Crockpot Cheddar and Bacon Potato Soup
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When the air turns crisp and the leaves start to change, making a comforting batch of this Crockpot Potato Soup is mandatory. Hearty veggies, bacon, cheddar cheese, and more make this soup creamy, decadent, and filled with flavor. Bonus: your home will smell cozy and delicious, too!
This post is created in partnership with Hy-Vee Columbia.
About This Recipe
We play favorites around here–and this is one of our top comfort food soups on Thriving Home. It slow cooks all day and makes the perfect weeknight 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.
Ingredient Notes
You’ll find all these wholesome ingredients at your local Hy-Vee (Columbia).
- 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.
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How to Make Crockpot Potato Soup
You’ll start by sautéing the bacon in a skillet until crisp, removing it for topping the soup at the end. And then…wait for it…you’ll sauté your aromatics in the bacon fat.
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.
You’ll add your deeply flavored aromatics to your slow cooker, along with the potatoes. Stir in some high-quality chicken stock (or broth), fresh thyme sprigs, bay leaves, and salt and pepper.
Pop on the lid, set it on LOW for about 8 hours (depending on how hot your cooker runs), and forget about it. Or we also offer instructions for cooking this on the stovetop in the recipe card below.
After it’s done cooking, you’ll stir in some half and half, sour cream, and shredded cheddar cheese. As you stir the soup, the potatoes break down a bit and thicken it.
Last but not least, 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 make the soup taste less heavy. It’s an amazing ingredient that I hope you don’t skip.
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.
Now, we know it’s hard to resist eating the soup straight out of the slow cooker, but restrain yourself because there’s more goodness to come. That’s because our star of the show returns at the end…mmm, bacon.
How to Serve Crockpot Potato Soup
Generously top each bowl of piping hot soup with some sliced green onions or chives and the bacon bits you cooked up earlier. If you want to get fancy-schmancy, place a sprig or two of thyme on top, as well.
All you need to complete this veggie-rich, cozy soup is a good loaf of bread (try our Homemade Wheat Bread or Bread Machine Dinner Rolls) and a cool fall evening or cold winter’s night. And friends and family. Lots of friends and family.
Oh, and this soup would also pair perfectly with our Autumn Chopped Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette. For dessert, just go for it with Pumpkin Dump Cake and Crockpot Pumpkin Spiced Latte.
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.
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.
We have SO many to choose from in this roundup of 20+ Crockpot Freezer Meals. Make sure to hop over and browse around.
10+ Amazing Crock Pot Soups
If you like slow cooker soups, you will love this round up we have put together with our best of the best recipes.
Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!
Crockpot Potato Soup
This decadent, comforting crockpot potato soup with cheddar and bacon makes your home smell amazing. Serve with a warm loaf of bakery bread for a cozy fall or winter dinner!
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound bacon, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced (1 1/2 cups)
- 1 cup diced carrots (2 medium carrots)
- 1 cup diced celery (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 stock (or 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
- 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 chives, for serving
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- 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. Add garlic and cook for about 30-60 seconds more, making sure it doesn’t burn. (Freezing instructions begin here.)
- Place cooked veggies in a 6 quart slow cooker and add the potatoes, broth, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on LOW for about 8 hours, until potatoes are very tender.
- 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.
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 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
- How to Make on Stovetop: Use a stock pot in Steps 1 and 2. Place the ingredients from Step 3 into the pot (use an additional 1 cup broth) and simmer, partially covered, for about 20 minutes, until veggies are very tender. Follow Steps 4-6.
- 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!
- Try our fast and easy Instant Pot Potato Soup for a faster version. Add in bacon, if you’d like.
- 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.
So, so tasty!! We’re df/gf and I was able to switch things out, which I was nervous about, but it was great! I used Simple Truth plant based sour cream, Violife shredded cheddar cheese, and Nutpods non-dairy half and half. Will definitely be making this again!
Kristin, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review with your specific substitutions so that others who are GF and DF can feel more confident making it. So glad you enjoyed it!