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This easy loaded baked potato soup recipe is simple to make, thick, and creamy. All your favorite baked potato flavors are packed into this comforting and warming meal!
You might also enjoy my Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole or Potato Soup with Bacon next.
Why you’ll love it
This baked potato soup is a favorite since it’s a hassle-free way to get all the cozy flavors of a loaded baked potato in a soup. Some readers have even said this is the one they’ve been searching for. It’s super hearty, and you’ve probably got most of the ingredients on hand.
In case you’re wondering, we’re not actually baking the potatoes for this soup. Techniques for making this recipe vary, but I find it easier to just get on with the soup and cook it all in one pot. I always go with the simpler option if the taste is there! And it definitely is.
What you’ll need
- Bacon – I’m a big fan of using bacon to enhance the flavor in dishes. Instead of using butter or oil in this recipe, I use the leftover bacon grease after crisping up the bacon for sautéing.
- Garlic and onion – my go-to is sweet (Vidalia) onions
- Potatoes – I like Russets best for this soup
- Flour and milk – while this baked potato soup is creamy, it doesn’t actually contain any heavy cream. I used whole (3%) milk along with some flour to thicken it.
- Chicken broth – to add more dimension to the broth
- Toppings – I chose sour cream for that classic baked potato flavor and creaminess, scallions for a pop of freshness, and freshly grated sharp cheddar along with the bacon!
What’s the best kind of potatoes to use?
- I prefer using Russet potatoes in this soup, which are often just labelled as baking potatoes at the grocery store, because they’re starchy and help thicken the soup nicely and are the preferred variety for baked potatoes. They also fall apart fairly easily, which is great for soups.
- I peeled them, but you could always scrub them and skip the peeling step. It’s totally up to you! Some people like the added texture.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- I like to mince garlic with this garlic press. It’s so handy.
- This is the Dutch oven I use, and kitchen shears make cutting up the bacon easy.
- I recommend grating your own cheddar from a block with a grater rather than using the pre-shredded kind in a bag. It melts way better and has a superior taste as well.
How to make baked potato soup
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Cut up the bacon, and fry until crispy in a soup pot. Remove the bacon and set aside, and leave behind about half the grease. Add the onion, and sauté until softened. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute. Slowly whisk in the milk until the flour is dissolved.
Pour in the broth, and add the potatoes and garlic. Scrape up the browned bits, and increase the heat. Right before it boils, turn it down and simmer until the potatoes are tender, then mash if desired. Stir in the sour cream and most of the cheddar and bacon, leaving some for topping.
Garnish with the scallions and extra bacon and cheese, season generously with salt & pepper, and enjoy.
Pro tip
As with any creamy potato soup, it’s very important to add enough salt to bring out all the flavors.
Substitutions and variations
- To give this soup more texture, I like mashing the potatoes a little bit (I just use my potato masher and do it right in the pot), but you can skip that step if you want them to be more intact.
- Want to add a little heat? Add a generous pinch of cayenne pepper or some crushed red pepper flakes.
- You could always add some ham or shredded Easy Baked Chicken Breast if you want more protein in here.
What to serve with baked potato soup
- This soup definitely eats like a meal, but some sourdough bread would be the perfect thing to serve it with if you’re looking for something else.
- If you are looking for an all-out comfort food meal, however, try a slice of my Cheesy Garlic Bread.
- A side salad makes a great pairing since this soup is pretty rich. I recommend mixed greens with my better than Olive Garden Italian Dressing.
Leftovers and storage
- Store any leftovers of this soup in an airtight container for 3-4 days max in the fridge.
- When reheating this creamy baked potato soup, do it on a low heat, stirring often. You will likely need to add some more chicken broth because the potatoes continue to release starch. The longer the soup sits, the more it will thicken up.
- This soup is okay frozen, but I do find that freezing potato soups can make them a little grainy when reheated. It will still taste good, though. Freeze for up to 3 months.
More cozy soup recipes
Let me know if you’ve tried this loaded potato soup recipe in the comments below. You can also find me on Instagram. Tag me #saltandlavender to showcase what you made!
Easy Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 6 strips bacon
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 4 large Russet potatoes diced
- 1/4 cup flour
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese or more to taste
- Chopped scallions to taste
- 3/4 cup sour cream or more to taste
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut up the bacon and add it to a soup pot (I use kitchen shears to make this job easy). Fry the bacon over medium-high heat until it's nice and crispy (about 10 minutes).
- Meanwhile, prep your onion and potatoes. You can peel the potatoes like I did, or scrub them and leave them unpeeled if you prefer.
- Once the bacon is done, take it out of the pot and transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Leave about two tablespoons of the bacon fat in the pot (it's fine to eyeball it). Discard the rest of the bacon fat or reserve it to use in another recipe.
