Cream of Potato Soup is an easy soup recipe made with simple ingredients. It’s velvety, comforting, and perfect to warm you up in the cold!
Whether it’s creamy Baked Potato Soup or chunky Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Soup, a hearty, warm bowl of Soup filled with potatoes is always cozy and satisfying. This lighter potato soup is just as comforting but you’ll still have room for dessert!
Why You’ll Love This Soup?
- It can be used as a side dish to chicken, steak, a salad, or a sandwich.
- Tastes like its been cooking all day but comes together in under an hour!
Sabrina’s Cream of Potato Soup Recipe
Cream of Potato Soup is meant to be enjoyed more as a side dish because it’s much lighter than other creamy soup recipes. It’s so quick and easy but also elegant that it works with weeknight dinners and special occasions alike. It can even be made ahead of time for a dump-and-go back up dinner for extra busy nights.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 3 pounds yukon gold potatoes , peeled and diced
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 carrot , diced
- 1 stalk celery , diced
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup chives , minced
- 1 cup croutons
Instructions
- Fill the dutch oven with water.
- Add in potatoes then turn heat onto high and bring to a simmer.
- Cook for 10 minutes until potatoes are tender.
- Drain pot, remove potatoes and set aside.
- In a large dutch oven add 4 tablespoons butter, carrot and celery on medium heat.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes until vegetables are translucent.
- Add in garlic, stir and cook for 30 seconds until aromatic.
- Add in salt, white pepper and sage and stir well.
- Add in the chicken broth (vegetarian broth if desired) and cooked potatoes.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender until smooth.
- Add in heavy cream, stir well and bring to a simmer.
- Garnish with chives and croutons and serve with crusty bread.
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note
If your potato soup is too thin, you can make a quick bechamel sauce to thicken it up. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small sauce pan then stir in 1 tablespoon flour. Add ¼ cup heavy cream or whole milk and stir until combined then cook until thickened and bubbling. Stir into pureed soup and simmer for a few minutes.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
This Creamy Potato Soup recipe is made with basic ingredients that come together to make the most amazing, flavorful (easy!) bowl of comfort food. The diced celery, carrots and fresh garlic cloves are the aromatics that form the base flavor. Next, you season it with salt and white pepper, then add some rubbed sage. It all simmers with the stock and cooked potatoes to give this dish a cooked all day taste in less than an hour. Finally it’s finished with a touch of cream to make it velvety and smooth. Serve with chives and croutons on top and a side of fresh baked bread.
Ingredients
- Potatoes: Yukon gold potatoes are the perfect blend between starchy and waxy to give you a perfectly smooth soup that doesn’t get gummy when you blend it. Even though they have thin skin, you do want to peel the potatoes first and be sure to cut them the same size so they cook evenly.
- Heavy Cream: Since the blended potatoes adds a natural creaminess, you only need a little heavy cream for this soup. You could always skip it or go with whole milk but the cream is what takes this from a smooth soup to a velvety soup.
- Butter: Sauteing the veggies in butter gives this soup a rich flavor you don’t really get with vegetable oil. If you want to cut the dairy you could use a good quality extra virgin olive oil or a blend of butter and oil.
- Chicken Stock: My go-to stock is Better than Bouillon chicken base because out of all the store-bought stocks and broths, it has the best flavor. The only thing better is homemade chicken bone broth! If you want to make this vegetarian, feel free to sub in your favorite veggie broth.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, but if you want to make this ahead of time, you will want to skip the step of adding the heavy cream. Dairy separates after it has been cooked and then cooled, so it is always best when you add it right before serving. Freeze the soup without cream after it’s cooled completely. Add to a gallon sized bag and freeze flat until solid, then you can store it easier. Freeze for up to 4 months and thaw before reheating on the stove until hot and bubbling. Stir in the cream and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes, then serve as usual.
Pairing Suggestions
This soup is intended to be eaten as a side dish, so you could use it to replace Mashed Potatoes or Baked Potatoes the next time you serve Perfect, Easy Ribeye Steak or Perfect, Simple Roast Chicken. Serve it alongside Grilled Cheese Sandwiches as a weekend lunch.
How to Store
- Store: This cream soup can be at room temperature for up to 2 hours, or you can keep it warm in a slow cooker for up to 4 hours. Cool the soup completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Reheat: Simmer leftover soup over low-medium heat on the stove top, heating it up slowly and stirring occasionally, to keep the soup from separating or becoming gritty.
- Freeze: Leftovers don’t really freeze well because of the heavy cream. See the “Can this be make ahead of time?” section above for tips if you know you want to freeze this soup.
Alternative Cooking Techniques
Slow Cooker Method
- Saute carrots and celery in butter over medium heat until softened. Stir in the garlic, cooking until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Transfer the carrot celery mixture to the slow cooker, then add the chicken broth, seasonings, and raw potatoes.
- Cover and cook 3-4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low, until potatoes are fork tender.
- Blend the potato soup mixture with an immersion blender. Pulse in 2-3 second bursts until the soup is smooth.
- Mix in the heavy cream and cover for 10 minutes on High. Serve garnished with fresh chives and croutons.
Instant Pot Method
- Turn on the Saute Function and add the butter when hot.
- Cook the carrots and celery in butter for 4-5 minutes, then add garlic and cook another 30 seconds.
- Hit Cancel to turn off the unit. Use 1 cup chicken stock deglaze the pot and scrape up any browned bits.
- Add the remaining broth, raw potatoes pieces, and seasonings. Stir a couple times to mix.
- Lock the lid and seal the pressure valve. Cook on Manual High Pressure for 8 minutes.
- After the time is up, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then carefully quick release the remaining pressure.
- Remove the lid and blend soup in pot with a stick blender or in batches with a food processor.
- Add the heavy cream, stir to combine, then turn back on Saute to bring to a simmer before serving with your favorite toppings.
Frequent Questions
You want to use starchy potatoes that blend well like Yukon gold potatoes and russet potatoes for pureed soups. Small waxy potatoes, like baby potatoes or red potatoes don’t work as well in creamy soups and are better for chunky soups.
Yes, you definitely need to peel the potatoes no matter what kind you are using. Usually when you use Yukon gold potatoes in a recipe, you don’t need to remove the skin because it’s super thin but Cream of Potato Soup is the exception! This soup is meant to be super creamy and silky and rough potato skins ruin that smooth texture.
Variations
- Veggies: You can add more aromatic veggies to the carrot mixture like yellow onions, leeks, or fennel to add a deep, rich flavor. If you want a chunkier veggie packed soup, add cooked vegetables like frozen peas, canned corn, chopped mushrooms, or diced zucchini after you blend soup.
- Meat: You can add some cooked meat like crispy bacon, ground sausage, diced Baked Ham, or smoked sausage to this soup after it has been blended. Use leftover Grilled Flank Steak as a topper for an easy, tasty Steak and Potato Soup. To get even more meaty flavor, cook the carrots and celery in bacon grease instead of butter.
- Cream: Instead of heavy cream, you can use half and half, whole milk or non-dairy milk like coconut milk or coconut cream. For an extra rich flavor and creamy texture, you can add softened cream cheese or sour cream.
- Cheese: To make this a Cream of Potato Cheese Soup, add shredded cheese like sharp cheddar cheese, Gruyere cheese, Colby jack cheese, Gouda cheese, or Swiss cheese. Use max 2 cups cheese and incorporate in batches until combined. It’s best to use freshly grated cheese for a smooth, velvety soup.
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