Creamy Potato Soup is a family favorite around here. It’s creamy, cheesy, satisfying and ready to eat in just under an hour. The weather turned a little cooler today, reminding us that its still early spring in St. Louis. When that happens, I always think of a warm soup. I love a quick meal that I can throw together fast and that keeps me from going to the drive through for dinner.
Potatoes are the star of the show for this hearty Creamy Potato Soup. Yukon Gold potatoes have a buttery taste, so they are perfect for this dish. However, if you only have russet potatoes, they work too. Your soup will just be slightly less buttery, but still amazing. Use half of a 5 pound bag, but if you want to double the recipe to feed a crowd, this doubles beautifully and you’ve only used one bag of spuds.
Cooking the potatoes in chicken broth boosts the flavor of Creamy Potato Soup. And tossing in a Knorr Chicken Bouillon cube is a must. If you have never purchased Knorr bouillon, try it and you will not be disappointed! It is already portioned and has great herby flavor. You can even buy it as powder in a jar. I highly recommend it. I also love Better Than Bouillon. If you use that or another paste, that works well, too. But whatever you do, DO NOT SKIP adding it.
When it comes to sautéing the carrots, celery, and onion for Creamy Potato Soup, you don’t need to chop with perfection. It will get blended in the blender, so just get the pieces about the same size so they cook at the same rate. You want them soft so they puree easily. But let them cool a little bit before you blend it. If its too hot when you put the lid on the blender, it will build up steam and you may get burned or it may splatter out when you remove the lid. Avoid that nonsense.
Creamy Potato Soup is perfect served with crumbled crisp bacon, sliced green onion, and more cheese. What garnishes do you like on your potato soup? Make this soup next time you want a quick homemade meal in under an hour. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Enjoy!
Creamy Potato Soup
Equipment
- 10-12" skillet
- 4-5 quart stock pot or Dutch oven
- Blender
- Potato masher
Ingredients
- 2.5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (may use russet potatoes)
- 1 32 ounce box chicken broth
- 1 Knorr chicken bouillon cube
- 2 large carrots
- 3 ribs celery
- 1 large yellow or white onion
- 1 stick butter (½ cup)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1½ cups whole milk, half & half, or cream (or combination of these)
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, plus more for serving
- crisp crumbled bacon (optional garnish)
- sliced green onion (optional garnish)
Instructions
Vegetable Prep
- Wash and peel potatoes. Cut into 1" cubes. They don't need to be perfect, just similar size for even cooking.
- Wash and peel carrots; chop into uniform size pieces. I just slice 'em.
- Wash celery; chop into uniform size pieces.
- Slice onion into uniform sized pieces - or chop - doesn't matter, just keep all the veggies about the same size so they cook at about the same rate.
Making the soup
- Add cubed potatoes to stock pot. Cover with chicken broth. The broth should just cover the potatoes. Add a little water if needed to cover potatoes. Toss in the Knorr bouillon cube. Heat over medium/high heat and bring to a boil. Then adjust heat to medium/low to continue cooking until potatoes are fork tender.
- Meanwhile, in medium skillet, add butter, carrots, celery, and onion. Season with salt and pepper. The salt will help sweat the vegetables rather than brown them. That's what we want here, soft veggies. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are very soft, stirring occasionally. Once cooked thoroughly, remove skillet from heat to cool slightly while potatoes finish cooking.
- When potatoes are fork tender, DO NOT DRAIN! Turn heat to low. Use potato masher to coarsely break up potatoes to desired size. I like it rather rustic, mostly smooth with some uneven sized chunks.
- Meanwhile, add cooked carrots, celery, and onion to blender. Puree vegetables until smooth.
- Add pureed vegetables to potato mixture. Stir to blend. Turn off heat.
- Stir in milk, half & half, or cream. Add shredded cheese and stir to melt.
- Garnish and serve. Enjoy!
