This post contains affiliate links.
My creamy homemade Baked Potato Soup recipe is loaded with crispy bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, and tender russet potatoes for the ultimate comfort meal.
We Make This Potato Soup All Winter Long.
We Make This Potato Soup All Winter Long.This cozy potato soup is thick, creamy, and loaded with texture from the chunky potatoes and bacon bits. Plus, everyone gets to customize their bowl with toppings, which makes it perfect for feeding a crowd or picky eaters.
But my favorite part of this baked potato soup recipe in particular, is saving the potato skins to make crispy potato skin chips that act as edible spoons for dipping. They're so delicious!
Try my other soup recipes, like Potato Leek Soup, Cabbage Roll Soup, Homemade Chili, Ham Bone Soup, and Instant Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup!
How to make Baked Potato Soup:
Bake Potatoes and Cook Bacon: Start cooking the bacon halfway through the potato cooking time. Let the baked potatoes cool until you are able to handle them. Cut in half, lengthwise and scoop out most of the potato flesh. Cook bacon until crispy then remove some bacon grease and crispy bacon.
Sauté Veggies: Melt butter then sauté leek and celery until tender. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds then sprinkle in flour and slowly pour in chicken broth. Add cooked potato flesh and break up with a wooden spoon. Add milk and season with salt and pepper. Cook until warmed through.
Blend: Use an immersion blender to gently puree half of the soup until you get the right texture (don't over-blend it or the potatoes will get a “gluey” texture. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese.
Serve: Top each bowl of soup with shredded cheese, bacon, sour cream, and chives. Serve with crispy potato skins for dipping.
Baked Potato Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 lbs russet potatoes
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 lb bacon, , cut into ½’’ thick slices
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 1 leek, , white and light green part, diced (or ½ of a medium onion, diced)
- 1 rib celery, , diced
- 2 cloves garlic, , minced
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 teaspoons chicken bouillon paste
- 2 cups whole milk or heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, , more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper, , more to taste
- 1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese, , + extra for topping
Toppings:
- Sour Cream, ,
- Diced Fresh Chives
Instructions
- Bake Potatoes: Add potatoes to a large baking tray and poke a few times with a knife or tines of a fork. Coat in a drizzle of oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour, or until fork tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool.3 lbs russet potatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper
- Shred cheese and allow to sit at room temp while you prepare the soup.1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese
- Finish Potatoes: Once potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut in half, lengthwise. Scoop out potato flesh and place potato skins on baking sheet. Drizzle skins with more olive oil, a little more salt and pepper and broil for a few minutes, until crispy.
- Cook Bacon: When potatoes are half way through cooking, add bacon to a large soup pot over medium heat and cook until the fat is rendered and bacon is crispy (8-10 minutes). Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Remove some bacon grease.½ lb bacon
- Sauté Veggies: Add butter to pan and allow to melt, then add leek and celery. Sauté until tender. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Sprinkle in flour and stir to combine, for 1 minute. Slowly add chicken broth and chicken bouillon paste, while stirring.3 Tablespoons butter, 1 leek, 1 rib celery, 2 cloves garlic, 2 Tablespoons flour, 2 cups chicken stock, 1 teaspoons chicken bouillon paste
- Scoop potato flesh into soup pot, breaking it a part with a wooden spoon. Add milk and season with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until warmed through.2 cups whole milk or heavy cream, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- Finish Soup: Use an immersion blender to gently puree about half of the soup until you get the texture you want. Don’t overdo it—we don’t want the potatoes to get “gluey” in texture. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese.
- Serve topped with extra shredded cheddar cheese, a big spoonful of bacon, sour cream and sprinkle of chives. Serve with crisp potato skins for dipping.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Text me new recipe ideas!
Simple, tasty ideas sent once a week. No spam.
Follow Me
Cooked potatoes in boiling water and skins were fried separate. Added More bacon and bacon fat. 10/10. Husband said it’s my best soup yet and I’ve made alot of soups.
This is one of the best soups we have had! Easy to make and tastes fabulous. Will be making this again.
This looks yummy but is there a non-dairy substitute for the milk that you could suggest? Love your recipes! Thanks!
So glad you’re enjoying the recipes! For a non-dairy swap, you can use unsweetened plain almond milk or oat milk in place of the whole milk. Just make sure it’s unflavored and unsweetened so it doesn’t change the taste. And if you want something creamier, try a splash of non-dairy creamer or full-fat coconut milk (just know it may add a little coconut flavor). Let me know if you try it!
It was super delicious with the almond milk. I used unsweetened and the recipe was delicious. Thanks so much for the suggestion!!
This looks so yummy!