Old Fashioned Potato Soup Recipe (2024)

This homemade, creamy, cozy, comfort food will warm you up on the chilliest, dreariest day. It's one of my favorite soup recipes.

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

• Ultimate comfort food, just like grandma made
• Inexpensive and budget friendly
• Quick and easy

Old fashioned potato soup is so simple that you can have it on the table in less than 30 minutes! Be sure to read the tips for cutting the fat without losing flavor.

🧾 Ingredients

It's amazing how a few simple ingredients can come together to make something so delicious, isn't it?

📚 Variations

There aren't a lot of fancy ingredients in this old fashioned recipe - it's a plain potato soup. Don't let that fool you into thinking that this isn't a dish full of flavor.

It's simple comfort food; a foundational recipe that you can use as is or build on.

• diced ham
• crumbled cooked bacon - sprinkle on top
• chipotle - stir in chipotle powder or mashed chipotle just before serving.
• celery - saute and add to the soup with the onions
• cheese -either stir it in to the soup just before serving or serve it with cheese on top
• sour cream - stir into the soup just before serving or put a dollop on top of the soup when serving
• cream cheese - warm it in the microwave until it's soft and then stir into the soup until well blended
• cooked ground beef
• cumin - mix into the broth
• clams
• jalapenos - saute with the onions
• garlic - saute as above
• cooked chicken
• leftover cooked vegetables - stir in just before serving
• chives - sprinkle on the soup just before serving
• butter - I like to serve it with a pat of butter melting on top

🔪 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.

1. Clean, peel, and dice potatoes. Cook, drain, and add back to the pot.
2. Saute the onion in 1 tablespoon of the butter.
3. Add the cooked onion, butter, milk, seasonings, and cream to the potatoes. Remove some of the soup, blend, and stir back into the soup.
4. Serve this creamy potato soup in shallow bowls with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of parsley or green onions on top.

🥫 Storage

Homemade potato soup does not freeze well. The potatoes get a weird texture and the creamy broth gets grainy and watery.

It's easy to make and will last a good 4 days in your refrigerator if it's tightly covered with plastic wrap or placed in an airtight container and kept cold.

🎥 Video

Click on the image to watch me make this recipe from start to finish with extra tips! (Video opens in a new tab).

💭 Tips

Expert Tip: Never boil creamy soups. Bring just to a simmer and heat slowly or you run the risk of the milk curdling.

• Any type of potato (including Idaho russet) is fine for this recipe; however I like to use thin skinned potatoes like red potatoes or Yukon Gold so I don't have to peel them!
• Any kind of milk (dairy or non-dairy) will work. Using evaporated milk is an old fashioned technique that make it extra creamy!
• You can omit the cream and use all milk if you like.
• Try to keep the diced potatoes the same size so that they will cook evenly.
• Make this easy soup recipe even faster by using canned, diced potatoes and frozen onions.

Don't forget the crackers! They're definitely a must with soup and you'll love this homemade saltine crackers recipe.

🥗 How to lower the fat

I prefer a homemade potato soup with heavy cream but there are several ways to lower the fat in this recipe if you'd like to.

Try them all and see which one you like best.

• Use all whole milk instead of milk and cream
• Use half and half instead of heavy cream
• Adjust the amount of butter to your liking
• Use 2% or fat free milk, and double the potatoes. Blend about half the cooked potatoes up in a blender with some of the hot milk. Pour it back into the pot. The blended potatoes will thicken the soup and make it creamy without the fat. You may even need to thin it out with a little more milk
• Use chicken stock for part of the liquid

🥔 What are the best potatoes to use

👩‍🍳 FAQs

Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this easy potato soup recipe.

What’s new? Check out myRestless Chipotle & Co. Store on Amazon where you'll find all kinds of nostalgic goodness!Thanks so much for being a part of Restless Chipotle!

• Creamy lasagna soup has the flavor of lasagna but this bowl of soup takes just 30 minutes!
• Be sure to give my slow cooker broccoli cheese soup with Velveeta a try!
• Any soup is going to taste better in one of these homemade bread bowls!

If you're looking for a cheesy potato soup you've GOT to check out this recipe from my friend Deb, at Bowl Me Over!!

More hearty soup recipes!

🍽️ Serve with...

Iloveservingthis simple meal withhomemadecloverleafrolls and some oatmeal cookies for dessert.

📞 The last word

When I was growing up there were a couple of dinners that would make me get home fast. Cabbage rolls and this creamy potato soup recipe!

My mom made the best potato soup ever - and this is the recipe I grew up on. Whenever something is going on in my life that's difficult this is what I I want.

Especially with a layer of crispy bacon on top!

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!

If you love this recipe please give it a 5 star rating.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

Originally Published: March 9, 2011 Last Updated: June 22, 2023 to add helpful information and to make editorial improvements.

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