This 4 Ingredient Potato Soup is so simple to make with a silky creamy texture and such great flavor – all with just four ingredients! You can make it your own with any toppings you'd like. Ideal for a cold day or chilly night when you want something comforting with minimal effort and minimal ingredients.
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Ingredients
Just a few basic ingredients are needed to make this creamy soup the whole family will love.
- Russet potatoes: Russet potatoes are the best potatoes for this recipe because they're very starchy. That potato starch will naturally thicken the soup. I recommend peeling the potatoes.
- Onion: This one ingredient adds a lot of flavor – yellow onion or white onion both work. Yellow onions are what I usually use, so I'd recommend one of those over white, but both are fine.
- Chicken broth: Using chicken broth instead of water is a great way to add more flavor into the dish with just that little tweak. You could use vegetable broth if you have that instead, but chicken broth will add the most flavor.
- Butter: Good quality salted butter is best to use here. With so few ingredients, it's important we get the most flavor out of each. Kerrygold is my go to.
Step by step instructions
This simple potato soup recipe comes together in just a few steps:
Prep: Peel and chop your potatoes to roughly 1 inch pieces, and chop the onion.
1. Sauté the onion. Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat on the stove top and sauté the chopped onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove the onion and set aside.
2. Cook the potatoes. In a large pot (can be the same one you cooked the onion in), add the cut potatoes and chicken stock. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat then reduce to a gentle boil and cook until fork tender. Do not drain.
3. Puree the soup. To a blender (in batches depending on your blender size) add the cooked potato chunks, stock, and onions. Blend until smooth. Add more stock if needed.
4. Add butter and season to taste. Return the pureed soup to the pot, on low heat stir in the remaining butter and season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Tips and tricks
- Russet potatoes are best for this recipe because of their starchiness and the fact that they break up so easily. If you don't have / don't like russet potatoes, you could use yukon gold potatoes or red potatoes instead. More on the differences of potatoes here.
- Cut the potatoes in equal-sized pieces so they all cook at the same pace. You don't want some mushy and some hard potatoes because they won't blend together well to make a smooth soup!
- You can tell when the potatoes are done cooking when a fork can poke into them smoothly with minimal force.
- Skip the blender and use an immersion blender. It will work just as well to blend the soup together. Just beware of splashing!
- If you want the soup to be a little chunky, just blend it until your desired consistency and leave some chunks in there.
- If you want the soup to be even creamier, you can add some heavy cream, whole milk, or dairy-free milk (coconut milk would be great).
- Sauté the onion in bacon fat if you're adding bacon as a topping. Cook the bacon first (transfer to a paper towel lined plate) and then sauté the onion in the bacon fat - it'll add so much flavor!
- Avoid a bland soup by using high quality salted butter, a large onion, chicken broth, and seasoning appropriately with salt and pepper!
What to serve with potato soup
If you're looking for something to serve alongside this creamy potato soup, try my best garlic bread, cheddar chive biscuits (a little dip dunk action), or honey sriracha brussels sprouts.
The best toppings for potato soup
This 4-ingredient potato soup recipe is great on its own, but below are some great options for toppings – choose one, choose multiple, either way, you'll have a delicious meal.
- Scallions / green onions
- Cheddar cheese
- Crispy bacon
- Sour cream
- Fresh thyme
- Chopped Calabrian chilis
- Pico de gallo
Storage and reheating
- Storage: to store potato soup, allow it to come to room temperature then transfer to an airtight container. Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheating: to reheat potato soup, you can either warm in the microwave at 1-2 minute increments, stirring halfway through, or you can warm on the stovetop on medium-low heat until warmed through.
- Freezing: this soup freezes pretty well! let it come to room temp then transfer to a freezer-safe container. It'll keep for up to 4 months. Reheat on the stovetop on low heat.
FAQs
Sure! Either omit the butter and use olive oil to sauté the onion, or use a dairy free butter.
Nope! The natural starches in the potatoes and the fact that they get blended will make it plenty thick.
If you'd like to add spices, I'd recommend garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, a little cayenne.
You can, but the skins won't blend up perfectly so there will be a little more texture in the final soup.
No! Soaking removes the excess starch, which we actually want for this recipe.
Other soup recipes
📖 Recipe
4 Ingredient Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 3 lbs russet potatoes peeled and into 1 inch pieces
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 5-6 cups chicken stock
- 1 stick butter ½ cup
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat and sauté the chopped onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- In a large pot (can be the same one you cooked the onion in), add the cut potatoes and chicken stock. Bring to a boil then reduce to a gentle boil and cook until fork tender. Do not drain!
- To a blender (in batches depending on your blender size) add the potatoes, stock, and onions. Blend until smooth. Add more stock if needed.
- Return the pureed soup to the pot, on low heat stir in the remaining butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Karyn says
Great work Haley! I used all the tips. I fried the onion in bacon fat, added some whipping cream and used an immersion blender. Only one pot yk clean! Easy peas. Thanks...KK
Haley says
So glad to hear!! Thanks for making it Karyn 🙂