Loaded Baked Potato Soup (2024)

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Every bowl of hearty Loaded Baked Potato Soup has all the delicious toppings you’d put on an actual baked potato. It’s creamy, satisfying, and ready to devour in under an hour.

If Loaded Baked Potatoes are on the menu, that’s a side I’m eating. The humble potato is the perfect vessel for bacon, cheese, sliced green onions, and sour cream. It’s so much flavor! Loaded Mashed Potatoes too, same thing. It’s a little bit like having a Twice-Baked Potato without the twice-baking part.

But while having a baked potato might not seem like dinner, once you turn it into a soup, you’re good to go. Take all those flavors and simmer them in milk and sour cream, and you’ve got yourself a hearty meal.

Everyone can build their own bowl of soup, too. Not everybody wants ALL the toppings, so they don’t have to use them. The best potato soup is the one you can customize yourself.

Recipe ingredients

Ingredient notes

• Russet potatoes: Plain old “baking potatoes” are the best for this soup because they have more starch. Some cooks make the soup with frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, too, or substitute Yukon gold potatoes.
• Sour cream: Baked potato soup tastes just as good with heavy cream or an equal amount of cream cheese.

Step-by-step instructions

1. In a Dutch oven or large skillet over medium heat, add bacon and cook until crispy, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain on paper towels, then crumble (use this to garnish the soup). Reserve the bacon grease in the pot.

2. To the Dutch oven, add butter and stir until melted. Whisk in flour until smooth and lightly browned, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, add milk and cook until thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Add potatoes, scallions, and ½ teaspoon salt and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until potatoes are fork tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Stir in cheese, sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper).

5. Adjust the consistency of the soup with additional milk if desired. Serve hot garnished with crumbled bacon, more cheese, and more scallions or chives if desired.

Recipe tips and variations

• Yield: This recipe makes at least 9 cups of soup, enough for 6 servings, 1 ½ cups each.
• Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
• Freezer: Soups with dairy may have a grainy texture and separate when you thaw them out. So, if you want to freeze potato soup, don’t add the dairy. Store it in a freezer-safe container, label, date, and freeze. When you reheat the soup, go ahead and add the milk, cheese, and sour cream.
• Keep warm:Get the soup ready on the stove, then keep it warm for company in the crockpot. Turn it to LOW heat while the party happens.
• Ham: To substitute 4 ounces of cooked diced ham for the bacon, skip Step 1 (frying the bacon) and add the ham with the potatoes in Step 3.
• Velveeta: Substitute 4 ounces (or more) of Velveeta for the shredded cheese.
• Smooth: For a soup as smooth as silk, puree in batches in a blender or with an immersion blender.