This Baked Potato Soup has a thick and creamy broth that’s loaded with bacon and chives, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and smooth potatoes. It’s the ultimate comfort food and so easy to make!
Be sure to try my Cream of Broccoli and Sausage Potato Soup recipes next!
Baked Potato Soup
Welp, this should have been the first recipe that I ever made on the blog. It’s the ultimate comfort food, and quite possibly my new all-time favorite soup recipe. (And I’m critical when it comes to my soups.)
I love that it encompasses everything that I love about a loaded baked potato. Bacon, chives, cheese, butter, the works.
I have some handy PRO Tips that you’ll want to check out too, but first take a look at how easy it is to make:
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Cut the bacon into squares and cook low and slow until crisp. Meanwhile, submerge diced russet potatoes in 1 inch of water. Add salt and boil gently for about 20 minutes or until fork tender.
Drain the potatoes. Gently mash and set aside.
Leave 1 tablespoons of bacon drippings in the pot. Add the onions and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the butter and garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
Stir in flour, mix and cook for 1 full minute to cook off the raw flour taste.
Add the chicken broth, then the half and half. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Add the potatoes. Mix in the sour cream and some pepper.
Remove from heat. If desired, blend with an immersion blender or transfer it to a blender in batches. (I prefer to do this for a creamier and smoother consistency.)
Gradually sprinkle in the shredded cheese. Stir until combined. Add the bacon and chives and serve! Note that the soup will continue to thicken as it stands.
Pro Tips
- Cheese: Cracker Barrel Sharp Yellow Cheese is my brand of choice as it has great flavor and melts smoothly. Aged/crystalized cheese won’t melt well, aim for a soft consistency!
- Avoid using bagged shredded cheese, as it contains cellulose which prevents the cheese from melting smoothly.
- Milk may be used instead of half and half, just note that the broth won’t be quite as thick. Microwave the milk for 45 seconds prior to adding it to avoid curdling.
- Plain Greek Yogurt can be used instead of sour cream..
- Cook the potatoes separately in water instead of in the soup. It’s not only a time saver as they can cook while the bacon cooks, but it also removes a bit of excess starch which prevents the soup from becoming gluey.
- If preferred, you can use an immersion blender to further blend the soup. It will appear thinner at first, but will continue to thicken upon standing. (Get one on Amazon here.)
- This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 36!
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- 4-Quart Dutch Oven– This is the perfect size for this soup. This one is high quality and you’ll have it forever. (I use one almost every time I cook!)
- Box cheese grater – I always shred cheese from a block in my recipes. It melts and tastes better than packaged shredded cheese.
- Garlic Twister– it’s much more flavorful to mince fresh garlic. This twister does it in seconds and is easy to clean and store.
- Soup Bowls –(I love these!)
- 16 oz. storage containers – I use these to store/freeze my soups. They have 8 oz. sizes as well. They’re stackable, leak proof, and dishwasher/microwave safe.
Try These Next
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Tried This Recipe?
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Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 4 large russet potatoes, equal to 2 lbs.
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 6 slices thick cut bacon
- 1 large yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup flour
- 3 ½ cups Chicken broth
- 2 cups half and half
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/8 cup chives, finely diced
Instructions
Prep Work
- Shred the cheese from a block, measure out the sour cream and half and half. Let them all sit out at room temperature.
Cooking Instructions
- Cut the bacon into 1-inch squares with kitchen shears. Cook in a large pot over low heat, rotating occasionally. They’ll overlap at first but will shrink down as they cook. Remove and set aside once crisp. Leave 2 Tablespoons of drippings in the pot.
- While the bacon cooks, peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-inch cubes. Add to a stock pot and cover the potatoes with 1 inch of water. Add the salt and boil gently for 20 minutes or until very fork tender. Drain, then gently mash. Set aside.
- Add the diced onion to the pot with the bacon drippings and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and butter and cook 1 more minute.
