This Slow Cooker Potato Soup recipe is easy to make in the crock-pot, and it’s perfectly thick and creamy and flavorful (without having to use heavy cream)!
Alright everyone, I think this one tops the charts as our most requested recipe on the blog ever, so I hope you like it. :)
That’s right, I finally made you a recipe for Slow Cooker Potato Soup!!!
The keywords, of course, being slow cooker.
Many of you have already discovered my classic Potato Soup recipe on the blog, which will forever and always be my favorite. But nearly every other comment we have received about this soup is from all of you slow cooking fans, asking if you can make the soup in your crock pots. As someone who shares a deep and undying love of all things potato soup and slow cooking, I was right there with ya! Unfortunately, the traditional recipe wasn’t one that that easily converted to slow cooking. Or at least, you couldn’t just dump all of the ingredients in and expect thick and creamy and delicious potato soup afterwards.
But I tested out a few different slow cooker approaches and finally figured out one that I think we’re all going to love. Just like my classic potato soup recipe, this one is super rich and creamy (but made a tiny bit lighter without heavy cream – yay!), it requires less than 20 minutes of prep time (mostly just chopping those potatoes), and it’s wonderfully comforting and delicious. But unlike my classic potato soup recipe, your crock pot gets to be the one to slow cook this soup to perfection.
Alright, let’s do this.
Slow Cooker Potato Soup Recipe Video (1 Minute)
The first step in this Slow Cooker Potato Soup recipe is probably the most time consuming — chopping up a storm. Chop up lots of potatoes (I strongly recommend Yukon golds), a big onion (white or yellow), and lots of cooked bacon (you can fry or microwave the bacon while you chop, or buy it pre-cooked).
Then toss everything in the slow cooker (<– this is the one I use) along with lots of good-quality chicken or vegetable stock. Set the timer for 3-4 hours (on high) or 6-8 hours (on low). Then walk away and let the slow cooker do its thing.
Then once everything has slow cooked, you’ve gotta do the final step on the stovetop. I know, I know, this recipe isn’t 100% slow cooker. But in order to have a soup that’s nice and thick and avoid using heavy cream, we need to make a quick and easy creamy roux on the stove.
So just melt your butter (or you can use reserved bacon grease, if you fried the bacon on the stove, which will be way more flavorful) and whisk it together with some flour to form a roux. Then whisk in a can of evaporated milk. And once the mixture comes to a simmer, it will thicken up into a really thick gravy-like mixture. Add that to directly to the slow cooker, and give everything a stir.
And then if you’d like an even thicker soup (which I recommend), use a potato masher to mash up about half of the potatoes in the soup. Or you can just leave them all chunky. Up to you.
(Or, some of you have asked about a slightly healthier soup. If you’d rather leave out the roux entirely and just have a brothy-er soup, you can do that, and/or just mash some of the potatoes if you’d like to thicken it up a bit.)
And then…ta da! A big crock pot full of delicious, creamy Slow Cooker Potato Soup will be yours to enjoy!
Slow Cooker Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 6 slices cooked bacon*, diced
- 3-4 cups good-quality chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes**, peeled (if desired) and diced
- 1 medium white or yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 4 tablespoons bacon grease* (or butter)
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 (12-ounce) can 2% evaporated milk
- 1 cup shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt or low-fat sour cream
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
- optional toppings: thinly-sliced green onions or chives, extra shredded cheese, extra bacon, sour cream
Instructions
- Add bacon, 3 cups chicken stock, potatoes and onion to the bowl of a large slow cooker, and stir to combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours, or until the potatoes are completely tender and cooked through.
- Once the soup has slow cooked and is about ready to serve, cook the butter in a small saucepan on the stove over medium-high heat until it has melted. Whisk in the flour until it is completely combined, and then cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Gradually add in the evaporated milk while whisking it together with the flour mixture, and continue whisking until the mixture is completely smooth. Let the mixture continue cooking until it reaches a simmer, stirring occasionally, and then it should get really thick.
