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Here is the very best easy potato soup you’ll find! Creamy and comforting, it’s made in minutes with no cream and no need for a blender.
Ready for the very best silky, easy potato soup? Somehow, Alex and I didn’t have a go to recipe: until now. Yes, this recipe will blow your mind! It’s got the best creamy yet chunky texture, plus a twinge of intrigue from the spices. While most potato soup recipes are loaded with cream and butter, this one recipe has no cream and just a touch of butter. The best part: there’s no blender needed! With no special equipment and a handful of common ingredients, you’ve got a damn good potato soup (if we do say so ourselves).
Got a pressure cooker? Go to Instant Pot Potato Soup.
What’s in this easy potato soup?
I can rave on and on about this easy potato soup because Alex made this recipe! Somehow, he stumbled upon the perfect combination with this one: a healthy spin, big flavor, and it’s easy to make. Those are the type of recipes we’re obsessed with: we even wrote a book about it! Here are the potato soup ingredients that make this soup shine:
- Shallots and garlic. Shallot is a mild version of an onion, and it works well here to add a delicate savory flavor, along with garlic.
- Roux (flour + butter). A roux is flour cooked with butter that’s commonly used to thicken soups. This is less of a traditional roux here, but it’s the same concept: it’s added to give a creamy body.
- Milk + vegetable broth. No heavy cream here! Just 2% milk and vegetable broth. Because the main thickening comes from the…
- Potatoes. You’ll mash down much of the potatoes to become the creamy body of the soup.
- Old Bay. Our secret spice? Old Bay! It’s often used in American chowder recipes, making it the perfect fit here.
Really? There’s no cream?
Really, there’s no cream in this easy potato soup! The combination of 2% milk, vegetable broth, butter, and the potatoes mashed in the pot make up the rich and creamy texture. There’s a little over ½ tablespoon butter serving, so it’s a very moderate amount for the amount of richness and creaminess here!
Why no cream? Well, Alex and I do use cream in some of our recipes. But healthy soup recipes are our jam, so using milk cuts down on the calories and richness. Plus, we often have milk on hand! Heavy cream is a special ingredient we don’t often buy.
There’s no blender needed: use a potato masher!
Many potato soups call for transferring the hot soup to a blender. But no blender is needed here! You’ll cook the potatoes until they’re falling apart, then mash them right in the pot using a potato masher. This cuts down on mess, and makes for a great creamy but chunky texture (my favorite part about this easy potato soup).
Another note: many potato soup recipes call for making mashed potatoes in advance, then stirring those into the soup. Why do that when you can mash the potatoes right in the soup pot? It’s beyond us. Maybe those recipe authors are less worried about making a potato soup that’s truly easy. Lucky for you, it’s our obsession over here! (Wink.)
Best ways to top easy potato soup
The second best thing about potato soup, other than being deliciously creamy, is the toppings! Here we’ve listed our very favorite ways to load up this soup:
- Sour cream or Greek yogurt. For a healthy spin, we like using Greek yogurt! It tastes the same as sour cream with a little more tang. It’s also a great source of protein.
- Shiitake bacon. Might sound odd, but making bacon out of mushrooms is a thing. It gives just the right savory, smoky edge to this soup. (Did you know you can also make vegan bacon using coconut and tempeh?) Of course, if you eat meat you can add straight up bacon!
- Shredded cheddar cheese. To us, this gives the best flavor, protein, and overall color to a potato soup.
- Thinly sliced chives or green onions. Onions bring the best fresh flavor and lovely green as a soup topping.
They’re pretty classic (except for the bacon idea!), so we’re certain we haven’t thought of everything. Serve with garlic bread for a total comfort food meal. Let us know your favorite potato soup toppings in the comments!
This easy potato soup recipe is…
Vegetarian. For gluten-free, use 1 for 1 gluten-free flour. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free, go to Creamy Vegan Potato Soup.
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Easy Potato Soup (No Cream! No Blender!)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 1x
Description
Here is the very best easy potato soup you’ll find! Creamy and comforting, it’s made in minutes with no cream and no need for a blender. (Vegan variation: Go to Creamy Vegan Potato Soup.)
