Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Looking for a comfort food that feels like home, right in your bowl? This easy-to-cook loaded potato soup recipe tastes so good, you’ll wonder if it came straight from your grandma’s cookbook. This recipe is designed to be dropped into a slow cooker, so it can simmer all day while you go about your business.

When pulling together the ingredients for this recipe, you’ll start with potatoes, onion, garlic, and broth. The first ingredients cook together until the potatoes are nice and tender. This will allow you to easily mash them right in the pot.

Once they are mashed and mixed, there’s just a little bit of prep needed to finish it. Some additional cheddar cheese, chives, and bacon add just enough flavor to keep this soup as part of your regular weekly meal rotation, especially in colder months.

Here’s a step-by-step process to create a soup that you, and everyone in your family, are going to love.

What You’ll Need

You can grab everything you need to make this tasty soup recipe in just a single grocery store run. In fact, many of us probably have most of the ingredients already sitting in our kitchen, minus a few.

You’ll need Yukon Gold potatoes, onion, garlic, broth, evaporated or whole milk, cornstarch, cheddar cheese, sour cream, bacon, and chives. If you don’t have salt and pepper, you’ll want to add that to your list as well.

Yukon Gold Potatoes: You’ll need to scrub and clean your potatoes thoroughly first. Peel the skins if you prefer a soup without them. Leaving the skins on can still provide a very tasty soup, but it will have a different texture as a result. Keep the potatoes small as larger potato chunks can become harder to mash.

Onion, Chicken Broth, and Garlic: These will join the potatoes in your slow cooker right from the start, to give the soup some flavor. Onions should be finely diced, and a low-sodium broth will give you more flexibility to season the soup after it’s done.

Evaporated Milk and Cornstarch: Both ingredients are added at the end when the soup is close to being finished. We’d recommend you use plain evaporated milk. Avoid using sweetened condensed milk (trust us on this one).

Cheddar Cheese & Sour Cream: To avoid additional prep time, prep the recommended amounts you’ll need before you start cooking. When the soup thickens, turn off the heat. Then stir in both sour cream and cheddar cheese.

Chives and Bacon: Keep these separate until it’s time to serve. The bacon adds the smoky flavor, and chives give it a bit of crisp freshness at the end that helps bring out the natural onion flavor of the soup.

How to Make Slow Cooker Loaded Potato Soup

Step 1: Add Potatoes, Onions, Broth & Spices

First, add the chicken broth, diced onions, potatoes, garlic, salt, and pepper into your 6-quart slow cooker. Stir everything until the mixture is evenly distributed.

Step 2: Cook Until Potatoes Are Tender

Cover your slow cooker and cook on low until your potatoes are tender enough to be mashed. Usually, this takes around 6–8 hours.

You’ll know the potatoes are fully cooked and ready when you can slide a fork or masher through them easily. When the potatoes are done, they will easily mash against the side of the pot, and you are ready to mash a little more.

Step 3: Mash Up Some Potatoes

First things first. You don’t want to mash up all the potatoes. You are only going to mash up about half of them. Start with less, and mash slowly if you feel you need to thicken the soup just a bit more.

Once about half the potatoes have been mashed, keep the rest intact for additional texture. Once mashed, those potatoes will help thicken the soup and give it a better consistency.

Step 4: Thicken the Soup

Next, combine the evaporated milk and cornstarch together in a completely separate bowl. Whisk them together until they are smooth.

Once mixed, pour the mixture into the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients. Then, stir gently so that it all mixes together into a thick, soup consistency.

Step 5: Continue Thickening and Finish

Once everything has been combined, it’s time to move the heat to high, and cover the soup to cook for an additional 20–30 minutes. Check often, and evaluate consistency.

Once it seems that the soup is done, turn off the heat. Gradually stir in your sour cream and shredded cheese. Taste, and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Step 6: Add Toppings and Serve

Once your soup is done, serve into separate bowls. Finish it with your chopped bacon and chives. You can add additional shredded cheddar cheese and some sour cream to complete the loaded potato soup.

Make sure to add the bacon last, right before serving. This will ensure that the bacon stays crunchy.

Additional Questions Before Starting