What is it about a creamy, velvety bowl of good potato soup that just hits the spot? We can’t decide if its the bacon-y toppings or simply the viscocity of the soup itself, but either way, this is the comfort food that we’re unabashidly all about as soon as the temperatures dip.
A smooth base gives the toppings something to float on top of. This soup is thick and velvety, and then you bury it: sharp cheddar, crisp bacon, a cold swirl of sour cream, green onions across the whole top. You will be halfway down the bowl before you reach for the bread.
🔪 Ingredients for Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Quantities live in the recipe card below. Here is what to buy and why it matters.
- Thick-cut bacon
- Yukon Gold potatoes: peeled and cut into one-inch pieces. Yukons blend into silk without turning gummy, which matters more here than it would in a chunky soup. They are the waxier cousin of the russet you would bake for an easy smoked baked potato.
- Yellow onion and fresh garlic
- Chicken broth
- Butter and all-purpose flour: a light roux for body, so the soup coats a spoon instead of running off it.
- Whole milk and heavy cream: full fat. Skim and low-fat dairy break under heat far more easily.
- Sharp cheddar: buy a block and shred it yourself. Bagged shreds are dusted with potato starch and cellulose to stop them clumping, and that coating is why they melt grainy.
- Sour cream: full fat, stirred in off the heat and spooned over the top.
- Smoked paprika, garlic powder, kosher salt, black pepper
- Green onions
For loading it up
- Reserved crisp bacon
- More shredded sharp cheddar
- Sour cream
- Sliced green onions
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Equipment
- Immersion blender: the whole texture of this soup depends on it. A countertop blender works if you go in batches and vent the lid, but hot soup in a sealed jar is a burn waiting to happen.
- Large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot: thin pots scorch dairy and starch. Weight on the bottom of the pan is the whole defense.
- Ladle
📝 How to Make Loaded Baked Potato Soup
- Render the bacon in a cold pot. Put the chopped bacon in a cold Dutch oven and set it over medium heat. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the pieces are deep golden and crisp at the edges. Starting cold pulls more fat out before the meat browns. Move the bacon to a paper towel lined plate and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of drippings.
- Soften the onion. Add the diced onion to the drippings and cook 4 to 5 minutes over medium, stirring, until it turns translucent and picks up a little gold at the edges. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds, just until it smells like garlic instead of raw allium.
- Make the roux. Stir in the butter and let it melt into the onions. Sprinkle the flour over the top and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the flour looks wet and smells toasted rather than chalky.
- Add the broth slowly. Pour in the chicken broth in a thin stream while you stir, so the flour has no chance to seize into lumps. Scrape the bottom of the pot as you go.
- Simmer the potatoes soft. Stir in the potatoes, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and garlic powder. Bring it to a gentle boil, then drop the heat to a bare simmer and cook uncovered 18 to 22 minutes, until a paring knife slides into a cube and it falls apart under the blade. Undercooked potato will not blend smooth, so give it the extra few minutes.
- Blend it silky, then stop. Take the pot off the heat. Run an immersion blender through it in short bursts, moving around the pot, 30 to 45 seconds total, until the soup is even and glossy and coats the back of a spoon with no grain to it. Stop the second it looks smooth. Potato starch turns gummy if you keep the blade going.
- Warm the dairy. Pour in the milk and cream and return the pot to medium-low. Warm 5 minutes, until the soup is steaming with a few lazy bubbles at the edge. It should never come back to a boil.
- Melt the cheese off the heat. Kill the heat completely. Add the cheddar in three handfuls, stirring until each one disappears before the next goes in. Stir in the sour cream last, then taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
- Load it up. Ladle into bowls and pile on the reserved bacon, more cheddar, a spoon of sour cream, and the green onions. Finish with cracked black pepper and get it to the table hot.
🔄 Substitutions
- Russets for Yukon Gold: they work, but they carry far more starch and go gummy fast under a blade. Blend in two or three short bursts and stop early, even if a little texture stays behind.
- Half-and-half for heavy cream: lighter finish, still stable as long as you keep the pot under a boil.
- Vegetable broth for chicken broth: works cleanly. The bacon is still carrying the savory weight.
- Diced cooked ham for bacon: brown it in a tablespoon of butter first, since ham brings almost no fat of its own to start the pot.
- Plain full-fat Greek yogurt for sour cream: tangier and thinner. Off the heat only, or it will split.
- Monterey Jack, Colby, or a cheddar-Jack blend for sharp cheddar: smoother melt, milder flavor. Add an extra handful to make up the difference.
- A 1:1 gluten-free flour blend for all-purpose: thickens the same. The potatoes are doing most of the work anyway.