Ingredients
- 2 large shallots
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4 medium russet potatoes
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 6 tablespoons all purpose flour (or gluten free flour)
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 4 cups 2% milk
- 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning (purchased or homemade)
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Topping ideas: Greek yogurt, shredded cheese, thinly sliced chives or green onions, shiitake bacon or coconut bacon, hot sauce
Instructions
- Mince the shallots. Mince the garlic. Peel and dice the potatoes.
- In large pot, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until just starting to brown.
- Slowly stir in the vegetable broth, adding it bit by bit and then stirring. Once incorporated add the milk, potatoes, kosher salt, and Old Bay.
- Bring to a simmer and cook on low heat for 25 minutes (make sure the heat is just at a simmer and does not boil). Stir often and scrape the bottom to make sure nothing sticks. The soup will get extremely creamy (make sure to keep stirring or a skin will form on the top). It’s done when the potatoes fall apart when you mash one against the side of the pot with your spoon.
- Remove from the heat. Use potato masher to break up the potatoes so that a creamy but chunky texture forms. Stir to incorporate the mashed potatoes. Then serve topped with toppings of your choice! Leftovers store refrigerated for up to 5 days: reheat on the stovetop and add a splash of milk if necessary.
- Serve with toppings.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Easy Potato Soup, Potato Soup, Potato Soup Recipe, Best Potato Soup, Creamy Potato Soup
Related recipes
Here are a few more soup recipes that you might also enjoy:
- Curry Lentil Soup This vibrant soup recipe is ultra cozy and healthy! It’s a hearty plant based recipe that’s filling enough for lunch or dinner.
- Go easy with Garden Vegetable Soup, or fancy with French Onion Soup
- Easy Pizza Soup Take one bite of this pizza soup, and it tastes like your favorite pie in bowl form!
- Vegetarian Split Pea Soup This soup is made with a touch of liquid smoke in place of the traditional ham. It’s a filling, easy plant based meal!
- Creamy Vegan Potato Chowder A tasty recipe from our cookbook, Pretty Simple Cooking, shared in the Washington Post.
More recipes with potatoes? Go to our Best Potato Recipes (or Vegan Potato Recipes).
Hey! Just curious if you could use almond milk instead? We usually keep almond or coconut milk instead of dairy.
You can use almond milk, but the soup will be less rich and a little more watery. You might want to consider adding some more butter (or coconut milk). So, try it at your own risk! At some point, we’ll have to make a vegan potato soup recipe! :)
We’ve created a new vegan variation — it uses oat milk! But you could substitute almond milk there. Here’s the recipe: https://www.acouplecooks.com/vegan-potato-soup/
does it have to be vegetable broth used? or will chicken broth be fine?
Chicken would be fine.
Really enjoyed this for dinner on a cold night. After putting in 2c of the called for 4 cups of milk we decided it might be 2 creamy for us, so I subbed more broth (so a total of 4c of broth and 2c of milk were used for the entire soup). Still very creamy with the roux and smashed potatoes. We added some brats as we aren’t vegetarian. Will make it again!
★★★★
Thank you so much for this helpful recipe! I work at a social day program for adults with mental illness. A lot of folks need a filling meal that is healthier than the traditional heavy cream soups. On top of that the budget I work with to fed 9-14 people five days a week is under $150. This recipe is perfect! Can’t wait to explore other ones on your website. Take care
★★★★★
So glad to hear that! Thank you for making.
Other recipes say bring it to a boil. It is impossible for potatoes to be soft after only 25min on simmer.
This recipe is sort of not right.
We’ve had our potatoes on simmer for over 30min and they are all still very hard. The other comments have to be these people’s friends. There is no way this recipe is accurately rated.
★
Hi! Did you dice the potatoes or chop them? The potatoes need to be diced to become soft in 25 minutes.
I’m just a beginner but confused. You say coat the “vegetables” with flour. Are the vegetables the shallots and garlic already in the pan or the potatoes that are not yet incorporated at this point in the recipe?
Thank you.
Good question! We reworded this to state that you can just stir in the flour to the shallots and garlic at this point (not the other vegetables!). Thanks so much!