Pure comfort food, this creamy potato cheese soup is kicked up a notch with crumbled bacon to top it off. Simple ingredients include potatoes, extra sharp cheddar cheese, milk, onion, garlic, and broth.
Why This Recipe Works
This recipe comes together in about 30 minutes and makes a great lunch. If you serve in small portions like the recipe directs, it’s a wonderful appetizer or side to a sandwich. I like to serve this potato cheese soup with a cool, crisp salad too!
Ingredients You Will Need
Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable version at the end of this post.
How to Make My Potato Cheddar Soup
These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe. Please scroll down to simply print out the instructions!
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 2 minutes.
- Add potatoes and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 12 to 14 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
- Transfer 1 cup of the mixture to a blender or food processor; pureé until smooth.
- Return mixture to saucepan. Stir in milk; heat over medium heat until hot (do not boil). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Stir one cup of the cheddar cheese into the soup until melted and heated through.
- Ladle soup into four bowls; top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.
- Garnish with crumbled bacon and chopped chives.
Expert Tips & FAQs
- Nutritional information does not include garnish
- Vegetable broth can be substituted for chicken broth
- If you prefer, you don’t have to peel the potatoes, just be sure to scrub them first
- We use sweet Vidalia onion, but any yellow or white onion will be fine
- Extra sharp cheddar gives the best flavor, you can also use white extra sharp
What to Serve with this Potato Cheese Soup
- For the ultimate cheesy lunch, serve as a side to my toasted cheddar ham sandwich.
- A great dipper for this soup is a couple of slices of my homemade Italian bread.
- You might try topping this creamy potato cheese soup with my ranch seasoned oyster crackers.
More Soup Recipes
- Italian Sausage Tomato Orzo Soup
- French Onion Soup
- Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings
- Corn Chowder
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Pasta Fagioli
- Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Be sure to check out all of my delicious soup recipes!
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Cheddar Cheese Potato Soup
IMPORTANT - There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup chopped Vidalia onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups Yukon Gold potatoes peeled, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- 14 oz chicken broth
- 1 cup milk
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 1 ¼ cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese , divided
- crumbled bacon and chopped chives for garnish, optional
Things You'll Need
Before You Begin
- Nutritional information does not include garnish
- Vegetable broth can be substituted for chicken broth
- If you prefer, you don't have to peel the potatoes, just be sure to scrub them first
- We use sweet Vidalia onion, but any yellow or white onion will be fine
- Extra sharp cheddar gives the best flavor, you can also use white extra sharp
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add potatoes and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 12 to 14 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
- Transfer 1 cup of the mixture to a blender or food processor; pureé until smooth. Return mixture to saucepan. Stir in milk; heat over medium heat until hot (do not boil). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Stir one cup of the cheddar cheese into the soup until melted and heated through.
- Ladle soup into four bowls; top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.
- Garnish with crumbled bacon and chopped chives.
Nutrition
This post originally appeared here on Feb 19, 2012.
Amanda Davis
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Chery Hobbs says
I doubled the recipe and it was amazing!
Angela McMeans says
OMG this was the best cheesy potato soup ever! I ordered some at O’Charley’s the other day and it was not good at all so I’ve been craving it ever since. Simple and delicious recipe I will definitely make again. My new go to for using up potatoes. I did use Russet’s this time but I just didn’t cook them as long and they were perfect! My son even ate two big bowls with no crackers. LOL!
Tracy says
Delicious! I ran out of milk, so I used coconut milk. it still tasted perfect. I also made herb and cheddar bread to pair with it. I will make this again!
Carol Petersen says
Can you use russett potatoes?
Amanda Davis says
Yes, but they are starchier and may change the thickness of the soup. If you notice it thickening more than you expected, you can simply thin it with some chicken broth or water.
James says
Have made this several times and was delicious every time. It pairs well with some cornbread or focaccia bread.
Lois says
I have had trouble lately getting my chedder cheese to melt into my soup. It remains almost curdled. What am I possibly doing wrong?
Amanda Davis says
Be sure you aren’t using “aged” cheese as it melts differently than regular cheese. Also try to use cheese you shred yourself, bagged cheese has anti-caking agents. Lastly, be sure your cheese isn’t cold directly from the fridge. It can lower the temp of the soup too much.
Andrea says
Try using blocks of cheese and shredding it yourself or rinsing your shredded cheese. Cheese sheeeded in the store has a starch that covers it to keep it from sticking but it also makes it more difficult to melt.
Cindy Ciotola says
I’m lactose tolerant, so I can’t use milk. Can you use unsweetened almond milk?
Amanda Davis says
We haven’t tried that but it should work.
Nadine Jackman says
I am lactose intolerant too! Try lactose milk which I purchase at Costco. I used it and it still turned out great!
Nancy says
Perfect recipe and so simple to the reader who said her soup was thick good potato soup is thick but if you prefer thinner just add more milk not heavy cream or a little white wine. I also used an immersion blender easier than taking half out and putting in a blender I Made this in morning perfect for lunch
Shawn says
I made this tonight but it came out thick instead of creamy. Like super thick!I followed the recipe exactly. It had great taste but wasn’t soup. Any ideas??
Amanda Davis says
It shouldn’t have turned out that thick. You either measured something wrong or used too many potatoes. I’ve made this several times with perfect results.
Chris S says
Going to make it now, you really should put all weighs in ounces or preferably grams, especially the potatoes. The weight of 4 cups of potatoes could vary greatly depending on how you dice them and how you pack them into the measuring cup. I don’t understand why anyone publishing recipes wouldn’t use weights over measures.
Amanda Davis says
Hi Chris. Thanks for your feedback. If we were to list items in weights, which we do on some of our recipes, we would use ounces. Grams aren’t used as often in the states and that’s where we are located.
Andy says
Is this soup suitable for freezing or will it split?
Amanda Davis says
I have frozen this soup in the past, but it does separate and become a little grainy. So I don’t recommend it.
Trixie says
Simply delicious. We love onions and cheese so I added 3/4 cups onions and 1 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar. I prepared the soup an hour before serving and it was perfectly thick. Easy, great recipe.
Cindy Jhagroo says
Made this for lunch today and it came out perfect! Easy recipe and family enjoyed it. Place the soup in a sourdough bread bowl.
Judy says
I made this and it was AWESOME!. I tweaked the recipe a little by using heavy cream instead of milk and mashed the potatoes a little with a potato masher and was amazing!