💡 Meat Nerd Tips
- Blend before the cheese, never after. Cheddar under a spinning blade splits into grease and grit, and no amount of stirring brings it back. Get the potato base smooth first, then melt the cheese in off the heat.
- Yukon Gold blends cleaner than russet. Less starch, waxier flesh, far less gumming under a blade. If russets are what you have, treat the blender like a light switch and flick it.
- Do not rinse the cut potatoes. That cloudy water on the cutting board is free body. Cut them last so they do not have time to oxidize.
- Make the base up to 3 days ahead. Cook and blend it, cool it, and refrigerate. Add the milk, cream, cheddar, and sour cream while you reheat it gently, and it tastes like you made it that afternoon.
🧊 Leftovers and Storage
- Fridge: airtight container, up to 4 days. Store the bacon and green onions separately so the bacon stays crisp.
- Reheat: medium-low on the stove, stirring, until steaming. Never boil it. The potato keeps drinking liquid overnight, so loosen it with a splash of broth or milk until it pours the way you want.
- Freezer: do not freeze the finished soup. Dairy and cooked potato both go grainy on the thaw. Freeze the blended base instead, before the milk, cream, cheese, and sour cream go in, then thaw it overnight in the fridge and add the dairy while it reheats.
This is the steakhouse soup you order every single time, except now it’s a whole pot and nobody’s rationing your bacon. This indulgent soup is perfect to make on repeat now that the sun’s setting at 5 and all you want is to curl up in your favorite sweater.
Prevent your screen from going to sleep
Render the Bacon
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Put the chopped bacon in a cold Dutch oven and set it over medium heat. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until deep golden and crisp at the edges. Starting cold pulls more fat out before the meat browns. Move the bacon to a paper towel lined plate and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of drippings.
Soften the Onion
-
Add the onion to the drippings and cook 4 to 5 minutes over medium, stirring, until translucent with a little gold at the edges. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds, just until it smells like garlic instead of raw allium.
Make the Roux
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Stir in the butter and let it melt into the onions. Sprinkle the flour over the top and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the flour looks wet and smells toasted rather than chalky.
Simmer the Potatoes Soft
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Stir in the potatoes, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and garlic powder. Bring to a gentle boil, then drop to a bare simmer and cook uncovered 18 to 22 minutes, until a paring knife slides into a cube and it falls apart under the blade. Undercooked potato will not blend smooth.
Blend It Silky
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Take the pot off the heat. Run an immersion blender through it in short bursts, moving around the pot, 30 to 45 seconds total, until the soup is even and glossy and coats the back of a spoon with no grain to it. Stop the second it looks smooth. Potato starch turns gummy if you keep the blade going.
Melt the Cheese Off the Heat
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Kill the heat completely. Add the cheddar in three handfuls, stirring until each one disappears before the next goes in. Stir in the sour cream last, then taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Load It Up
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Ladle into bowls and pile on the reserved bacon, more cheddar, a spoon of sour cream, and the green onions. Finish with cracked black pepper and serve hot.
- Blend before the cheese, never after. Cheddar under a blade splits into grease and grit and does not come back.
- Yukon Gold blends cleaner than russet. If russets are what you have, blend in two or three short bursts and stop early.
- Shred the cheddar from a block. Bagged shreds are dusted with potato starch and cellulose, which is why they melt grainy.
- Do not rinse the cut potatoes. That starch is free body.
- Make ahead: cook and blend through Step 6, cool, and refrigerate up to 3 days. Add the milk, cream, cheddar, and sour cream while reheating gently.
- Fridge 4 days in an airtight container, toppings stored separately. Reheat over medium-low, never boiling, loosening with broth or milk.
- Do not freeze the finished soup. Freeze the blended base before the dairy goes in, thaw overnight in the fridge, and add the dairy while reheating.
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 597kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 102mg | Sodium: 835mg | Potassium: 1092mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1094IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 251mg | Iron: 2mg
Quick Summary
Loaded baked potato soup built on rendered bacon fat, blended silky with an immersion blender, then finished off the heat with sharp cheddar and sour cream. The one thing to get right: blend in short bursts and stop the second it goes smooth, because potato starch turns gummy under a blade that keeps running.
❓ FAQs
You ran the blender too long. Potato starch goes gluey under a spinning blade, and russets carry the most of it. Use Yukon Gold, blend in short bursts, and stop the second the soup looks smooth.
The pot was too hot, or the cheese went in before the blending was done. Cheddar breaks above a simmer and shreds under a blade. Blend first, kill the heat completely, then stir the cheese through a handful at a time.
You can cook the base in one, then blend it right in the crock. Hold back the milk, cream, cheddar, and sour cream until the last 20 minutes and stir them in on the warm setting.
For this one, yes. Skins do not break down in a blender, so you end up with flecks of peel suspended in a soup whose whole appeal is how smooth it pours.