Load this creamy baked potato soup up with all the toppings! This rich and creamy potato soup recipe is the perfect quick and easy dinner for a cold winter night.
The Instant Pot obsession continues over here. I have truly gone from 0 to 100 on this thing since buying it over a year ago. With holiday activities in full swing plus snowy weather on the rise, there’s nothing like something warm, comforting, and low maintenance for dinner. This Baked Potato Soup is all of those things. The soup is creamy and rich – even though it just uses a bit of sour cream for creaminess – and calls for just a few basic ingredients. With the Instant Pot it can be done in a matter of minutes, but it’s great in the slow cooker too (scroll down for those instructions)!
Baked Potato Soup – Ingredients
- Russet Potatoes – For a creamy potato soup, Russet potatoes are your best bet. Russet potatoes are high in starch and lower in moisture than many other potato varieties. Their texture after boiling works well in a soup that will be blended until smooth. (Note: If you want a soup with potato chunks new red potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes will hold their shape better.)
- Stock – Any type of stock will work, but this soup has so few ingredients that the flavor of the stock will stand out. Chicken stock is what I usually have on-hand, and I like the subtle savory chicken flavor it lends the soup. A vegetable stock works well too and is a more mild flavor choice.
- Sour Cream – This baked potato soup doesn’t need any heavy cream to get a nice smooth texture, but it does benefit from a bit of sour cream blended in at the end of cooking. The sour cream gives it tangy flavor and richness. You’ll want some extra to dollop on top of the soup too!
- Salt and Pepper – Even though the recipe includes some salt and pepper, this soup should be seasoned again after it’s cooked. A little extra will bring out the potato flavor, but you can only know how much to add by tasting it at the end.
How to Make Baked Potato Soup
- Peel and cube potatoes – There’s no need to be super precise with the size of the cubed potatoes. Big, uneven chunks are ok.
- Soak potatoes – Russet potatoes will turn brown if exposed to air for too long, which can make the soup look brown or gray. To prevent this, soak the potatoes in water immediately after peeling and cubing them. OR, better yet, just pour the stock into the slow cooker or pressure cooker and add the potatoes directly into the stock as you cube them.
- Pressure cook / slow cook – Combine potatoes, stock, garlic, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a pressure cooker (I have a 6 quart Instant Pot) or slow cooker. Pressure cook on high for 5 minutes or slow cook on low for 6 to 8 hrs (high for 3 to 4 hrs).
- Blend – Add sour cream and blend until smooth using an immersion blender or standing blender.
- Season – Taste and add some additional salt and pepper, if needed.
Serve with toppings on the side!
The best thing about baked potato soup is that it’s a blank slate for all the toppings! Here are some good ones:
Toppings for Baked Potato Soup
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Sour cream
- Chives / green onions
- Bacon (cooked and crumbled)
- Black olives
- Steamed broccoli florets
- Chopped Tomatoes
- Salsa
Make-Ahead Baked Potato Soup Bar
This is a great make-ahead lunch or dinner. Prep all of toppings, set them in bowls, and refrigerate them until it’s time to serve. I like to heat the soup up on the stovetop and set the toppings in the middle of the dining room table so everyone can top their soup as they like. My kids love this!
Note: Baked potato soup can ahead of time. However, because of the high starch content, the soup will thicken as it sits in the fridge. To fix this, just add some additional stock as you reheat it.
Tools Used in this Recipe
- Instant Pot (I use the 6 quart, but this can be made in any size pressure cooker as long as the ingredients are below the max fill line) or Slow Cooker (<– This KitchenAid one cooks more evenly than any I’ve ever tried)
- Immersion Blender or Standing Blender
- 4 cups Stock (vegetable or chicken are best)
- 2 lbs Russet Potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 2 cloves Garlic, peeled
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
- ½ cup Sour Cream
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Sour cream
- Chives / green onions
- Bacon (cooked and crumbled)
- Black olives
- Steamed broccoli florets
- Chopped Tomatoes
- Salsa
- Combine stock, potatoes, garlic, salt, and black pepper in the bowl of a pressure cooker (any size will work, but be sure the ingredients are below the fill line) or slow cooker.
- Close and lock the lid.
- Set the pressure cook / manual setting on high for 5 minutes. (If using the slow cooker, slow cook on low for 6 to 8 hrs or high for 3 to 4 hrs.)
- Allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 10 minutes.
- Add sour cream and blend until smooth using an immersion blender or standing blender (be extra careful when blending hot liquids).
- Taste the soup and season with some more salt and / or black pepper.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days before serving (see note below for instructions on reheating).
- Finish by topping each bowl with your favorite toppings!
Baked potato soup can ahead of time. However, because of the high starch content, the soup will thicken as it sits in the fridge. To fix this, just add some additional stock as you reheat it.
I’m having trouble breaking the news to these three that Christmas is still 3 weeks away. They wake up ready every morning!
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Every New Year’s Eve I make a VERY calorie laden version of baked potato soup, but our family has needed to make some drastic dietary changed this year and I can no longer make my version. I made yours two nights ago and omitted the sour cream, just allowing the people who can have dairy to add a dollop on top of theirs and it was such a big hit. Thank you, I’ll be making it regularly!
Heather Rose-Chase recently posted..The Last First Day
Yay – I’m so glad you liked it Heather! I used to make a super rich version with lots of butter too, but honestly I can’t say I miss it at all when I make it this way.