Loaded Baked Potato Soup: This easy soup recipe is comforting on a cool night and quick enough for a busy weeknight dinner.
So… the grocery store had a sale on russet potatoes. With my bargain shopping and money-saving strategies I’ve been implementing lately, I totally took advantage of this deal. “Buy one 5 lb bag of potatoes for $2.99, get one free.” Say What!? Do you know how many meals/side dishes I can make with 2-5 lb bags of potatoes? This, my friend, is how this potato soup was born.
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Why You’ll Love This Soup Recipe
- Simple ingredients – Even though this soup has tons of flavor, the ingredients are easy to find and you may even have most of them on hand.
- Quick – This soup is ready in under 30 minutes so it’s a great option for a busy weeknight.
- Large batch – Whether you’re feeding a crowd or making a recipe that you want to freeze for later, this potato soup is a crowd-pleaser and freezes great.
Ingredients
You can find the full list of ingredients in the recipe card below but here are a few notes about key ingredients:
- Potatoes – I use russet potatoes but you can also use red or yellow potatoes if that’s what you have on hand.
- Chicken broth – You can use storebought or make your own homemade chicken broth or even broth out of a rotisserie chicken.
- Bacon bits – Real, cooked bacon bit pieces can purchased but you can also make your own bacon and chop it in to fine pieces. I love cooking bacon in the air fryer for this recipe since it’s quick.
- Ranch seasoning – The seasoning that comes in packets to make ranch dressing is recommended here. However, if you only have ranch dressing, that can work too. I’d start by adding ¼ cup of ranch dressing and adding more if desired.
- Sour cream – Don’t buy sour cream just for this recipe since it uses such a little amount. Try using cream cheese instead.
- Heavy cream – As with the sour cream, don’t buy a container of heavy cream just for this recipe. You can simply add a little more milk, or even a little butter if desired to help add depth to this soup.
How to Make Loaded Potato Soup
Just a few steps are required before letting this soup simmer on the stove to let the flavors come together.
Cube the Potatoes:
When you make potato soup, do you cut the potatoes up in to small chunks like this? Or do you leave them fairly large or mash them completely? I’ve had so many different versions of potato soup, and I can honestly say that I don’t really care how the texture of the soup is. But for this batch, I decided to cut them up in to about ½ in.-1 in. cubes.
- Boil potatoes in water, in a large stock pot until tender.
- Drain potatoes and return to pot.
- Add in remaining ingredients, and let simmer for at least 10-15 minutes to let cook through.
Tip: You can also boil potatoes in chicken broth instead of water for more flavor but reserve ½ chicken broth for the soup.
FAQs
Baking potatoes, cheese, bacon, sour cream, spices, milk and heavy cream come together to create a creamy, flavorful, comforting soup.
Making a roux for a soup can thicken it. You can do this by mixing together 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 tablespoon of cold water, then whisk it in to the soup and allow it to heat through and thicken until desired consistency. Tip: Adding a tablespoon of soup to the roux before adding it to the pot of soup can help make sure there aren’t clumps.
You don’t have to, and leaving the peels on can help potatoes stay more firm in the soup.
What to Serve with This Soup
This house salad recipe and these fluffy cheese biscuits go amazing with this loaded baked potato soup! They’re both easy and round out the meal wonderfully!
Related Recipes
If you love creamy soups like this loaded baked potato soup, then you can’t miss out on this creamy clam chowder (It also uses potatoes)! Or, if you like a little spice, this buffalo chicken soup is a family favorite.
Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!
Recipe
Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 pounds russet potatoes
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 Tablespoon onion powder
- 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- 1 cup real bacon bits
- 1 package ranch seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash, peel, and cut potatoes into small ½ inch cubes or so.
- Boil potatoes in water, in a large stock pot until tender.
- Drain potatoes and return to pot.
- Add in remaining ingredients, and let simmer for at least 10-15 minutes to let cook through.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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