This loaded baked potato soup is delicious and SO easy! It’s made in a crock pot, so you can leave it for a few hours and also make your house smell divine.
It is SOUP SEASON Y’ALL! I mean, it’s always soup season for me. I would happily eat broccoli cheddar or loaded baked potato soup on a hot day in July. Sue me.
But, I’ve been really craving loaded baked potato soup. Probably because I’ve seen every other food blogger on the internet sharing their recipe. This recipe was actually inspired by Damn Delicious!
Even though there are so many great recipes out there, the one thing they always have is cream cheese in them. While I personally am not mad about that, Joel doesn’t like cream cheese. Yes, even in soup. So, I made this recipe with extraaaa cheddar cheese so it’s still creamy and delicious and he will eat it. Win-win.
What ingredients do I need for loaded baked potato soup?
The great thing about this soup is that the ingredients are super basic! You honestly probably have most of them in your kitchen already. The only thing I had to buy was potatoes, which is funny because we usually have a ton of potatoes in our pantry. Anyways, here are all the ingredients you need for loaded baked potato soup.
- Bacon. We actually used turkey bacon but you could use pork or even veggie bacon.
- Potatoes. Welp, obviously. We used russet potatoes because I feel like they hold up really well and have a mild flavor. But, Yukon Golds would be great and buttery and delish too.
Chicken Stock. If you want this to be a vegetarian soup, swap for veggie stock instead. - Onion. We used a simple yellow onion, but you could use white onion too. Don’t use red onion, that’d be a way too powerful flavor.
- Garlic. You can use fresh garlic or swap for garlic powder if that’s what you have on hand.
- Thyme. We used dried thyme because I didn’t have fresh on hand and it works just as fine. You can use fresh, just follow this guide for swapping fresh and dried herbs.
- Butter. Because every recipes needs butter.
- Cheddar Cheese. I upped the cheese in this recipe because we aren’t using sour cream or cream cheese in our soup. You could also use a Colby jack if that’s what you have on hand.
- Heavy Cream. You could use whole milk here instead but honestly the heavy cream is best because of the fat content and hellooo flavor.
- Salt + Pepper. It’s up to you how much to season your soup! The cheese, bacon, and broth definitely add some salt but depending on your preference, you might want a little more in there.
How do I make this soup recipe?
I wrote this recipe for a crock pot because I put a poll on Instagram and that was the preference! It’s honestly a goal of mine to use the crock pot more. I rarely use it but it’s amazing for soups and easy dinners. My friend Courtney from NeighborFood has some awesome crock pot recipes if you need some more ideas.
This recipe only has a few steps and they are all easy peasy.
- Prep your Ingredients. Always! Since you are tossing everything in the crock pot, you want to prep all ingredients ahead of time. This includes chopping your potatoes, measuring your stock, shredding your cheese, etc.
- Make the Bacon. You will cook the bacon first, chop it, and then save a little for the finished product to sprinkle on top of the soup. Also, we make ours in our air fryer and it gets perfectly crispy!
- Toss in the Crock Pot. Put everything but the cheese and heavy cream in the crock pot and turn to high. Cook for 3 hours or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Mash the Potatoes. Get your potato masher out and smash up the softened potatoes in the crock pot until your preferred consistency and size.
- Add Cheese and Heavy Cream. Once you’ve mashed the potatoes a bit, add your shredded cheese and heavy cream. Stir to combine then cover again and cook for another 20 minutes or so until warm and creamy.
There you have it, a super easy and delicious loaded baked potato soup made in the crock pot! If (when!) you whip up this delicious recipe, be sure to tag us on Facebook or Instagram. We love when you make our recipes.
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 5-8 slices turkey bacon, diced
- 2 pounds russet potatoes chopped
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 3/4 cup onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 bunch green onions chopped
Instructions
- Cook bacon first using your preferred method. We prefer to make ours in the air fryer, it takes about 12-15 minutes depending on how crispy you like it. Once bacon is cooked, chop and set aside. Save a bit for topping too!
- Add chopped potatoes into a 4-qt slow cooker/crock pot. Add in chicken stock, diced onion, garlic, thyme, butter, and the diced bacon. Stir until combined.
- Cover with lid and cook on high heat for about 3 hours, or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Remove lid and use a potato masher to mash potatoes until your desired consistency. Then, stir in shredded cheese and heavy cream. (Be sure to save some shredded cheese for the topping too.) Season with salt and pepper.
- Cover again and cook on high heat until warmed through and soup gets creamier, about 20-25 minutes. If your soup is too thick, add more chicken stock. If your soup is too thin, add more cheese.
- Serve with more shredded cheese, diced bacon, and green onions!
Notes
- We used turkey bacon for our loaded baked potato soup because I don’t eat pork, you could use pork bacon or even veggie bacon if you want this to be vegetarian.
- Similar, you can use veggie stock instead if you don’t want to use chicken stock.
- I cooked mine on high, but you could cook on low, just know it will take at least double the time so you’ll want to check your potatoes around 5/6 hours.
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