Kicking off soup season strong with this classic Creamy Potato Bacon Soup! Potato soup combined with bacon pieces, cheese, sour cream, and topped with fresh chives. Yep – it’s basically loaded baked potato in soup form.
So yummy, so cozy, so needed as the weather gets colder! You are welcome.
If you love cozy soups, I’ve got more for you! Also check out some of my other favorites on the blog such as Texas Chili, Ground Beef Vegetable Soup, Stovetop Beef Stew, and Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup.
Creamy Potato Soup with Bacon
Any dish that involves potatoes, bacon and cheese is most likely going to be a dish I end up loving. And this Creamy Potato Bacon Soup is no different.
That magical combo has proven to be well loved in so many recipes on the blog: Cheesy Bacon Potato Casserole, Baked Cajun Fries with Cheese Sauce, Loaded Baked Potato Salad…
And oops we totally did it again!
Creamy potato bacon soup is the latest potato/bacon/cheese recipe that you will love, crave and yes even have dreams about.
It is thick and creamy, yet not overly heavy, loaded with chunks of soft potatoes, flavored with bacon, cheese and sour cream.
Our creamy bacon potato soup is also the epitomy of coziness. Warm those cold hands by cupping a bowl of it. Snuggle up under a fuzzy blanket while you take bites into your potato bacon soup. Decompress by eating it in front of the television after a long day.
In addition to being the awesome comfort food that it is, I love that this creamy potato bacon soup recipe is super simple to make! Ready under 35 minutes and it calls for a short list of pantry-friendly ingredients.
Besides that, you can also prepare and freeze bacon potato soup ahead of time and it still taste like you just made in a few minutes ago.
ingredients for the best potato bacon soup
For this creamy potato bacon soup recipe, you will need a large pot or Dutch oven 6qt or larger, a baking sheet to bake the bacon, and these simple, pantry-friendly ingredients:
- Potatoes: I typically use russet potatoes for my creamy potato bacon soup, but any potato works great!
- Bacon: I typically use about 8 strips of good quality, delicious bacon. You can, of course, add more if you really want to. Go crazy with the bacon – I can’t blame you for that. Trust me when I say – this is the magic ingredient. So yeah, go crazy…
- All-purpose flour: This will help thicken the soup and make it rich and creamy. Yum…
- Whole milk: In my experience, 2% milk or less thins out the soup quite a bit. For an even creamier potato bacon soup, you can substitute half of the milk with half and half or heavy cream.
- Chicken broth: I find that “free range” chicken broth has the best flavor.
- Shredded cheddar cheese: Sharp, medium or mild. Whatever you prefer!
- Sour cream: Rounds out the flavor and makes it taste like loaded baked potato.
- Salt and pepper: So important to open up flavors for all the ingredients above! You won’t believe how a little bit of added salt can bring so much flavor to this soup. If soup tastes bland, try adding a little salt.
- Chives: Adds a fresh, mild onion-like bite and a pop of color when sprinkled on top. Green onions work great as a swap if that’s what you have on hand.
How to make creamy Potato Bacon soup
Step 1: Cook bacon
First, we will need to cook the bacon, unless you are using ready-cooked bacon (which works as well). The downside for using ready-cooked bacon is that you are missing out on the bacon grease to flavor the soup. If that is the case, you can use ~2 tbsp of butter to make up for the grease.
Pan fry the bacon straight in the Dutch oven or pot 6qt or larger that you are using the cook the soup. When it is done, remove bacon and leave the bacon grease in the pot.
Alternatively, you can also oven bake your bacon and spoon bacon grease formed into the Dutch oven.
Step 2: Make the soup
Next, bring flour to a large pot or a Dutch oven. Set heat to medium high and stir to combine. Immediately after that, add milk and chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Once soup boils, add potatoes and salt. We will be adding more salt later but we are adding salt here to season the potatoes while they boil.
