Ultimate Loaded Baked Potato Soup (2024)

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

This Ultimate Loaded Baked Potato Soup recipe has tender chunks of russet potatoes, fresh sharp cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, and green onions for garnish! It is a creamy soup that your whole family will love!

If you’re looking for the one and only potato soup recipe that you’ll ever need, look no further than this Loaded Baked Potato Soup! Ultimate Loaded Baked Potato Soup tastes just like a fully loaded baked potato, but is served up in a bowl of creamy goodness and topped with all of the best baked potato toppings! This is one of the best soups and a family favorite.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup Ingredient Notes:

Potatoes and soup define comfort food for me (and pasta and cheese, too!), so when you combine them together, it’s like comfort food heaven and truly some of my favorite things. The best part about this recipe is that it comes together fast and is easy, yet so full of yummy baked potato goodness. Let’s talk about the ingredients that you’ll need:

• Bacon: You will need about 8 slices of bacon that you’ve cooked and crumbled. I find it easiest to cut the bacon using kitchen shears and then cook it. You can cook your bacon in a large skillet or in the oven (here’s how to Bake Bacon). If you want to make this soup extra delicious, reserve about one tablespoon of bacon grease to stir into the soup. There’s nothing quite like the flavor that comes from bacon drippings. Reserve some of the bacon for garnish.
• Butter: I recommend using real butter for this recipe, not a butter substitute.
• All-purpose flour: The flour acts as a thickening agent in this soup. You’ll need about ⅔ cup. If you want to make this soup gluten free, use cornstarch instead.
• Milk: The milk is what makes this a creamy potato soup! I’ve used a variety of milks including 1%, 2%, and whole milk. I do not recommend using skim milk and have not tried this recipe with milk substitutes. See my tip below for lightening this soup up.
• Russet Potatoes: You will need about 4-6 potatoes that you’ve baked, peeled, and cubed into bite-sized pieces. To speed the process along, I recommend cooking the potatoes in the microwave. Here’s my guide for how to cook baked potatoes in the oven, air fryer, slow cooker, or microwave. See my recommendation below for the best potatoes for potato soup.
• Green onions: Adds flavor to the soup plus makes for a delicious garnish.
• Sharp cheddar cheese: In any recipe that calls for shredded cheese, I recommend grating your own cheese from a block. It melts so much better since it’s not covered in preservatives like pre-shredded cheese is and tastes better so is worth taking a few extra minutes to shred it yourself. You can substitute sharp cheddar for medium or mild cheddar.
• Sour cream: Adds to the creaminess of the soup as well as the cozy loaded baked potato flavor. Some have asked if heavy cream would be a good substitute here, and it’s not recommended. Stick with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt for the best result.
• Seasoning: This soup is simply seasoned with salt and black pepper. Taste your soup and add more as needed.

How to Make Baked Potato Soup:

Loaded Baked Potato soup is so easy to make. Here is a brief overview of how it comes together. You will want to make sure that your potatoes are baked and cubed before starting the soup. You’ll also want to make sure that your bacon is cooked and chopped up. For the full recipe including all measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

1. Make a roux. Add the butter to the large pot and when it is melted, slowly whisk in the flour and allow that mixture to cook for a few minutes. See more on making a roux to thicken soup below.
2. Add the milk. Slowly add in the milk, one cup at a time, making sure to whisk well between each cup. Continue whisking until the mixture starts to thicken.
3. Add the potatoes and green onions. Remember, you are using potatoes that have been cooked, peeled, and cubed. Increase the heat to medium-high heat and bring the soup to a boil, making sure to stir it frequently.
4. Add the other ingredients. Reduce the heat to low, then stir in the cooked bacon, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste.

When the cheese has melted and all of the ingredients are well combined, gather your family at the dinner table and serve the soup. I like to have extra cheddar cheese, bacon, and green onions on hand to garnish each bowl of soup. Whatever you like on your loaded baked potato, feel free to add it as a garnish!

The Best Potatoes For Potato Soup

The star of this recipe is, you guessed it, potatoes! Russet potatoes are what I recommend for this loaded potato soup because they are high in moisture and low in starch, making them the perfect vessel to absorb the creamy goodness of the soup. You can absolutely substitute red potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes if that’s what you have on hand.

Make sure you cook the potatoes before adding them to the soup. This is a great recipe to make with leftover baked potatoes! If you don’t have any leftover baked potatoes, you will want to start by baking the potatoes. Here’s my guide for how to cook baked potatoes in the oven, air fryer, slow cooker, or microwave. Once they are cooked and peeled, cut the potatoes into small, even chunks.

Making A Roux For Potato Soup

The key to making a creamy soup like this loaded baked potato soup is making a roux. We do this by combining butter (a fat) and flour which results in a thickening agent. The key to making this work is to add the milk very slowly, a little at a time, whisking until all of the liquid is absorbed before you add more. Do this until you’ve added all of the milk. This process shouldn’t take more than a minute or two, but does require some patience.

If you are cooking for someone who can not have gluten, replace the flour with cornstarch and proceed with the recipe as written.

Tips and tricks for making Loaded Potato Soup

• Lighten up the soup. If you’d like to lighten this potato soup up a bit, feel free to substitute some of the milk for chicken broth, chicken stock, vegetable broth or vegetable stock. I’d recommend using 3.5 cups milk and 3.5 cups of broth or stock. Just be aware that this soup will not be as creamy and delicious if you’re adding broth in place of some of the milk. The milk is what makes this a creamy potato soup!
• Make the soup thinner. This is a very thick, delicious soup. If you’d like to thin this soup out, you can either add a little chicken stock at the end to thin it out, or see my tip above for how to swap some of the milk for chicken broth or stock.
• If you don’t like chunky soup, I recommend using an immersion blender to smooth the soup out. You could blend the entire batch of soup, or half of it to have some chunks but not as many. Alternatively, you could transfer the soup to a blender or use a potato masher to mash the baked potatoes before adding them to the soup.
• To save time, cook, peel, and cube your potatoes ahead of time. Store them in the refrigerator until they are needed in the soup.

Storing Leftovers

Store any leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat only the portion you plan to eat on the stovetop over low heat, stirring often to prevent it from separating.

This isn’t my favorite soup recipe to freeze, but it can be done. Once the soup has cooled, put it in a freezer-safe container or bag leaving about an inch at the top for it to expand. Store in the freezer for up to three months. Allow to thaw before reheating, and reheat on the stove top like previously mentioned. Always use your best discretion when reheating and eating leftovers.

More Potato Soup Recipes

Looking for more delicious potato soup recipes to try? This Instant Pot Cheddar Broccoli and Potato Soup is absolutely delicious! For something on the lighter side, try this Creamy Cauliflower Bacon Soup that uses cauliflower in place of potatoes. And lastly, a classic! Try our Zuppa Toscana Copycat recipe from Olive Garden.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for Ultimate Loaded Baked Potato Soup. It is the best soup for a cold winter or fall day and truly one of my favorite soups year after year. Your kids will love it too. Enjoy!

If you try this loaded baked potato soup recipe, please let me know what you think by leaving a comment. I love hearing from you when you make my recipes!