Bacon Cheddar Potato Soup
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This stovetop Bacon Cheddar Potato Soup is filled with hearty veggies, bacon, cheddar cheese, and more. It’s creamy, decadent, and so flavorful. Bonus: your home will smell cozy and delicious, too!
Or try our Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup or Crockpot Cheddar and Bacon Soup.
About This Recipe
We play favorites around here–and this is one of our top comfort food soups on Thriving Home. It makes a perfect weekend meal, Fall Potluck Dish, or even Christmas Dinner.
We have tested freezing it after cooking, and it thaws and rewarms just fine. So double and freeze half of this recipe, so you can enjoy it again soon.
P.S. If you like this one, you’ll also love our Autumn Chowder and Cheeseburger Soup. Promise.
Ingredients Needed
Ingredient Notes
- Bacon – Uncured bacon is the healthiest option. Be sure the bacon is NOT thick cut. Otherwise cooking time will take longer.
- Diced onions, carrots, and celery – You’ll start with the traditional triumvirate of French aromatics referred to as mirepoix (pronounced: meer-pwah). Chop these into evenly-sized, bite-sized pieces.
- Yukon gold potatoes – We use this creamy variety of potatoes to save time because they don’t require peeling!
- Chicken stock (or broth) – Try making and freezing your own chicken stock to cut down on additives.
- Shredded cheddar cheese – Use finely shredded cheddar (Kraft brand works well) or grate your own cheese to avoid the additives.
How to Make Cheddar and Bacon Potato Soup
Saute Bacon and Veggies
Place bacon in a large skillet, then turn on medium-high heat. Fry the diced bacon until crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving 1-2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pan. Set aside in the refrigerator.
Saute the onions, celery, and carrots in the bacon grease until tender, about 5 minutes. Cooking the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in bacon grease, my friends is pure soup-making magic. Your entire pot of soup will be infused with the three “S”es of bacon: Savoriness, Saltiness, and Smokiness.
Add Ingredients and Cook
Add the potatoes, broth, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, salt, and pepper to the pot. Stir to combine. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Place a lid on top and leave it a crack. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender.
Finish and Serve
Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Stir in the half and half. Then, stir in the sour cream. Now stir in the cheese a little at a time until it’s melted and well combined. Finally, stir in the white wine vinegar (optional but totally recommended!). Taste and add more salt and pepper, to your preference. The soup will thicken as it sits and cools slightly.
Serve bowls of soup with the cooked, crumbled bacon and green onions or chives on top.
Can I Freeze Potato Soup?
Yes! This soup is absolutely freezer-friendly! Use our freezer instructions in the recipe card below. Feel free to double the batch if you have a 5- or 6-quart crock pot, since doubling is a great use of your time and the bigger batch will cook at the same rate as the recipe indicates.
Freeze for Later:
Method 1 (Uncooked): Place cooked bacon in a quart-sized freezer bag and seal. Place cooked and cooled veggies, broth, thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and potatoes in a gallon-sized freezer bag or container. Seal and freeze. (Note: Make sure the potatoes are completely submerged in the liquid to avoid browning.) Package up the cheese in a quart-sized freezer bag and freeze along with the soup. Do not freeze the half and half, as you will add this as a fresh ingredients at the end.
Method 2 (Fully Cooked): Fully cook the soup through step 5 and let it cool. Place the soup in 1 or 2 gallon-sized freezer bags or containers and seal. Place cooked bacon in a quart-sized freezer bag and seal. Freeze together as a kit.
Prepare From Frozen:
Method 1 (Uncooked): (Note: You will need sour cream, half and half, and green onions to make this recipe.) Thaw. Follow instructions beginning with Step 2.
Method 2 (Fully Cooked): (Note: You will need the sliced green onions on hand.) Thaw using one of these safe thawing methods. Warm over low heat in the slow cooker or on the stove top, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Follow step 6 for serving.
Side Dish Ideas
All you need to complete this veggie-rich, cozy soup is some kind of bread and a great salad.
Extra Benefit: Sneaky Nutrition for Picky Kids
We have to mention one more surprising advantage of this delicious soup. It’s actually laden with vegetables–onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, green onions, and garlic. My often picky children gobble this soup up and ask for more. So, I’ve found it to be a secret weapon for adding in more nutrition. It really is a kid-favorite and adult-favorite meal.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! It is naturally gluten-free.
