Warm up on a cold day with this easy potato soup! Thick, creamy, and loaded with toppings like green onions and cheese, it's the ultimate comfort food.
This potato soup recipe is the ultimate comfort food for a cold day! It’s like a loaded baked potato in soup form—the thick, creamy, savory soup is piled high with toppings like sour cream, shredded cheese, and green onions or chives. Jack loves it so much that he can polish off half the pot in a single night.
Luckily, this potato soup comes together in one pot with simple ingredients, so it’ll be easy to keep in our rotation this winter.
It’s one of those recipes that’s so much more than the sum of its parts. You start with humble veggies like celery and potatoes and end up with a deeply flavorful meal. Smoked paprika adds rich, smoky flavor (no bacon here!), and thyme brings in fresh, earthy notes. We’ll be making it all winter long. I hope you love it too!
Best Potatoes for Soup
I think Yukon Gold and yellow potatoes are the best potatoes for soup. They hold their shape when cooked, and they have an amazing creamy texture when blended. This soup is partially blended, so you get to enjoy them both ways! They have a nice buttery flavor too.
I wouldn’t use russet potatoes here, as they fall apart as they cook.
How to Make Potato Soup
You can find the complete potato soup recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post. For now, here’s a quick overview of how it goes:
Start by prepping the veggies. Cut the potatoes into roughly 3/4-inch chunks. Do your best to cut the pieces to a similar size so that they cook evenly. Chop the onion, carrot, and celery.
Then, sauté the onion and celery until softened.
Make a roux by adding flour to the pot and stirring until it coats the veggies. While stirring, gradually pour in the broth.
Next, simmer the soup. Add the potatoes, carrots, garlic, thyme, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
When the potatoes are tender, partially blend the soup. You can do this right in the pot with an immersion blender, adding water as needed if the soup is too thick. Another option is to transfer half the soup to an upright blender and blend until smooth, then stir it back into the pot.
- Tip: If you’re using an upright blender, let the soup cool slightly before blending.
Finally, add the cream and simmer for another 5 minutes. If desired, add a squeeze of lemon juice for a brighter flavor. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Don’t want to use cream? Half-and-half or milk (any kind) works too! These options will be thinner than cream, so I’d start with just 2/3 cup and add more as needed to reach your desired consistency.
Loaded Potato Soup Toppings
Half the fun of this easy potato soup is loading up your bowl like a baked potato! Don’t hold back on the toppings. Here are some of our favorites:
- A dollop of sour cream, vegan sour cream, or plain Greek yogurt
- Thinly sliced green onions or chives
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Freshly ground black pepper
A few homemade croutons are great too!
Round out the meal with crusty bread and/or a simple green salad.
How to Store
Leftover potato soup keeps well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
It will thicken in the fridge, so don’t hesitate to thin it with water when you reheat. It reheats nicely in the microwave or over low heat on the stovetop.
Can you freeze potato soup?
I don’t recommend freezing this soup. It can become grainy when it thaws.
More Comforting Soup Recipes
If you love this creamy potato soup, try one of these cozy soup recipes next:
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Creamy Gnocchi Soup
- Corn Chowder
- Or any of these 35 Best Soup Recipes!
Creamy Potato Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 celery rib, chopped
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes or yellow potatoes, chopped
- 1 medium carrot, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 3 fresh thyme sprigs, bundled
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, optional
Topping Options
- Chopped fresh chives or green onions
- Grated cheddar cheese
- Sour cream
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 8 minutes, or until softened. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the flour is lightly golden. While stirring, slowly pour in the broth.
- Add the potatoes, carrots, garlic, thyme, salt, smoked paprika, and several grinds of pepper. Simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
- Remove the thyme bundle and use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it is mostly smooth but still has some larger potato chunks. If the soup is too thick to blend, add water, ¼ cup at a time, as needed to reach your desired consistency. Alternatively, allow the soup to cool slightly and transfer half to an upright blender. Blend until smooth, then return to the pot with the remaining chunky soup and stir to combine.
- Add the cream and gently simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, if using.
- Season to taste and serve with desired toppings.
Notes
Wondering if you could use a milk alternative and a cram alternative to ensure you have a vegan soup soy milk. oat milk
May change the flavor not to some degree
Soup great for this winter weather. Super quick.
Last Friday I made the Creamy Potato Soup to take and share with my mother-in-law and my husband’s family, and it was such a special experience. Everyone was waiting for the soup, and they absolutely loved it! I told them it was part of a cooking club, and they were so impressed and excited about it too. This is actually my first time cooking something like this, even though I’ve been following this page for years. I feel so proud and truly excited to finally be part of it. Thank you for inspiring me!
This soup was really good, and my husband LOVED it! The ultimate win! 😉
Made this today for lunch with a friend! I flexed the recipe a bit and still very yummy. Will make again!
This used to be a different recipe! It used to have white beans in it which was great because it added protein. Is there any way you can put the old recipie back on your site? I made it once and it was delicious so now I am going to try to remake from what I can remember but would be great to have the old recipie for reference. Thank you.
Hi Shea, sorry for the confusion – you can find the older version at the bottom of this post: https://strong-nights.today/soup-recipes/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class=reply>
Hi Jeanine- I was hoping to find the old recipe as well, but can not find it on the link you shared. Is there a direct link to the potato soup with white beans. I have made the soup a few times and love it so much. Thank you!
I like the one with the beans in it as well I woud love to have that recipe back. Plus it was gluten free and I have gluten fre foke in my life.
Loved this recipe, will definitely be making it again this winter!
What a perfect recipe for December! Your Creamy Potato Soup fit the bill on this autumn-sub-zero-degree day! The fresh thyme added delicious flavor, along with the variety of veggies.
So good!! I didn’t have celery, but did have cauliflower in the fridge. I know… not a sub, but worked great!
I love mixing potatoes and cauliflower together for soup. I’m glad you enjoyed!
Super delicious! I added more spices at the very end though, but I am someone who really likes spices.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This potato soup recipe turned out so good! Really creamy and flavorful. I made it dairy free with oat milk and it was perfect!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
We thought the soup was delicious, mine seemed more like runny mashed potatoes rather than a soup..and we were happy with that. We used it as “smear” alongside grilled sausage and steak and it was wonderful.
Delish! Easy to prep and chop everything prior then comes together quickly!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Another delicious L&L recipe! I topped it with rosemary asiago instead of cheddar because i had some and that sounded more appealing than cheddar to me. I have to confess I used meat stock, because that’s what kind I had.
Hi Teresa, I’m so glad you loved it!
It’s a cold, snowy day here so potato soup it is! Love this recipe—easy and delicious. I did the classic, and then added a little sour cream and green onions when I served it. This is what I call a “make again” recipe. I will definitely have it again soon–especially in the winter!
Hi Rosemary, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Nothing like a creamy, cheesy, flavorful bowl of soup on a cold winter day. This soup really hit the spot and will definitely add to my rotation of soups. I added some crumbled vegetarian bacon to mine for a smoky taste.
So glad you loved it, Michelle!
Delicious! Creamy and simple – great for toppings. #loveandlemonscookingclub
I’m so glad you loved it, Emiley!
This was a nice warming creamy soup to enjoy on a cold night!
What a great way to warm up on a snowy day!
Soup is my go to food during the winter months. This Creamy Potato Soup is easy to make and YUMMY! Easy to make and big on flavor.