Name: Best Old-Fashioned Simple Potato Soup Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cups of milk; 4 strips of thick cut bacon; 1/2 cup heavy cream; 3 cups stock or bone broth; 5 small potatoes or 3 cups diced white potatoes; 1 tsp sea salt; 1/2 tsp pepper; 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour; 1 tbsp. dried chives (or you can use 3 tbsp. fresh chives or green onions)

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This old-fashioned simple potato soup recipe is creamy, filled with flavor and comes together in minutes. It is the ultimate comfort food on a cold day.

Its true, there are a lot of potato soup recipes out there and many of which love to add all sorts of additions from cream cheese to crispy bacon bits and sharp cheddar cheese toppings. But the thing is, it really doesn’t need all of that to be delicious. A good old fashioned potato soup, like this one, can be made with very basic ingredients and still be an incredibly satisfying soup.

On a chilly day, there is nothing like a classic soup to warm you up and this one just might be the perfect recipe to make for such an occasion.

Simple Potato Soup Is

An easy potato soup recipe with a creamy base.
One of the best soups to make that is hearty and satisfying.
Filled with chunks of potatoes and has a nice creamy texture.
Made with simple ingredients and one of the most affordable homemade soups to make.
A creamy potato soup that everyone will love.

Ingredients

Milk- I use whole milk or at the very least 2% to ensure the soup is nice and creamy.

Cream- I like to add a little heavy cream to help make the soup a little more velvety but you can actually use all milk if you like.

Potatoes- I use russet potatoes but Yukon gold potatoes work great as well. You can even use red potatoes

Stock- I use my homemade bone broth but you can use veggie stock or standard stock bought chicken stock as well. You can also use chicken broth.

Bacon- I use thick sliced bacon over thin for best results. The bacon is more meaty and holds up in the soup.

Flour- use all purpose flour.

Seasoning- I use sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Kosher salt, Himalayan pink salt and even standard table salt works fine too.

Herbs- I like to use dried chives for this since they are easy to store and I have them on hand all year. But you can use fresh chives or even green onions as a substitute.

Tools

Large Stockpot or Dutch Oven

Potato Masher or Immersion Blender

Directions

Begin by dicing up the potatoes into bite size pieces. Heat a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. While the pot heats up slice the bacon into smaller pieces.

Add the bacon to the hot pot and begin browning.

Let the bacon cook for about 2 to 3 minutes to bring out the oils in the bacon before adding the diced potatoes. Stir the pot and allow the bacon to finish browning.

stirring potatoes and bacon in a soup pot

sprinkling flour over potatoes and bacon

Sprinkle the flour over the entire contents of the pan and stir it in.

stirring the potatoes and flour in the pot

pouring milk into a soup pot over potatoes

Slowly pour in about half the milk. Allow it to simmer to thicken before adding in the rest.

Sprinkle in the salt. With the lid off allow the pot to come to a simmer and then add the stock.

Place the lid on and on medium-low heat, and allow it to simmer away for about 10 to 12 minutes for the potatoes to cook all the way through.

mashing the potatoes with a potato masher

Remove the lid, and take a potato masher to begin mashing the potatoes while the soup continues to simmer. This will help thicken the soup and break down the potatoes (You can also use a hand blender to mix if you want a blended consistency).

When the consistency is to your liking, add the cream and chives to the pot.

chives being added to a soup pot for simple potato soup

Stir and then let the soup simmer for an additional 5 minutes with the lid off. This will help the soup cook down a bit, make sure to taste and add any additional salt you may like.

Soup is ready when a creamy consistency is reached.

Cooking Notes

When making this soup you must allow the soup to thicken by slowly adding in the stock. The soup does get a little thicker once you use the potato masher however for a nice thick consistency this step is super important.
You can substitute the dried chives for fresh chives or green onions. You will need about 3 tbsps. to 1/4 cup.
I use thick-cut quality bacon for this soup. If you only have the thinly sliced style of bacon I would suggest adding 6 slices instead of just the 4 thick cuts as the recipe calls for.
You can use any sort of potato for this recipe you have on hand. I like using Yukon gold so that I don’t have to peel them. Russets do work well too, but be sure to peel them for this soup.

Serving Suggestions

We like having this with a handmade artisan loaf such as this No Knead Artisan Bread. However, biscuits work wonderfully as well. Try these Chive Biscuits or these Homemade Biscuits to serve alongside your soup.
Green salad is always a nice addition to serve alongside any soup you make. The light side of a green salad paired with a hearty bowl of soup. It’s a great combination that everyone seems to enjoy.

How To Store

Store leftover soup in an airtight container. Allow the soup to come to room temperature before placing it in the fridge. The soup will last up to 4 days in the fridge. To reheat. pour soup into a large saucepan and heat over the stovetop.

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Yield: 8 servings