Easy 4 Ingredient Potato Soup

An up close bowl of potato soup topped with bacon, cream, chives, pepper, and croutons.

This Easy 4-Ingredient Potato Soup recipe is so creamy and delicious! It’s made with only a few simple ingredients - potatoes, vegetable stock, cream, and butter - and is ready in under 30 minutes! It's the perfect canvas for adding all your favorite toppings!

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword dutch oven, easy, soup

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings servings

Calories 288kcal

Author Lauren LeBlanc

Equipment

Large dutch oven or pot
Immersion blender or blender
Potato peeler

Ingredients

2 ½ pounds Russet or Yukon gold potatoes peeled and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces, see note below
4 cups vegetable stock use a good quality or homemade stock
½ cup heavy whipping cream can substitute for half and half or whole milk, see note below
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Optional toppings like shredded cheese, chives, green onions, bacon, diced red onions, or sour cream

Instructions

PREP: Wash and peel potatoes. Cut them into approximately 1 inch pieces.
BOIL: Add diced potatoes and stock to a large pot. If the broth doesn't cover the potatoes, add water or more stock until all potatoes are submerged. Bring up to a boil and cook for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are fork tender.
PURÉE: Remove the pot from heat and puree the soup with an immersion blender. You can also transfer to a regular blender, but use caution with blending boiling hot liquids! Puree until smooth, or choose to leave in some potato pieces for a chunkier texture.
SIMMER: Return pot to the stove over medium heat. Pour in cream and butter and stir. Simmer for another few minutes until the soup reaches the desired consistency. Do a final taste test and add salt and pepper as needed.
SERVE: Serve warm with the option to add your favorite toppings like crispy bacon, cheddar cheese, sour cream, croutons, and chives.

Notes

The best potatoes - Yukon gold potatoes are the best overall for potato soup, especially if you want to leave it with a chunkier texture. Russets work well for a puréed potato soup.
Cutting the potatoes - To ensure the potatoes all cook evenly, make sure to cut them into uniform pieces. Cutting the potatoes too small can lead to excess starch making the final texture gluey. To avoid this, cut the potatoes into 1 ½ inch chunks.
Use good quality vegetable stock - There are limited ingredients, so most of the flavor will come from the broth. Homemade stock is best!
Milk substitutions - If you want to make the soup lighter, substitute for half and half or milk. These alternate options will yield a slightly less thick soup.
Make a double batch. This potato soup freezes well, so make a double batch and freeze some portions to enjoy later. Boiling time may take an additional few minutes when making a double batch.
How to store leftovers: Store leftover potato soup in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Homemade potato soup will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
How to freeze: This soup freezes really well! Store in a freezer safe container in the freezer for up to 6 months.
How to reheat: This soup reheats well in the microwave or on the stovetop. You may need to add a splash of broth or milk to loosen up the cold soup. When reheating from frozen, defrost in the refrigerator overnight. Some of the soup may separate and become watery after defrosting, but once it is reheated, it becomes creamy again when you stir it.

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