Potato Soup Recipe - Kristine's Kitchen (2024)

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Updated on Nov 6, 2023

See my guide on how to use an Instant Pot.

This potato soup recipe is simply the best! There’s nothing better on a cold day than a bowl of this creamy soup loaded with your favorite toppings.

Looking for more soup recipes? Try Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Cream of Mushroom Soup or Butternut Squash Soup next.

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Why You’ll Love This Potato Soup Recipe

  • Creamy and Comforting. This potato soup has a luxurious creamy texture, yet it’s made without milk or cream. Puree the soup until it’s completely smooth for the creamiest texture, or, if you prefer a chunky potato soup, partially puree it, leaving some bigger chunks of potatoes.
  • Simple Ingredients. Made with potatoes, onion, garlic, butter, cheese and seasonings, this homemade soup is as easy to make as it is delicious.
  • Toppings! Many of your favorite baked potato toppings are also perfect for serving on top of potato soup. Set out dishes of shredded cheddar cheese, cooked bacon crumbles, sliced green onions and sour cream, then let everyone add their toppings to their bowl of soup. This is a one pot meal that your family will request again and again.
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Ingredients

  • Butter: Adds richness to the soup.
  • Onion and Garlic: These aromatic ingredients add add depth of flavor.
  • Seasonings: You’ll need fresh or dried thyme, salt and pepper.
  • Broth: Use vegetable broth for a vegetarian soup. I recommend low sodium broth so that you can better control the amount of salt.
  • Potatoes: Use either gold potatoes or russet potatoes.
  • Cheddar Cheese: For added flavor. If you need a dairy-free recipe, omit the cheese and use olive oil instead of butter.
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What Kind of Potatoes are Best for Soup?

The best creamy potato soup is made with gold potatoes. Gold potatoes are waxy, buttery and low in starch content. They have a creamy, moist texture. This is exactly what you want if it’s a creamy soup you’re after. You can also use russet potatoes in this recipe, but the texture won’t be as quite as smooth and creamy.

Do you need to peel the potatoes? If you are using russet potatoes, I recommend peeling them. If you use gold potatoes, the choice is yours. The potato skins of gold potatoes are thin and tender and will be soft after cooking. However, if you want your soup to have an extra smooth texture, you’ll want to peel the potatoes even if using Yukon golds.

How to Make Potato Soup

Sauté the onion in butter in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot.

Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

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Stir in the broth, potatoes, thyme, salt and pepper.

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Simmer the soup, covered, until the potatoes are tender.

Remove the thyme stems if you used fresh thyme. Most of the leaves will have fallen off in the soup. If you used dried thyme this step isn’t necessary.

Puree the soup using an immersion blender or countertop blender.

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Stir in the shredded cheddar. Then serve, with toppings as desired.

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Make Ahead and Reheating

  • Make Ahead: This soup reheats well and can be stored for up to 3-4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  • To Freeze: The texture of potato soup may be somewhat different after freezing and reheating, but if that doesn’t bother you you can freeze it for up to 3 months.
  • To Reheat: The soup will thicken up over time, so you may wish to stir in some extra broth when reheating. Reheat over medium-low heat in a covered saucepan on the stove, stirring occasionally.

Serving Suggestions

  • Make a batch of Homemade Croutons to top bowls of soup.
  • Try my favorite Cornbread Recipe, or make a batch of Dinner Rolls.
  • Add a simple Kale Avocado Salad or Arugula Salad to round out the meal.
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More Favorite Soup Recipes

Try these potato soup recipes next: Potato Leek Soup, Crockpot Potato Soup and Instant Pot Potato Soup. You might also enjoy these soup recipes:

  • Lentil Soup
  • Split Pea Soup
  • Chicken Noodle Soup
  • Vegetable Soup
  • Tomato Soup

Potato Soup Recipe - Kristine's Kitchen (9)

5 from 4 ratings

Potato Soup

Servings: 6 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Total Time: 40 minutes mins

Quick to make with simple ingredients, this potato soup recipe is sure to become a family favorite! It's best served with lots of toppings – try it with shredded cheddar, green onions and bacon.

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Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup chopped sweet yellow onion
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 ½ cups low sodium vegetable broth, or chicken broth, plus up to ½ cup more as needed if soup is too thick
  • 2 ½ pounds gold potatoes, such as Yukon gold, or russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme, or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese*
  • Optional, for serving: crumbled cooked bacon, chopped green onions, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, as desired

Instructions

  • Heat the butter in a large pot, such as a Dutch oven, over medium heat until melted. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes.

  • Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.

  • Stir in the broth, potatoes, thyme, salt and pepper.

  • Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cover the pot and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, 15-20 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.

  • If you used fresh thyme, remove the thyme stems and discard. Puree the soup using an immersion blender or by transferring it in batches to a countertop blender. You can puree it until fully smooth, or leave some chunks of potatoes, depending on your preference. For the creamiest soup, puree until completely smooth.

  • Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese. Serve soup with toppings as desired.

Notes

  • I recommend buying a block of cheese and shredding it yourself. The pre-shredded cheese that you buy at the grocery store is often coated in an anti-caking agent and thus doesn’t melt as smoothly.
  • Leftover soup may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. When reheating, stir in a little extra broth as needed since this soup tends to thicken up over time.

Calories: 276kcal, Carbohydrates: 38g, Protein: 9g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 29mg, Sodium: 879mg, Potassium: 860mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 626IU, Vitamin C: 40mg, Calcium: 168mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is an estimate.

Cuisine: American

Course: Main Course, Soup

Tried this recipe?Mention @kristines_kitchen on Instagram or tag #kristineskitchenblog.

Recipe originally published October 2018. Retested, improved and updated October 2023.

This site contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Kristine's Kitchen!

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Potato Soup Recipe - Kristine's Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What is the best thickening agent for potato soup? ›

Cornstarch is a very effective thickener, and a little bit can go a long way. Add cornstarch to a small amount of cold water or other liquid (wine or stock) and whisk into a thick slurry.

How do you make potato soup not taste bland? ›

You can also add some grated cheese. I would use a hard cheese like Parmigiano or Romano. Now just season to taste. With a simple soup like potato, I would stick to salt and pepper only.

Why isn't my potato soup creamy? ›

Why isn't my potato soup creamy? Most creamy soups require you to add dairy of some sort into it. If you're finding your soup is too thin adding milk, add in cream instead, or whole milk.

What potato holds up best in soup? ›

Potatoes that are low-starch and high-moisture hold together better. Yukon Gold potatoes are on the medium-starch side and will hold their shape in soups. Red potatoes fall into the low-starch category, as do smaller, newer potatoes. Fingerling potatoes will do well in soups, as will long white potatoes.

How do you keep potato soup from getting too thick? ›

I always dump half the tater water out and add whole milk to get the right consistency. Potatoes contain starch which is a natural thickening agent.

Is cornstarch or flour better for thickening soup? ›

It's important to note that cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. If you need to substitute cornstarch to thicken liquid in a recipe that calls for ¼ cup (four tablespoons) flour, you only need two tablespoons cornstarch.

How to make can potato soup taste better? ›

A pinch of seasoning can make all the difference to freshen up the flavors in a ho-hum soup. Most canned soups have plenty of sodium, so skip the salt and stick with spices like cumin or curry powder or try dried herbs like basil or rosemary.

How can I deepen my soup flavor? ›

"If your broth is lacking in savory richness, try adding roasted onion, tomato paste, mushrooms, seaweed, soy sauce, or miso. These ingredients add umami flavor and depth to broth," she says. The choice of ingredient depends on the recipe, though.

Why is my potato soup bland? ›

Not Adding Acid. If a soup is tasting bland in the bowl, consider adding acid rather than salt. A squeeze of lemon or lime, or a dash of yogurt or sour cream can add brightness to the bowl.

How do you keep potatoes from getting mushy in potato soup? ›

Cut the potatoes into rissolettes and blanche them (i.e. cook them briefly, not to full doneness). Use the water you used in the soup and put the potatoes back in when you go to warm the soup again for serving. Since they're cut fairly small, they should be just about done without being mushy when you go to eat.

Can you overcook potatoes for soup? ›

Potatoes. Did you know that you can overcook potatoes? Depending on the potato used, you will get different results. Potatoes heavy in starch, like Russet and Baking potatoes, will get dry and crumbly if you overcook them but will be fine if you just mash them.

Why aren't my potatoes getting soft in my potato soup? ›

If your potato soup is still crunchy after cooking for 6 to 7 hours on high in the crockpot, it's likely that the potatoes were not cooked long enough or the crockpot may not have reached a high enough temperature.

Why do you add flour to the potato soup? ›

To make this easy potato soup recipe, you will need:
  1. Bacon: I recommend using center-cut bacon here, to keep it a bit more lean. ...
  2. Veggies: Onion and garlic.
  3. Flour: We will use flour to make a roux to thicken the soup. ...
  4. Chicken stock and milk: These will form the broth of our soup.
Oct 15, 2018

What are the two main thickening agents in soup? ›

cooking sauce or soup. Arrowroot starch thickens very quickly and it is unnecessary to bring the mixture to a boil for it to work. Cornstarch, on the other hand, requires heating the mix- ture to a boil to fully thicken the mixture and to avoid any “starchy” taste or texture in the fin- ished product.

Is cornstarch or potato starch better for thickening? ›

Potato starch has a lower gelatinization temperature than cornstarch, meaning it can thicken liquids faster when exposed to heat. If not fully cooked, cornstarch tends to leave behind residual, well, starchiness, whereas potato starch gives sauces a glossier, silkier texture.

Does cream cheese thicken potato soup? ›

Adding a little extra cream cheese is the best way to make this soup thicker. It's also possible to add sour cream or yogurt.

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