Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients Needed

This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.

• Butter – Real butter gives the best flavor here, and also combines with the flour for the thickening agent.
• Garlic
• Flour – Flour is used as our thickener. If you’re out of flour, you could certainly try combining 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch with your cold milk before adding to the pot to help thicken the soup.
• Milk – Low fat milk works just fine in this recipe, though I personally would skip skim milk. I generally use what we have at home, which is 1%.
• Chicken broth
• Potatoes – Russet potatoes work best here with their high starch content. They crumble nicely and area able to soak up liquid in the soup. If you have another type of potato leftover, or in your kitchen, you can certainly sub out a different variety and it will still taste great. This step takes the longest in terms of prep time, but if your potatoes are already cooked, it comes together in under 30 minutes!
• Cheese – I prefer using a sharp cheddar for extra flavor, but regular mild cheddar works great as well. I would avoid using pre-shredded cheese in bags, as it doesn’t melt as well and might add a less desirable texture to your finished soup.
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• Sour cream
• Green onions
• Bacon – Bacon adds both flavor and texture to the finished soup. Though I call for the minimum amount of bacon needed for the recipe, at our house I just cook a full pound so we have plenty to add on top. The easiest way to prep bacon for this recipe (and always) is baking it in the oven! You can cook it at the same time as your potatoes, just add the pan toward the end of cooking time.

How to Make Baked Potato Soup

This is a basic walkthrough of making baked potato soup so you can know what to expect! Scroll to the end of this article for the full printable recipe, including all measurements.

1. Melt butter in a large stock pot and add garlic. Sauté for 30-60 seconds until fragrant.
2. Add flour and whisk mixture together to form a paste-like mixture.
3. Drizzle in milk very slowly, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.
   Note: This step can sometimes be problematic and even I end up with lumps sometimes! No shame in that- roux can be tricky and this one has less butter than normal so it’s a little harder to smooth out. I often just pull out my immersion blender at this point to smooth it all out before moving on to the next step.
4. Add chicken broth and bring soup to a low simmer to thicken.
5. Add in cooked baked potatoes and season with salt and pepper.
6. Add in cheddar cheese and stir until melted and then add in sour cream, bacon, and green onions.
7. Ladle into bowls and Serve with extra toppings!