How To Make Potato Soup
So heres our Russet. Each of the big guys weighs about a pound. Peel em up and chop them pretty small, about 1/2 inch or so. You should end up with about 4 cups, but its ok to be slightly over or under to use what you have on hand.
Now, peel and chop up 1-3 carrots, depending on size. Dice them up nice and small. You want about a cup, more or less, you do you.
Finish The Potato Soup
Add the pureed potato mixture, remaining broth, and reserved potato chunks. Cook the soup until heated and adjust the seasonings. If a thinner soup is desired, stir in a little more milk or half-and-half.
Test Kitchen Tip: To make potato soup without peeling or cubing the potatoes, skip step 1 above, and go with baking the potatoes instead of boiling them. If using baked potatoes, sauté the onion in melted butter in step 3, then continue making the creamy base as directed.
Now that you know the best potatoes for soup, grab your favorites and try one of these delicious comforting potato soup recipes.
Heres What Im Going To Teach You In This Post:
- The few ingredients youll need for my 4 ingredient potato soup recipe
- How to make this easy soup with few ingredients, and the equipment youll need to make it extra creamy
- Things to keep in mind when preparing your own easy potato soup at home
If youve got old-fashioned potato soup on your mind, Im here to teach you how to make it yourself! Head to your kitchen and lets get started.
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What Kind Of Potatoes Are Best For Potato Soup
I chose to use russet potatoes for my potato soup for a few reasons. They mash easily and are a bit starchier than other potato varieties, which helps make a nice thick soup. Youkon Gold, which are slightly starchy and slightly waxy and hold their shape better, so they are a good option if you like your soup to be more on the chunky-soupy side rather than thick and velvety.
Looking for a Sweet Potato Soup? Check out my Creamy Sweet Potato Soup.
How To Make 4 Ingredient Potato Soup
A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.
STEP ONE: In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat some olive oil over medium-high heat. Add in your chopped onion and saute for 5 minutes, or until soft and slightly translucent.
STEP TWO: Add in your peeled and chopped potatoes and season a bit with some salt and pepper. Add the vegetable broth so that it covers the potatoes and bring everything to a boil.
Reduce the heat and cover. Let simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until you can pierce the potatoes with a fork. Remove the pot from heat and stir in your milk .
STEP THREE: Use an immersion blender to blend your 4 ingredient potato soup to the consistency of your liking. For extra creamy potato soup, blend until smooth.
STEP FOUR: If youd like, you can add in some additional ingredients such as butter, thyme, or garlic powder. Serve your soup with crumbled pieces of bacon, cheddar cheese, chopped green onions, or another garnish of your choice!
Also Check: Wholesale Soup And Dip Mixes
The Steps I Follow For This Soup
Making potato soup from scratch is simple, and it all happens in one pot! Heres an overview of how to make it .
There are two ways to serve this soup: brothy or thick and blended. We love both and making them is the same except for the last step. For a thick, luxurious, and blended soup use a potato masher or immersion blender to puree or mash about half of the potatoes in the soup to thicken it.
What To Serve With It
We always serve this soup with a crusty baguette, or another bread to dip in the soup. This is a must in my book! Then sometimes well add a salad on the side or roasted veggies. Its really delicious with any of these tasty recipes!
- ¼cupfresh chopped parsley,or 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 1cupSwiss cheese,shredded
Recommended Reading: Gluten Free Dairy Free Cream Of Celery Soup
How To Make Potato Soup Step By Step Photos
This recipe starts with BACON! Cook ¼ lb. of bacon in a soup pot over medium heat until brown and crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a clean bowl or plate and leave the bacon grease in the pot.
While the bacon is cooking, dice one yellow onion and mince four cloves of garlic. Add them to the pot after removing the bacon and continue to sauté over medium heat in the bacon grease until the onions are soft and translucent.
Next, add 3 Tbsp butter and 3 Tbsp flour to the onions and garlic. Continue to cook and stir over medium heat for about two minutes. The butter and flour will form a roux that helps thicken the soup.
While the onions are sautéing, peel and dice 2 lbs. russet potatoes into ½-inch cubes. The smaller the cubes, the faster theyll cook.
Add 2 cups chicken broth and 2 cups whole milk to the pot. Whisk to dissolve all the flour and butter, then add the diced potatoes.
Simmer the potatoes in the soup for about 15 minutes, or until they are VERY soft. The total time needed will depend on the size of your potato cubes, but you need to let them simmer until theyre easily pierced with a fork so that theyll be easily mashable.
