Loaded Baked Potato Soup (Stovetop, Slow Cooker, or Instant Pot)

Loaded Baked Potato Soup is a smooth and creamy soup made on the stovetop, in the slow cooker, or in the Instant Pot and then garnished with a variety of tasty traditional baked potato toppings, from sour cream and shredded cheese to crispy bacon and green onions!

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 8

Total Time 8 15

Servings to 8 servings

Calories 465kcal

Author Samantha Skaggs

Equipment

Ingredients

4 pounds baking potatoes (such as Russets) peeled and cut into 1 ½-inch chunks
6 cups chicken broth OR stock
1 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup milk OR half-and-half OR heavy cream
½ cup sour cream
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup grated cheddar

GARNISHES:

Sour cream
Grated cheddar
12 ounces bacon cooked and crumbled/chopped
Diced green onions or chives

Instructions

Place cubed potatoes, chicken stock, and garlic in large slow cooker. Season with garlic salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and cook for 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH (or until potatoes are completely tender).
Turn heat to warm and use an immersion blender to purée the potatoes until smooth and creamy. Stir in milk, sour cream, butter, and grated cheese until all ingredients are melted and incorporated. (You may add a bit more milk if you prefer the consistency of your soup to be thinner.) Taste Baked Potato Soup and, if necessary, season with additional salt and pepper. If the soup is not hot enough at this point, place lid back on slow cooker and heat on warm for 5 to 10 more minutes (but don't heat too long after the dairy is added or the soup may turn brown around the edges of the pot).
Ladle the Baked Potato Soup into bowls and top with your favorite baked potato toppings: a drizzle or dollop of sour cream, grated cheese, chopped bacon, and/or diced green onions.

Video

Notes

You may use vegetable stock and omit the bacon if you would like to make this soup vegetarian.
You can use skim milk, 2%, whole milk, half-and-half, heavy cream...it's up to you! But obviously, the fattier the milk product you use, the richer and creamier the final soup is going to be.
The type of stock or broth you use is going to dictate whether or not you need to add additional salt at the end.
If you don't have an immersion blender, you may purée this soup in batches using a food processor or blender. Just allow it to cool down a bit before doing so, work with small batches at a time (don't fill your blender more than half way!), and leave the top of the blender cracked so that steam can escape and Baked Potato Soup doesn't explode everywhere!
To drizzle sour cream, stir it until smooth, scoop into a plastic sandwich baggie, and snip off a tiny piece of one corner. Then use it like a piping bag for drizzling.
You may substitute frozen riced cauliflower for up to half of the potatoes in this recipe. Just look at the weight of the bag(s) and swap for that amount of potatoes.
INSTANT POT DIRECTIONS (6-quart or larger): Follow the exact slow cooker directions for this recipe, instead placing the potatoes, broth, garlic, and seasonings in your Instant Pot. Close the lid of the Instant Pot and make sure it's set to sealed (not venting). Cook on Manual HIGH pressure for 12 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, and then carefully switch the knob to venting to release the rest of the pressure. Open the lid and follow the directions for finishing the soup by puréeing it with an immersion blender and then stirring in milk, sour, cream, butter, and cheese until melted. (If your Instant Pot is smaller than the 6-quart size, you will need to cut this recipe in half.)
STOVETOP DIRECTIONS: Place cubed potatoes, 7 cups chicken broth/stock (stovetop cooking requires 1 extra cup of liquid to allow for evaporation), garlic, garlic salt, and pepper in a large pot or Dutch oven set over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are completely tender (cooking time will depend on how large you cut them). Remove pot from heat and use an immersion blender to purée the potatoes and broth until smooth and creamy. Stir in milk, sour cream, butter, and grated cheese until all ingredients are melted and incorporated. Taste your Baked Potato Soup and, if necessary, season with additional salt and pepper. If you prefer a thinner soup, you may add a splash of extra broth or milk.

Nutrition