All you have to do is skip the step of adding half and half, sour cream, and cheddar cheese at the end. I tested this dairy-free version during development and can highly recommend it! Because the broth is so flavorful thanks to the aromatics and bacon, this Potato Soup can really stand on it’s own without the dairy.
We will go on record saying that the half and half makes this soup what it is. It just wasn’t the same when we tested it with milk. Note: it may seem thin at first, but the soup will thicken up significantly as it sits. Trust us.
I tested this a LOT and felt like it was delicious but maybe a little flat…especially the longer you ate it. So I stirred in just a small amount of white wine vinegar to the soup at the very end. The minuscule amount of acid make the flavors pop, tones down the saltiness, and makes the soup taste less heavy. It’s an amazing ingredient that I hope you don’t skip.
Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!
Bacon Cheddar Potato Soup
This stovetop Bacon Cheddar Potato Soup is filled with hearty veggies, bacon, cheddar cheese, and more. It’s creamy, decadent, and so flavorful. Bonus: your home will smell cozy and delicious, too!
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound bacon, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 cup diced carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
- 1 cup diced celery (about 2-3 stalks)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups (1/2-inch) diced Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 1/2-2 pounds; no need to peel)
- 3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper, plus more to taste
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 1/2 cup sour cream (full fat is recommended)
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (it’s best if you grate your own cheese)
- 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar (optional, but recommended!)
- Chopped green onions or minced chives, for serving
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- Cook Bacon: Place bacon in a large stock pot, then turn on medium-high heat. Fry the diced bacon until crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving 1-2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pan. Set aside.
- Saute Aromatics: Saute the onions, celery, and carrots in the bacon grease until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for about 30-60 seconds more, making sure it doesn’t burn.
- Add Ingredients: Add the potatoes, broth, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, salt, and pepper to the pot. Stir to combine.
- Simmer: Bring the soup to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Place a lid on top and leave it a crack. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender.
- Finish: Move the pot off the hot burner. Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Stir in the half and half. Then, stir in the sour cream. Now stir in the cheese a little at a time until it’s melted and well combined. Finally, stir in the white wine vinegar (optional but totally recommended!). Taste and add more salt and pepper, to your preference. The soup will thicken as it sits and cools slightly.
- Serve: Serve bowls of soup with the cooked, crumbled bacon and green onions or chives on top.
Freeze for Later:
Method 1 (Uncooked): Place cooked bacon in a quart-sized freezer bag and seal. Place cooked and cooled veggies, potatoes, broth, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, salt, and pepper in a gallon-sized freezer bag or container. Seal and freeze. (Note: Make sure the potatoes are completely submerged in the liquid to avoid browning.) Package up the cheese in a quart-sized freezer bag and freeze along with the soup and bacon.
Method 2 (Fully Cooked): Fully cook the soup through step 5 and let it cool. Place the soup in 1 or 2 gallon-sized freezer bags or containers and seal. Place cooked bacon in a quart-sized freezer bag and seal. Freeze together as a kit.
Prepare From Frozen:
Method 1 (Uncooked): (Note: You will need sour cream, half and half, and green onions to make this recipe.) Thaw the meal kit. Follow Steps 4-6.
Method 2 (Fully Cooked): (Note: You will need the sliced green onions on hand.) Thaw using one of these safe methods. Warm over low heat on the stove top, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Follow step 6 for serving.
Notes/Tips
- This soup will thicken as you stir it and then as it sits and cools off.
- I tested stirring the cooked bacon into the soup as it cooks, but I didn’t like the texture in the end. It was chewy and had a weird mouth feel to me. So I prefer just sprinkling it on top at the end.
- If you use russet potatoes instead of Yukon golds, be sure to peel them first.
- Dairy-Free Substitutes: Here’s my best guess as to how to make this DF. Stir together 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 1/2 cup plain almond milk in place of half and half. Replace the sour cream with Kitehill Dairy-Free Cream Cheese (the plain or chive flavors would work well). Omit the shredded cheddar cheese (I don’t like the dairy-free cheese personally). If you try this, please comment and let me know how it worked!
- While you’re going to the work, I highly suggest doubling this soup. Leftovers are great for days or it works to freeze for later.
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