Use a potato masher or immersion blender to partially mash the potatoes or until the soup is to your desired thickness .
Then its time to add some more seasoning. I added ½ tsp smoked paprika, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper.
Delish!
How To Make Potato Soup:
To make this potato soup recipe, simply:
Read Also: Instant Pot Beef Roast With Lipton Onion Soup Mix
Tips For Perfect Creamy Potato Soup
- Cut your potatoes into pieces no larger than ¾ and try to keep them around the same size so that they cook at the same time. Nothing worse than biting into a crisp, raw-inside chunk of potato!
- To make this soup nice and creamy, I recommend pureeing about half of it either by using an immersion blender or by transferring a portion of the soup to a blender, pureeing, and then stirring the pureed soup back into the pot . If you want a completely smooth soup you can puree all of it, but I prefer to have a few actual pieces of potato, so I think pureeing half gives it the best taste and texture.
- Dont return the bacon to the pot until after you have pureed some of the soup. Its best not to blend the bacon .
- The ancho chili powder is, in my humble opinion, a must and gives this soup the most perfect depth of flavor. I blend it into the potato soup and also sprinkle it on top before serving. I recommend adding just a ¼ teaspoon and then taste testing before adding more.
This would make a great comfort food for this cold and windy weekend , and while I dont follow football at all I do know that this would be great to make ahead and enjoy during the big game this weekend.
Who really cares about football when you can make yourself a Super Bowl of soup! OK OK Im sorry, enough of that!
Enjoy!
Best Potato Soup Recipe Toppings
The best part about this potato soup recipe is all the delicious toppings you can add! Its nice because it makes it very customizable for each person. I actually feel like this soup needs very little garnish. It is stands alone very well, I eat it without the cheese even a lot of the time.
Topping ideas:
- chopped green onions
- chopped fresh parsley
- crumbled bacon
- sour cream
These are the basics. Other options include adding proteins like ham, rotisserie chicken, or spicy sausage. Or you could add in vegetables like corn, roasted veggies, jarred peppers, etc. If youre looking to get rid of some leftovers, potato soup can be a great vehicle!
Also Check: Is Hot And Sour Soup Keto
Best Potatoes For Soup
Here are the most common varieties of potatoes that will work best for every type of soup recipe.
Round white potatoes : These round, white spuds are low in starch and are often called waxy potatoes. They hold their shape better after cooking. This makes them one of the best potatoes for soup when you want chunks of potato with skins still on.
Russet potatoes : Russets are high in starch and have a light, mealy texture. They are best for baked potatoes, French fries, and mashed potatoes. These are also the best choice for baked potato soup.
Purple potatoes : Purple potatoes are medium in starch with qualities similar to yellow potatoes. For their best appearance, use them cubed in soups rather than mashed as a thickener . Their purple color gives them an antioxidant boost that white potatoes lack.
Yellow or Yukon Gold potatoes : These are medium in starch, all-purpose potatoes. They contain more moisture than high-starch potatoes , so they don’t fall apart as easily. These are a good choice for soups that require part of the potato to be mashed for thickening and the rest to be left in chunks.
New red potatoes : These have similar qualities as round white potatoes, and can be used in many of the same ways. New red potatoes are best when you want a bit of color from the skin.
Fingerling potatoes : Fingerlings are best when their unique shape and size is highlighted in a soup. Leave the skin on and halve any large ones. Use them in broth-based soups or stews.
Tips From The Betty Crocker Kitchens
- tip 1 A classic baking potato is the russet, which is one of the most starch-filled in the world of spuds. That starch is released as the potatoes cook in the broth, becoming part of the underpinning of a rich, thick soup.
- tip 2 Think outside of the bowl for serving up soup. Serve in mugs for an extra cozy feel, or hallow out a round loaf of bread to create a bread bowl.
- tip 3 Because of the millk and sour cream used in this recipe, it’s not a candidate for freezing.
- tip 4 A quick route to uniformly crisp pieces of bacon is to cut the slices crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces. Scrape them into the large skillet and fry them over medium heat until deeply golden brown.
Recommended Reading: Amy’s French Country Vegetable Soup
How To Make Creamy Potato Soup
If an especially creamy, comforting potato soup is what youre after, there are a few kitchen tricks for that, too.
Add cream or milk: If you want a super creamy potato soup, add some heavy whipping cream or sour cream to the soup mixture. If youre watching your calorie count, you can use regular milk too which will still help you achieve some creaminess, but keep in mind your soup will be less creamy if you use skim milk instead of whole milk or 2% milk.