- Whisk in flour, use a silicone spatula to stir as the flour cooks for 1 full minute to remove the raw flour taste.
- Add the chicken broth. Use a silicone spatula to loosen any bacon remnants from the bottom of the pot, this will add flavor.
- Slowly add the half and half. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Stir in the potatoes, then mix in the sour cream, and pepper.
- Remove from heat. If desired, blend with an immersion blender or transfer it to a blender in batches. (I prefer to do this for a creamier and smoother consistency.)
- Gradually sprinkle with shredded cheese and stir until combined. Make sure the base of the soup isn’t too hot or the cheese won’t melt creamy and smooth. The soup will continue to thicken as it sits.
- Garnish with chives and bacon, serve!
Notes
- Cheese: Cracker Barrel Sharp Yellow Cheese is my brand of choice as it has great flavor and melts smoothly. Aged/crystalized cheese won't melt well, aim for a soft consistency!
- Avoid using bagged shredded cheese, as it contains cellulose which prevents the cheese from melting smoothly.
- Milk may be used instead of half and half, just note that the broth won’t be quite as thick. Microwave the milk for 45 seconds prior to adding it to avoid curdling.
- This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 36!
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
This recipe makes about 2.5 quarts of soup, or 10 cups. Each serving is just over a cup.
This soup was delicious!! Definitely adding it to our meal rotation!
Thanks so much! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!❤️
This soup is delicious! Great recipe! Next time, I’m going to add more potatoes & bacon to make it chunky after I puree it. Excellent soup! Yum!
So happy that you loved the soup Nicole!! I love your plan for next time!! 🙂 -Stephanie
So it says chives in ingredients but green onions in the recipe? I bought chives but decided to use the green onions. It was delicious!
Hiii Heather!! I am sooo happy that you loved this soup! You’re RIGHT! I updated it to say chives throughout, since that’s more commonly found on a loaded baked potato, but either one is great. I use green onions often as we have them in our garden, so that’s probably why it was in my head! 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it!
Could you use heavy cream instead of half and half, or is that completely different?
Hi Sarah, you definitely can, it will just be a little more rich/thick. Half and half is 1/2 milk and 1/2 light cream 🙂
I used the same pot the entire time….. didn’t notice until after how there was a green and a white one used in video. I just saw stock pot multiple times. The video also said boil for 10 min and recipe says 20? I did 15 to be safe. If potatoes were boiled with the drippings remaining is that okay??
Hi! One pot is used to cook and mash the potatoes, and another to cook the bacon and create the base for the soup. If you cooked the potatoes in a pot with drippings, that’s fine! The boiling time of the potatoes really depends on when they’re very fork tender, I think I changed it from 10 to 20 to be safe 🙂
Is there a way to modify this to make in a crock pot?
Hi Ashley, this particular recipe relies on varied temperatures on the stove top. Cream based soups also run the risk of curdling in the crock pot.
If you don’t blend it, do you just have chunks of potatoes?
Hi Taylor, if you don’t blend it, you don’t really have chunks, since the potatoes are mashed. But you do have more texture, which some prefer 🙂
This soup is fricken delish.
Love it. Thank you.
You’re very welcome Denise! I’m so happy you liked it, thanks so much for the great review!😃
Made this tonight, followed recipie. Really good. I would like to make again and put in a sourdough bowl. Make a little garlic toast with the cutout bread . Using the bread as a spoon this would even be more amazing. The bacon made it, but that’s bacon. Thanks!
A sourdough bowl would be amazing Krista! I’m so happy you enjoyed this, thanks so much for the great review!😃
I’m not a huge soup fan. And potato is really not a filling meal for me…… now this soup is AMAZING!!!! We also fried some kilbosa sausage to eat in it but even without it this soup is amazing. We left our potatoes a lil more whole also.
Yayyy! My husband always says the same thing, “soup isn’t a meal Steph”, lol then he eats it all. Thanks so much for the great comments Amber!💕