 1/2 of the cheese and half of the bacon. Reserve the rest for garnish. Remove from heat.
- Garnish and serve:Garnish the soup with cheese, bacon and chives and serve hot.
What Potatoes are Best For Baked Potato Soup
A classic potato for baking is the russet because it’s one of the most starch-filled in the world of spuds. The starch is what thickens the soup nicely. However, you can use other potatoes such as red potatoes or even a Yukon gold.
If you have leftover mashed potatoes, that’s a great way to use the leftovers in this soup!
How To Bake Potatoes
Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees. Piece the potatoes with a fork several times then place on a baking sheet. Bake until tender for 65 to 75 minutes. Alternatively you microwave them for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender. Cool completely. Once cooled, peel them and cut into chunks.
You an try this recipe for baked potatoes.
Why This Baked Potato Soup Is The Best
This is a tried, tested and no-fail recipe. Here’s why this recipe is the best:
- Quick prep time!
- Easy every day ingredients that you likely have in your pantry or fridge.
- It’s rich and creamy and filling and have only 339 calories for serving
- Perfect as a full meal on its own or a starter to your dinner!
How Do You Store Leftover Baked Potato Soup
This soup will stay good for about 5 days in an airtight container stored in your fridge, and reheats well either in the microwave or over low heat on the stovetop.
Can You Freeze Baked Potato Soup
You can but potato soups, in general, don’t tend to freeze very well. The texture tends to become watery upon reheating, so plan on eating this up the week you make it! If you do freeze it, you’ll want to reheat it over low heat to maintain that creamy texture.
Serve This Baked Potato Soup With…
To serve, top it off with some extra cheese, bacon, chives and sour cream. And a big chunk of crusty bread isn’t bad either!
Hungry For More? Try These Recipes:
- Beef Lentil Soup
- Cabbage Soup
- How to Bake Potatoes
- Chicken Potato Soup
- Potatoes Au Gratin
- Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes
- Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
- Instant Pot Creamy Potato Sausage Soup
- Corn Chowder
- Cajun Potato Soup
Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 4 large potatoes such as Russet
- 8 bacon slices
- 4 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- 3 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 1½ cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons chives minced
Instructions
- Bake the potatoes: Preheat your oven to 350℉. Pierce the potatoes with a fork several times then place them on a baking sheet. Bake until tender for 65 to 75 minutes. Alternatively you can microwave them for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender. Cool completely. Once cooled, peel them and cut into bite size pieces.
- Cook the bacon: While the potatoes are baking, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate to drain and cool. Drain the bacon fat from the skillet, reserving 1 tbsp of the bacon fat. Once the bacon is cool, crumble it up or chop it up into small pieces.
- Saute onion and garlic: In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat then add the reserved 1 tablespoon of bacon fat. Add the onion and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the onion has softened and is translucent. Stir in the garlic and saute for 30 seconds just until it becomes aromatic.
- Add milk and chicken broth: Add the flour and slowly whisk it in with the onion. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes to remove the raw flour taste, then slowly whisk in the milk. Gradually add the chicken broth and whisk. Bring to a simmer then season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Finish Soup: Stir in the potato chunks and heat through, another 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the sour cream, ½ of the cheese and half of the bacon. Reserve the rest for garnish. Remove from heat.
- Garnish and Serve: Serve soup hot, topped with cheese, bacon and chives.
Tips & Notes:
- Leftovers: This soup will stay good for about 5 days in an airtight container stored in your fridge, and reheats well either in the microwave or over low heat on the stovetop.
- Freezing: In general potato soups don’t tend to freeze very well. The texture tends to become watery upon reheating, so plan on eating this up the week you make it! If you do freeze it, you’ll want to reheat it over low heat to maintain that creamy texture.