- Add the onion to the pot and sauté it for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the flour and cook it for about a minute.
- Whisk the milk in slowly until the flour has dissolved.
- Add the chicken broth, garlic, and potatoes. Increase the heat to high. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. When the soup is almost boiling, reduce the heat and cover the pot with the lid slightly open. Let the soup simmer gently for 20 minutes.
- While the soup's cooking, get the cheddar, scallions, and sour cream ready.
- The potatoes should be quite fall-apart tender by now. I like to take my potato masher and mash the potatoes a little bit right in the pot, but if you want to leave the potatoes as-is, that's fine too.
- Stir in the sour cream and most of the cheddar and bacon (I reserve some to top the soup with). Season the soup with salt & pepper as needed. Top each bowl with the scallions and remaining cheddar and bacon.
Notes
- If at any point the soup is too thick for you (especially when reheating it), add in some chicken broth slowly until your desired consistency is reached.
- I suggest reheating this soup on a low heat and stirring it often. The potatoes can cement on the bottom if the heat is too high.
- This recipe is also on page 165 of the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I made this soup last night and it was awesome! I have leftovers for a couple of days as well. I did add about a teaspoon of cayenne and paprika as well as a couple teaspoons of salt and pepper while it was cooking which I think helped with flavor. Will definitely make again!
Yay! Thanks for leaving me such a nice review. So glad you enjoyed the soup, Natalie!
OMG! The creamiest, cheesiest most delicious potato soup EVER!! And quick enough to make on a weeknight!!! Family couldn’t stop with the compliments. DELICIOUS!!
I am so happy you liked it, Maria!! XO
Just finished eating dinner and loved the recipe. Paired nicely with a grilled cheese sandwich. Kids even went back for seconds!
Yay that’s awesome!! Thanks for letting me know! XO
Made it this morning, couldn’t be better, absolutely delicious!!
So glad to hear it! Thanks for letting me know 😀
Made this last week – loved it! I doubled the bacon because I’m a fiend for bacon… actually found that the reheating trick with some extra chicken stock worked really well, and it tasted just as good if not better!
That’s awesome!! Thanks for letting me know. Mmm bacon… ♥️🤗
Made this with veggie stock (instead of chicken stock) and about a 1/2 cup of vegetable oil (instead of bacon/bacon grease) to make this vegetarian-friendly for my boyfriend. It ended up being a really delicious, creamy, hearty soup.
Additionally, I ended up adding 3 cups of broth instead of 1. I cut up more potatoes than the recipe called for by accident, so this was more compensatory than anything. I ended up cooking for longer (35 min) as well. I used red potatoes because i felt that the taste could compensate for the lack of bacon grease.
The technique that you used with adding the flour to the onions also really made it SO much easier to get a homogenous mix with the milk. I also used a handheld blender at the end of cooking to get a nice, textured mix of whole chunks and puréed potato. Leaving the skin on my red potatoes gave some amazing colour and taste to the soup.
The only thing I would recommend is including more spices to add flavour that combats the heaviness of how creamy the soup is. I added double the garlic, some oregano, salt, pepper, a little bit of onion powder, and whatever was in the veggie stock powder that I used to make the broth.
Will definitely make again! I love your instagram feed tons – thanks for the recipe 🙂
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!! Thanks for leaving a detailed review. Yup, it’s definitely a good base recipe. I don’t tend to include too much garlic/spices in recipes like this because others will say there’s too much lol. But I’m all for it personally!
I just made this for dinner as my husband has been requesting potato soup! It was delicious!! I added corn to it, almost like a chowder, it was pretty darn good!
That’s awesome! I’m so glad it was enjoyed. Thanks for leaving me a comment – really appreciate it. 🙂
Outstanding and easy to make!! I had a half cup of whipping cream and 3 1/2 cups of 2% milk on hand. The substitute worked well. It was very tasty!!
So happy you enjoyed it, Beth! 😀
One thing left out in the recipe instructions was how to prepare the potatoes. Usually you see “cut in to 1” cubes” or diced but the way this recipe reads you’re just throwing them whole, is that right?
Hi Lindsey, no… in the ingredients list I indicate that the onion is to be “chopped” and the potato is to be “diced”. In step 2 when I say “Meanwhile, prep your onion and potatoes. You can peel the potatoes like I did, or scrub them and leave them unpeeled if you prefer.”, I am providing a little more info that I was not able to easily describe in the ingredients list. Since I already say “chopped” and “diced”, I didn’t want to be redundant. This is a common way of writing recipes – if the preparation technique is simple, then it’s written in the ingredients list. Hope this helps clear up any confusion!
I made this recipe last night and it was so easy to follow and tasted delicious! Thanks for sharing!!
So glad you enjoyed it, Danica!! Thanks for leaving me a comment! 🙂