Using a potato masher or immersion blender, mash potatoes in soup briefly until they are in small chunks. If you don’t have either, you can use a fork to break potato into smaller pieces.
By breaking up the potatoes, we are also thickening the soup. Because potatoes are starchy – after breaking them into smaller pieces, soup will appear chunkier and thicker.
Keep in mind that potatoes don’t have to be mashed until fine. Just break it into smaller pieces to give creamy potato bacon soup a chunky texture.
Then add cheddar cheese, sour cream and bacon to the soup. Stir and cook for a few more minutes to combine the flavors.
Boil creamy potato bacon soup until it reaches desired consistency. If soup gets too thick, add more chicken broth to thin it out.
Stir continuously so that the bottom of the pot doesn’t burn. Add salt and pepper to taste to open up the flavors.
Once potato and bacon cream soup is done, remove from heat and serve immediately!
Don’t forget to garnish! I like to add more bacon pieces, cheese, and chives to my Creamy Potato Bacon Soup.
I highly recommend serving with some crusty bread to soak up all that yummy soup! Yum yum yum!
Substitutions And Variations
- Creamier soup: To make soup even creamier and richer, use half and half instead of whole milk, or add heavy cream or half and half in addition to the whole milk.
- Add herbs: Herbs such as thyme, parsley are good adds to the soup for more flavor.
- Potato variety: Recipe calls for russet potatoes but feel free to use yellow potatoes, red potatoes, or any potatoes!
- Other cheeses: Colby jack, mozzarella, or any cheese that melts easily works well for this! Avoid hard cheeses.
- Other spices and aromatics: Diced onion and minced garlic add another layer of savory flavor – sauté them in the bacon fat for a minute or two before adding the flour.
Make Ahead, Storage, And Reheating
Make ahead: This loaded baked potato soup is a great one to make a day or two before you plan to serve it – the flavors actually deepen and meld the longer it sits. Just cool it completely before storing.
Storage: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
Freezer: You can freeze this soup for up to 3 months in an airtight, freezer-safe container. Leave off the cheese, chive, and bacon garnish before freezing, and know the texture may turn a little grainy once thawed because of the dairy – it’s still totally safe to eat.
Reheating: Warm it gently over low heat on the stovetop, stirring often, rather than microwaving on high or bringing it back to a hard boil – that helps keep the dairy from separating.
Tips and Tricks
A few things to take note when making Creamy Potato Bacon Soup:
- Cube size: Cut potatoes into small cubes (about 2 inches) so they cook down and soften quickly.
- Adjusting consistency: To thin the soup, stir in a little more of the broth. To thicken it, let it simmer a bit longer, stirring often, until it reaches the consistency you want.
- Season at the end: Salt added at the end opens up the flavors, not just adds saltiness – taste as you go and keep adding a little until every bite is bursting with flavor.
- Choose your potato wisely: Russet potatoes break down easily for that classic thick, creamy texture, but a waxier potato like Yukon Gold or red potatoes will hold their shape a bit more if you like a chunkier soup.
- Build flavor in the bacon fat: Cook the flour right in the reserved bacon fat instead of draining it out – this is basically a quick roux (fancy name for a flour-and-fat paste used to thicken soups and sauces), and it adds a deeper, smokier flavor to the whole pot.
- Shred your own cheese: Pre-shredded cheese is coated in anti-caking starches that can make the soup grainy instead of silky. A block of cheddar you shred yourself melts much smoother.
- Use an immersion blender for texture control: It lets you mash just some of the potatoes right in the pot, so you get a thick, creamy base while still leaving plenty of chunky potato bites.
- Let dairy come to room temp: Letting cold dairy sit out for a few minutes before stirring it into the hot soup helps keep it from curdling.
- Reheat low and slow: Warm leftover soup gently over low heat on the stovetop, stirring often – a hard boil can cause the dairy to separate.
Frequently Asked Questions
To thicken, simply cook for longer until soup reaches desired consistency. To thin out soup, add more chicken broth.
