Creamy Potato Soup with Bacon and Cheddar

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Creamy potato soup with crispy bacon, golden potatoes, and sharp cheddar. Blended silky smooth in one pot and ready in about an hour. So easy and cozy! Make it on the stovetop, in an Instant Pot, or in a Slow Cooker.

Creamy Potato Soup That Tastes Like a Loaded Baked Potato

I already have two chunky potato soups on the site: my new creamy kielbasa potato soup and the reader-favorite Italian sausage potato soup, so I wanted this one to go in the opposite direction. Completely smooth, no chunks, closer to a good steakhouse potato soup than a hearty stew. The texture comes from the toppings instead: crispy bacon, sharp white cheddar, and thinly sliced scallions.

You'll love it because it's easy, budget-friendly, and one-pot. It literally tastes like baked potato! Serve it with something for dipping. I like thick slices of my homemade bread machine white bread, warm garlic butter dinner rolls, or my bacon and cheddar cheese scones, which double down on everything already in the bowl.

Why You'll Love This Potato Soup

• One pot from start to finish
• Silky and thick without any canned soup or instant potato flakes
• Bacon fat flavor in every spoonful, not just on top
• Ready in about an hour
• Easy to adjust from smooth to slightly chunky
• Reheats beautifully for lunch the next day
• Feeds 6 to 8 people for very little money

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Bacon: I used 6 ounces of thick-cut bacon, chopped. I recommend thick-cut bacon because it stays meaty instead of shattering, especially since it's also used as the garnish. Pancetta works well, too.
• Golden potatoes: I recommend Yukon Gold or any yellow potato. They're buttery and blend into a silky purée without turning gluey. Russets work since the soup is blended anyway. I'd skip red potatoes, which stay waxy.
• Butter: I use unsalted butter to control the saltiness, since the bacon and stock both bring plenty of salt. Olive oil works for a lighter soup.
• Onion and celery: Both diced. You can leave out the celery, but it does add a nice savory flavor. A leek (white and light green parts only) is a great swap for the onion.
• Garlic and fresh thyme: I use six cloves of garlic, which might sound like a lot, but the flavor softens as the soup cooks and becomes even milder once blended. Use ¼ teaspoon of dried thyme if you don't have fresh.
• Chicken stock: Vegetable stock or water works too.
• Whole milk and heavy cream: You can use half-and-half instead, and full-fat coconut milk is the dairy-free option.
• Sharp white cheddar: Grate it fresh off the block. Pre-shredded cheese is coated to prevent clumping and never melts as nicely. You can also use yellow cheddar, Gruyère, smoked gouda, or Asiago.
• Other supporting ingredients: You will also need all-purpose flour for the roux, a bay leaf, and a teaspoon each of Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce stirred in at the end. For a gluten-free version, skip the flour and add ½ pound more potatoes.

What to Serve With Potato Soup

This soup wants bread. My garlic butter dinner rolls are the obvious pairing, and my bacon and cheddar cheese scones double down on the toppings in the best way. If you bake your own loaves, my seeded rye bread contrasts beautifully with all that cream, and this bread machine white bread is the easy route.

Add a salad on the side, like my strawberry spinach salad with poppy seed dressing or my sweet potato kale salad.

Variations

• Loaded baked potato soup: Stir extra sharp cheddar into the pot off the heat, and garnish each bowl with sour cream along with the bacon and scallions.
• Roasted garlic potato soup: Swap the 6 fresh cloves for about 8 roasted cloves for a deeper, sweeter garlic flavor. Add them with the potatoes.
• Smoky potato soup: Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika with the garlic, and dust a little over each bowl when serving.
• Loaded with vegetables: Stir 2 cups of chopped kale or spinach into the finished soup and simmer for 2 minutes, or add 2 diced carrots with the onion and celery.
• Ham instead of bacon: Skip the bacon, start with 2 extra tablespoons of butter, and stir in 1½ cups of diced cooked ham after blending.

How to Make Creamy Potato Soup (Step-by-Step Photos)

This overview covers the method and provides a few tips. Scroll up for the full ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card above.

• Render the bacon: Add the chopped bacon to a cold Dutch oven, then turn the heat to medium. Cook 8 to 10 minutes until crisp, remove to a paper towel-lined plate, and leave all the fat in the pot.
• Cook the vegetables: Melt the butter into the bacon fat, then cook the onion and celery for 7 to 8 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic and thyme for 30 seconds.

• Make the roux: Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir constantly for about 2 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.

• Simmer the potatoes: Add the potatoes, stock, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are very tender. Remove the bay leaf.
• Blend: Use an immersion blender to purée the soup until completely smooth, or blend only partway if you'd like some texture.

• Finish: Stir in the milk, cream, Dijon, and Worcestershire, then simmer gently for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt.
• Garnish and serve: Ladle into warm bowls and top with the reserved bacon, grated cheddar, scallions, and cracked black pepper.

Recipe FAQ

1. Can I make this without a blender? Yes. Use a potato masher and mash the potatoes right against the side of the pot. You'll get a rustic, chunky soup instead of a smooth one, which is exactly how I do it in my kielbasa potato soup.
2. Why did my soup turn gluey? Almost always the potato variety or over-blending. Russets have too much starch for a blended soup. Stick with golden or red potatoes, and stop blending as soon as it turns smooth.
3. Why did my soup separate? The cream got too hot. Once the dairy goes in, keep the pot at a very gentle simmer, around 185°F (85°C). Boiling cream in a soup with mustard in it is asking for trouble.
4. Can I make it vegetarian? Yes. Skip the bacon, start with 2 extra tablespoons of butter or olive oil, and use vegetable stock. Add ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika with the garlic to replace the smoky bacon flavor.
5. How do I make it thicker? Simmer it uncovered for a few extra minutes after you add the dairy. You can also whisk 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into 2 tablespoons of cold water, stir it in, and simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Can I use milk instead of heavy cream? You can, and the soup will still be good, just noticeably lighter. I'd use 1¾ cups of whole milk total and add an extra tablespoon of butter at the end.

More Soup Recipes

• Creamy Kielbasa Potato Soup
• Italian Sausage Potato Soup
• Hungarian Mushroom Soup
• Chicken Gnocchi Soup
• Tuscan White Bean Soup with Sausage and Kale
• Vegetable Beef Soup
• One-Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Creamy Butternut Squash, Sausage, and Orzo Soup
• Ham and Lentil Soup (Slow Cooker)
• Best Lentil Soup (Vegan)

If you try my Creamy Potato Soup, have questions, or just want to say hi, I would love to hear your feedback in the comments below. Julia.