- Immediately pour the milk mixture into the slow cooker with the potatoes, and stir until combined. Add in the cheddar cheese, Greek yogurt (or sour cream), salt and pepper, and stir until combined. If you would like the soup to be even thicker, you can use a potato masher or a large spoon to mash about half of the potatoes (while the soup is still in the slow cooker) to thicken the soup up. If you would like the soup to be thinner, add in an extra 1-2 cups of warmed chicken or vegetable stock. Stir to combine, then taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve warm, garnished with desired toppings. Or transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (This recipe will not freeze well.)
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Followed the ingredients list exactly. Only difference is that I cooked the bacon first and just used for garnish. Sauted the onions in a little bacon grease then added potatoes and stock. Followed the rest of instructions.Cooked mine on stovetop. Done in no time at all! Family loved it!
Will be making this again. Oh and don’t salt until the end. That way your sure to not overdo it since salt is already in several ingredients.
This recipe is great! Perfect for this cold weather! I had to make modifications because my husband is lactose intolerant and it still turned out very good! I used Fairlife milk instead of evaporated milk and left out the cheese and sour cream. I’m sure adding those things would’ve taken this soup to the next level, but no can do. :*( Thanks for the great recipe!
Absolutely Delicious!!!!!!!!!!! ? Will Share With Family & Friends For Sure!!!!!
This turned out amazing we did add ham chunks and corn to it.
First try turned out perfectly. Everyone raved in my family including my husband who doesn’t love potatoes. Constancy was perfect. Loved it!
I’m so happy to find this recipe! I used the bacon grease to make the roux so it gave the soup a nice Smokey flavor. I also threw in some carrot & celery to try and get some vegetables in my kids and it worked! I didn’t have evaporated milk but 2% worked just fine! I’m looking forward to trying your Jambalaya recipe tonight!
I am looking forward to trying your recipe for my favorite soup but would like to know if I wanted to use the heavy cream how much would I put in the crock pot and at what point would I add it. I know I shouldn’t but I can’t imagine making Potato Soup without cream. I can’t believe it would taste as good without it!
This recipe was fantastic! It’s easily the best potato soup I’ve ever made, and possible the best I’ve ever had. The only change I made was to add some MSG, but I do that for all soups.
I did make a mistake and forgot to throw in the onion during the first cook, not realizing it until it had been cooking on high for an hour. To catch it up, I sauteed it in a skillet for 10 minutes or so until it softened and just slightly turning gold before throwing it into the rest of the soup.
We served it at a family party and the one thing I would recommend for those who keep it on warm in a crock pot for a few hours is to have a little extra chicken stock on hand. It slowly dried out and became a tad too thick towards the end of the party, but we thinned it out with some extra stock for leftovers.
I’m making this for the second time today. Last time was delicious, though, it ended up a little watery and my roux was kind of a fail. This time I’m adjusting the liquid to potato ratio and I decided to add some freshly sliced mushrooms for an added flavor.
Just another hour until it’s ready and I can try the roux again and add the sour cream and cheese. My apartment smells so good with this cooking and the mushroom is adding another dimension of flavor. I can’t wait! Perhaps I’ll try some corn instead of mushroom next time since I’ll definitely be making this again and again.
This turned out great! My prep time was well over 10 minutes, as a diced/chopped everything by hand. I a bit more than doubled the recipe, using 5 pounds of Yukon Gold Potatoes, fried my bacon myself and saved the grease for the roux. I used a mixture of butter and bacon grease for the roux. I also used both chicken and vegetable stock. I added two large diced carrots, and a couple of tablespoons of minced garlic, as well as a small amount of basil. I did not use sour cream, or any toppers such as shredded cheese, it was very good without it. All of this filled my crock to the very brim. This was shared by three people, leaving well over two thirds of the recipe for freezing/leftovers, which is exactly what I’d hoped for. We will have plenty of homemade potato soup ready to go for cold/lazy days. I will definitely make this again (once all my leftovers are gone), and plenty to bring to work and share with coworkers. Hooray for potato’s and the delicious soups they yield. Thanks for posting this recipe!