If you are craving some old fashioned potato soup just like grandma used to make, this recipe is winter comfort food at its finest!
This ridiculously creamy and luxurious potato soup recipe is loaded with simple ingredients that will warm your soul throughout the winter months.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Russet potatoes - For the best texture and consistency you will want to use baking potatoes rather than waxy potatoes like red potatoes.
- Chicken stock - Chicken broth or vegetable broth are both fine substitutes.
- Butter - You can use bacon grease for added flavor.
- Yellow onion - A sweet onion is also great.
- Carrots
- Celery
- Garlic cloves - ¾ teaspoon of garlic powder can be substituted.
- All-purpose flour
- Milk - Heavy cream or half and half can also be used.
- Sour cream
- Celery salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Bacon - I recommend a regular cut for this recipe. Thick cut bacon can get gummy in soup. Bacon bits can be substituted.
- Shredded Cheddar cheese
- Fresh chives - Green onions are a great substitute.
How to make it
To make this easy potato soup recipe begin by boiling potatoes in a large pot or Dutch oven filled with chicken stock. Ensure there is enough stock to cover the potatoes, and add additional water if needed.
In a separate saute pan, melt two tablespoons of butter and add the chopped onion, celery, and carrots. Saute the vegetables until tender, then add the minced garlic and cook for an additional minute or two. Once everything has been sauteed it can be added to the soup pot.
Next, add the bacon to the saute pan and fry until the bacon is fully cooked, then remove it from the pan at set aside to cool. Once cool, crumble the bacon into small pieces and discard any grease.
Set the saute pan over low heat and melt 4 tablespoons of butter, then sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine to form a roux. Continue whisking for five minutes, or until the roux turns light brown.
Begin to whisk milk into the roux a few splashes at a time until all of the milk has been added. Then stir the roux into the soup pot.
Place the sour cream into a bowl and temper the sour cream with spoonfuls of hot soup. Mix together until the sour cream is thinned out and warmed through, then add it to the soup pot. Tempering the sour cream prevents curdling.
Season the soup with black pepper, celery salt, and then salt to taste. Mash the potatoes into large chunks with a potato masher if you prefer a chunky potato soup, otherwise, puree with an immersion blender for a velvety soup.
Serve this hearty soup in bowls topped with chopped bacon, cheddar cheese, chives, or any of your favorite toppings.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
This old fashioned potato soup recipe is perfect for making in advance because the flavors will continue to meld together as it rests in the refrigerator. Just be sure to store it in an airtight container.
Leftover potato soup can easily be reheated in the microwave, in a saucepan, or slowly in the slow cooker. If it thickens up too much as it sits in the fridge, just thin it out with additional water or chicken stock.
Old Fashioned Potato Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 cups peeled and chopped Russet potatoes (~4 potatoes)
- 5 cups chicken stock
- 6 tablespoons butter (divided)
- 1 onion (diced)
- 2 carrots (diced)
- 2 ribs celery (diced)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- 8 ounces sour cream
- 1 dash celery salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Salt to taste
Serving
- 16 ounces bacon
- chives (chopped)
- shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Add potatoes to large pot with chicken stock. (there should be enough stock to cover the potatoes, but you can add water if you need a little more liquid). Cover with lid, bring pot to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
- While potatoes are cooking, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a separate saute pan over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots then saute until tender. Add garlic and cook for two minutes more, then add the sauteed vegetables to the soup pot.
- Add bacon to the saute pan and fry until crisp. Remove the crispy bacon from the pan and allow to cool slightly then crumble. Discard grease.
- With the saute pan on low heat, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and sprinkle in flour to make a roux. Stir roux continuously until it turns a light brown, approx 5 minutes.
- Slowly add milk to the roux, allowing it to fully incorporate before adding additional milk. Then add the roux to the soup pot and stir to combine.
- Place sour cream in a medium-size bowl and temper with hot soup by adding a few splashes of soup with the sour cream and stirring to incorporate together. Once the sour cream is runny and hot it can be added to the soup.
- Add fresh ground black pepper, celery salt, and then salt to taste.
- For chunkier consistently, mash soup with a potato masher till it reaches your desired consistency. For creamier soup, puree with an immersion blender until smooth.
- Serve in bowls topped with cheddar cheese, bacon and chives.
Nutritional Information
This recipe was originally published on December 13, 2017, here on FoxValleyFoodie.com.
Teresa Champeau
Closest to my mothers recipe I've ever found. I'm excited to make it. My mom made this soup from memory and never wrote it down. But I did watch her make it and she did tell me about the light tan roux. The tan roux makes all the difference. As a newly wed my husband had my moms potatoes soup and couldn't believe how good it was.
Thank you,
Teresa
Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness
There is almost nothing that I like better than a potato soup. This looks so good!!
Servetus
Huh. I'm looking right out the window in Appleton and see snow on my car, in the parking lot, and in the air.
Fox Valley Foodie
Can you send some down to me? Or perhaps box some up and climb up a ladder outside my window and sprinkle it down until dusk. I tip fairly generously if you can sing Christmas carols while doing so (by tip, I mean I give a really good 'thumbs up')
john
looks very tasty, will def try recipe thanks.