Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup
This post may contain affiliate or sponsored links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This delicious Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup is decadent, easy, and freezer-friendly. It can be thrown together in your Instant Pot right before dinnertime. The best part is you don’t have to peel any potatoes!
You can also try our Crockpot Cheddar and Bacon Potato Soup or Stovetop Cheddar and Bacon Potato Soup.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s hearty and comforting. Makes the perfect game day food, Fall Potluck Dish, or even Christmas Dinner.
- Once the dicing and sautéing is done, its hands off. No babysitting a soup on the stove. Hello, weeknight meal!
- It’s freezer-friendly. We are big fans of freezer meals, because they’re time-saving, money-saving, and sanity-saving for busy parents.
Ingredients
Check out these whole food ingredients you’ll need to grab at the store.
A few notes about the ingredients:
- 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 Loaded Potato Soup in the Instant Pot
Here’s a quick visual overview of the recipe, but you can find the full printable recipe at the bottom.
Saute Ingredients
Cook Bacon: Set the Instant Pot to “Saute”.. Fry the diced bacon until crisp, about 9-11 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving 1-2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pan.
Saute Aromatics: Saute the onions, celery, and carrots in the bacon grease until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30-60 seconds more, making sure it doesn’t burn.
Add Ingredients and Pressure Cook
Add the potatoes, broth, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, salt, and pepper to the pot. Stir to combine. Lock and seal the lid. Cook for 6 minutes at high pressure with a quick release of the pressure when done.
Finish
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 what I think is the secret ingredient–the white wine vinegar (optional but totally recommended!). Trust me on this–I tested it several times.
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.
How to Freeze Potato Soup
We love freezer friendly soups! You can either freeze this soup before cooking or after using these instructions…
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. Freeze the soup bag in a round container that’s about the size of the Instant Pot insert. Once frozen, remove the container.
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 bacon and cheese. Set the Instant Pot to “Saute”. Transfer the frozen soup to the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Follow Steps 4, but cook for 12 to 17 minutes. Follow Steps 5-6.
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 in the slow cooker or on the stove top, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Follow step 6 for serving.
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.
Yes, you can use russet potatoes. However, you will need to peel them before dicing.
No. Like with our Instant Pot Clam Chowder, the bacon can make the soup too salty and the texture of the bacon becomes more chewy than desirable.
Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!
Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup
This Instant Pot Potato Soup is decadent, creamy, and will come together in your Instant Pot right before dinner.
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)
- 2 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 sour cream (full fat is recommended)
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 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
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
Make It Now:
- Cook Bacon: Set the Instant Pot to “Saute”. Fry the diced bacon until crisp, about 9-11 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving 1-2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pan.
- Saute Aromatics: Saute the onions, celery, and carrots in the bacon grease until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 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.
- Pressure Cook: Lock and seal the lid. Cook for 6 minutes at high pressure with a quick release of the pressure when done.
- Finish: 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, 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. Freeze the soup bag in a round container that’s about the size of the Instant Pot insert. Once frozen, remove the container.
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 bacon and cheese. Set the Instant Pot to “Saute”. Transfer the frozen soup to the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Follow Steps 4, but cook for 12 to 17 minutes. Follow Steps 5-6.
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 in the slow cooker or 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.
- Testing Note: I updated this recipe in January 2025 to improve the texture and flavor of the old version. If you want the old version for some reason, you can find it here.
Can this be puréed with a stick blender rather than a potato masher? I don’t have one.
You may not even need to. I find that if I just stir it and sort of press on it, it gets plenty mashed. It’s really easy to over do it, so I think a stick blender might be too much.
This soup was delicious, and a tasty side to serve along fish, especially during Lent. I made it without the bacon, and left out the sour cream and was still delicious. I topped with chives, and dairy-free cheese. I will make it again!
Hi Rebecca. So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review and for letting others how your substitutions turned out.
Polly & Rachel, I love your recipes. When I saw you had an Instant Pot potato soup recipe, I was excited to try it! This recipe did not disappoint. I am gluten intolerant, and chose to make this GF by using the corn-starch slurry. I also added a cup of nutritional yeast. Thank you for making yummy recipes!
Hi Holly! Thanks so much for leaving a review and letting others know of the changes you made.
This recipe came together so fast and is not lacking any taste. I’m new to IP cooking and this was the first time I didn’t have any problems with my seal. We left the bacon out for lent. Can’t wait to find more vegetarian meals/fish to help me with getting through lent.
To clarify: in the post it says to cook on high pressure for 14 minutes, but in the recipe it says high pressure for 7 minutes. Which is correct? Thank you! This sounds delicious—I can’t wait to make it!
Whoops- forgot to update the text within the post. Thanks for pointing it out! Got it fixed. Enjoy!
Thank you!