You can freeze potato bacon soup but the texture will be slightly grainy when it defrost (due to the dairy content). It is totally safe and edible though.
To freeze, bring soup to cool completely and store in an airtight container. Do not add garnish before freezing. Freeze in freezer for up to 3 months.
If using cooked potatoes, smash them into smaller pieces and then add to soup instead of boiling the potatoes and smashing them. Cooked potatoes may have a higher salt content than plain potatoes, so adjust the salt and bacon level accordingly.
To make this using mashed potatoes, use this Mashed Potato Soup recipe.
Peeling gives the soup its classic smooth, creamy texture, but if you don’t mind a bit of skin, you can leave some or all of the peel on for extra fiber and a more rustic bite.
This usually happens when the sour cream or cheese gets stirred into soup that’s boiling too hard. Bring the heat down to a gentle simmer before adding the dairy, and stir it in slowly rather than all at once.
Yes – swap the all-purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, or skip the roux altogether and stir in a cornstarch slurry at the end to thicken things up.
A big hunk of crusty bread for dipping is a must in my book, but a simple side salad or some cornbread rounds out the meal nicely too.
Definitely! This potato soup with bacon and cheddar is easy to bulk up with diced celery, carrots, or even corn – just sauté the sturdier veggies along with the onion and garlic if you’re using them.
Of course! If you want a truly cheesy potato bacon soup, stir in an extra 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar right before serving, or top each bowl with a generous handful for good measure.
ENJOYED THIS RECIPE? Tell us what you think by leaving a rating and review below! 🤍
More Soup Recipes
It’s soup weather and I’ve got more cozy soups for you!
- Ravioli Tomato Beef Soup
- Tomato Soup using canned tomatoes
- Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup
- Egg Drop Soup
- Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Turkey Stew
- Lamb Stew (by Lemons for Lulu)
Creamy Potato Bacon Soup
Ingredients
- 8 strips bacon plus more for garnish if desired
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 cups whole milk
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 lbs russet potatoes peeled, cubed (~2 inches)
- 1 tsp salt plus more to taste
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- black pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp chives chopped
Instructions
- Add bacon to a Dutch oven or large pot. Set heat to medium high and sear bacon on both sides until they reach desired crispiness. Remove bacon. Chop bacon into small pieces and set aside. If you prefer not to use all the grease, feel free to remove 1-2 tbsp.
- Add flour to the bacon grease. Stir to combine. Immediately after that, add milk and chicken broth. Stir and bring to a boil.
- Add potatoes to pot. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then cook for 10 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
- Using a potato masher or immersion blender, mash potatoes in soup briefly until they are in small chunks. They do not have to be finely mashed.
- Add cheddar cheese, sour cream and bacon. Optional: reserve a few pieces of bacon as garnish. Stir soup to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste to open up the flavors.
- Boil for a few more minutes then remove from heat.
- Garnish with cheddar cheese, chives and bacon pieces (optional). Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Bacon is cooked on the stovetop in the Dutch oven, Bacon grease formed is used to cook the soup, while butter was omitted.
- Whole milk is used instead of 2% milk for a creamier texture.
This soup is so delicious! We added Cesar salad and sourdough bread to round it out. I will definitely make it again.
That sounds like a delicious meal, Cynthia! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
This recipe has made me a legend, Joy! Only 2 changes & I keep making it the same as the first time I made it.💖
“Used beef broth & fresh rosemary in the liquid part of soup as that’s what I had on hand. Raves from everyone! TY!”
I use 2 huge sprigs of rosemary, chopped fine. (Throw in the broken stems too when boiling the potatoes) Remove stems & puree with immersion blender after potatoes are cooked=potato bisque.
OR mash with potato masher = chunky potato soup!
We’re killing it with this soup, Madame!😁
Thank you thank you! <3
We have tried several different potato soup recipes. This one is a winner by far!!
Yum! We got to try your recipe and loved it! Thank you!
So glad you tried this and loved it!