This creamy potato soup is a classic comfort food full of rich flavors. So easy to make you only need one pot and one hour.
Do you need a little comfort in a bowl? Do you want to eat something hot and filling without loads of dishes? Then look no further. This creamy potato soup recipe is made with simple ingredients like potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, heavy cream, and milk. Oh, and did I mention butter and bacon.
Did you know that it is believed that Potato Soup has been around for more than 15,000 thousand years. With the first recipes coming from Peru and then slowly from the rest of the world as potatoes were introduced.
Soups made with potatoes became very popular due to the extreme scarcity of other foods. Nowadays potatoes are one of the top ten largest crops in the world making potatoes very affordable.
The secret to making your soup creamy
Beginning with the main ingredient, potato. I used russet potatoes but you can use Yukon golds, yellow or red potatoes. I wash and peel my potatoes but if you like the skin on that’s fine. The potato is one of the contributors to making the soup creamy by releasing starch.
The second runner-up is heavy cream. I used one cup in this recipe because it thickens the soup very well.
Last is evaporated milk. I used a whole 12-ounce can. This is one of the most important thickeners for potato soup. This is because while it helps to thicken it is the secret to the rich flavor of this recipe. It has a very distinct flavor that is just perfect for this soup.
Ingredients and variations
Bacon: I went with bacon to use the grease to sauté my veggies and for a nice topping at the end. As an alternative, you can skip the bacon and double the butter.
Butter: This was used also used to sauté the veggies.
Veggies: I used potatoes, onions, celery, and carrots as my base.
Flour: I used all-purpose flour as a thickening aide. But if you like your soups a bit thinner then this can be left out.
Seasonings: I went with good old salt and pepper. But if you are one of the people who like to spice things up you can add half of a teaspoon of red crushed pepper.
Chicken bouillon: I used this because most of the time this is what I use as my chicken stock.
Heavy cream: I added heavy cream because is great in helping to reach the desired creaminess in this recipe.
Evaporated milk: This is the star flavor in the recipe. I used it because it helps to thicken the soup but also has a very rich flavor. If you don’t have it or like it you can substitute it for milk. The difference between regular milk and evaporated milk is that the latter is heated until a little more than 50% of its water content has been evaporated.
Parsley: I added it as a garnish. But you can also add cheese, chives, and sour cream and make this into a loaded potato soup. You can even add croutons to add more crunchiness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Unfortunately, potato soup does not freeze well and it may not have to best texture. You can freeze it but it won’t be as good so I don’t recommend it.
Hands down the best side for this soup or any soup for that matter is bread. Especially a nice warm potato bread roll.
Creamy Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 3 strips bacon uncooked
- 1 cup onions
- 1 cup carrots
- 1 cup celery
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 pounds potatoes
- 4 cups water
- 1 ½ cups evaporated milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons parsley
Instructions
- Prep your vegetables – Wash, peel and cut your potatoes to about 1 inch thick. Dice your celery, carrots, onions and peel and mince your garlic.
- Prep your bacon – Cut your bacon into about half inch. In a Dutch oven cook your bacon on medium high for about 6 minutes or until crispy. Remove the bacon and set aside to use it as garnish.
- Sauté your vegetables – With the grease left from your bacon sauté your onions and carrots for about 2 minutes. Then add your celery and garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes. Now add your butter, flour and mix it in well until you no longer see the flour white.
- Add everything together – Now is time to add your potatoes, water, evaporated milk, heavy cream, salt and chicken bouillon. Give it a good stir. Cook everything on medium high heat for about 20 minutes occasionally stirring about every 10 minutes. Being very careful now with the aid of a hand blender, blend about half of the soup. Cook for and extra 10 minutes.
- Serve – Now serve and top with bacon pieces and parsley.
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