Potato Soup

This easy potato soup is loaded with cheese, bacon, and chives reminiscent of a loaded baked potato! It’s a simple soup that uses easy-to-find, affordable ingredients and comes together in less than 45 minutes. It’s hearty, wholesome, and delicious!

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword easy soups, potatoes

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 35

Total Time 45

Servings

Calories 541kcal

Author Elizabeth

Ingredients

4 tablespoons Butter
1 medium Onion finely diced
1 Celery Rib diced
3-4 Garlic Cloves minced
½ teaspoon Salt plus extra at the end if needed
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
4 tablespoons Flour
4 cups Chicken Broth
2 pounds Potatoes peeled and diced into ½ -1 inch cubes (we use yellow potatoes)
3-4 Bacon Slices cook crispy and chopped or crumbled, or use store-bought bacon bits
¾-1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese for serving (or use your favorite cheese)
1-2 tablespoons Chopped Chives for serving (or use green onions, if desired)

Instructions

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and celery. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.
Next, add the garlic, salt, and black pepper. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute while stirring.
Add the flour to the vegetables and stir well. Cook for 1 minute to get the raw taste out of the flour. Stir almost constantly.
Slowly add the chicken broth to the flour mixture while stirring with a wooden spoon or whisk. Move around the pot in small circles. Continue stirring until the flour mixture dissolves in the liquid.
Next, add the diced potatoes to the pot.
Raise the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil (will take about 4-5 minutes). Then lower the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and cook for 20-25 minutes.
The potatoes should be so tender that they can easily be mashed with a wooden soup. Stir often to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Taste the soup and add salt if needed. If you are serving it as a loaded potato soup keep in mind that the bacon and cheese are both salty, so you won’t’ overdo it. As a reference we added ¾ teaspoon to ours.
Serve in individual bowls and top with the crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, and chopped chives or green onions.

Notes

Keep the potato pieces small, about ½ inch to 1 inch. And keep them roughly the same size so that they cook at the same rate.
If you were keeping the potatoes in water to prevent browning, make sure to drain it before adding them to the pot.
Serve the soup as is or use a masher or the back of a wooden spoon to mash some of the potatoes right in the pot to get a thicker soup.
Use reduced sodium chicken broth, low sodium bacon, and unsalted butter if you are sensitive to salt. Adjust the salt to taste at the end.

Nutrition