Add yogurt: If you want the creaminess that comes with a bowl of potato soup but are trying to be mindful of your waistline, you can also try adding plain Greek yogurt. It adds a slight tangy flavor to the soup, but acts much like heavy cream or sour cream in texture.
Add more cheese: Is there really such a thing as too much cheese? Go ahead, add a bit more in there than the recipe calls for we wont tell.
How To Make Potato Soup In A Slow Cooker
So you already how to make potato soup, but you dont have a ton of time to spend standing over the stove. We get it! Thats why we love our trusty slow cookers. For you busy people, this delicious potato soup cooks for eight hours in the slow cooker so you can come home to a five-star meal without putting forth hardly any effort. Heres how to do it!
What You Need:
- 2 cups shredded American cheese
- 4 medium green onions, sliced
Step 1: First, spray a 3 ½- to 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Reserve ¼ cup of broth in a small bowl cover and refrigerate. In the slow cooker, mix chopped onions, diced potatoes and remaining broth.
Step 2: Cover the slow cooker and cook on the Low heat setting for eight hours. After the eight hours, increase the heat setting to High. In a small bowl, beat cornstarch and reserved broth until smooth. Add this mixture to the slow cooker and stir. Cover and heat until simmering, then cook 10 to 15 minutes longer or until the mixture has thickened.
Step 3: Next, stir in the Cheddar cheese until melted.
Step 4: Spoon soup into individual bowls and sprinkle with green onions. To round out the meal, serve with a side of bread or a salad.
Recommended Reading: How To Remove Tomato Soup Stain
How Do You Fix Bland Potato Soup
Sauteed aromatics, herbs, dairy, and more there are tons of ways to improve a bland potato soup.
First up, a little seasoning goes a long way. This recipe only requires two seasonings: salt and pepper.
Season the soup generously with just those two, and youll be rewarded.
Heres another effortless technique: instead of water, boil the vegetables in chicken or beef stock.
Or, you can also drop a cube or two of bouillon into the boiling water to flavor it.
If you want to brighten up its flavor, even more, you cant go wrong with fresh herbs. I love the aroma and flavor of rosemary and thyme in my soup.
If you really want to up the ante, sautee some onions and celery in olive oil or butter. This will enhance the flavor of the soup significantly.
Make it richer with dairy. I like to use heavy cream in mine, but half-and-half also works.
Also, add cheese lots and lots of it. My go-to combination is cheddar and parmesan.
What Are The Best Potatoes For Soup
Youll want starchy potatoes when making potato soup. They break down as they cook, releasing their natural starches that in turn thicken the soup.
That said, Russets are the best because out of all the spuds, theyre the starchiest.
Yukon Golds come in second because of their creamy and buttery flavor.
Since theyre able to hold their shape well, theyre great specifically if you want chunky potato soup.
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Easy Potato Soup Recipe
An Easy Potato Soup Recipe made with simple ingredients, this soup is savory and delicious, a thick, creamy filling stew that is easy to make! This is the BEST Potato soup recipe and is delicious any time of year!
It’s hearty and filling and simply scrumptious AND on your table in just 30 minutes!
Next time try Instant Pot Potato Soup with Ham – this one is DE-lish!!!
How To Thicken Potato Soup
Nobody wants to eat watery potato soup. Were all about the creeeeamy. For this potato soup recipe, we are using two different methods to help get that thick, luxurious texture. The first is to make a bechamel.
Start off by melting some butter and adding in some flour, salt and pepper. This is called a roux. I know, so many fancy French words.
Next we turn this goodness into a white sauce by adding milk. Sloooowwwwly. Dont you dump it in all at once. You dont want flour chunks in your soup do you?? Didnt think so. As you slowly add the milk to the roux, the milk becomes thickened and adds richness to the flavor and texture of the soup. Yes please.
When you add your first bit of milk your roux is going to seize up and spit at you and you are going to think you have completely screwed up. I mean look at this mess in the picture on the left! Never fear, just keep whisking, keep adding milk slooowly, and pretty soon it will turn into creamy goodness, I promise! Observe:
See? Perfection! Taste it. So homey, right?
The second way to thicken the soup is to use the starch in the potatoes themselves. Do you see how tender this potato is after boiling? This is what I was talking about up there when I said Russet potatoes fall apart.
There should be no resistance at all. Use a potato masher or fork to roughly mash the mixture to your desired texture. As you mash the cooked potatoes, the natural starches are released into the broth and thicken it. Its magical.
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