Our creamy instant pot potato soup is made easier in the pressure cooker. We use lots of bacon, onions and cheesy goodness to pack this velvety soup with flavor. Served with your favorite toppings, a bowl of loaded baked potato soup is the ultimate comfort food dinner!
Why You’ll Love This Instant Pot Potato Soup Recipe
- Easy One-Pot Soup: Making potato soup in the instant pot is super simple with just a few steps and 10 minutes of prep. Honestly, the hardest part is peeling and dicing the potatoes!
- Creamy Goodness: With heavy cream, sour cream, cheddar cheese and lots of tender potatoes, this instant pot potato soup is lusciously creamy.
- Bacon Bliss: Slices of bacon are the secret flavor boosters in this soup. Bacon grease adds a smoky, savory note to the soup, while the crispy bacon is the perfect topping.
- Crowd Favorite: We doubt you will find many people who do not enjoy a bowl of creamy potato soup loaded with all the toppings. It always disappears quickly!
Love the idea of this easy potato soup recipe, but don’t have an instant pot? Try our stovetop loaded potato soup or crockpot baked potato soup instead.
What You’ll Need
This easy potato soup recipe comes together with a few pantry and fridge staples. Scroll down to the recipe card for exact amounts.
- Bacon: You can use any type of bacon you have on hand, but we like a thick cut bacon the best.
- Veggies: We’ll be using potatoes, yellow onion, celery, and fresh garlic. We really like the texture of russets or yukon gold potatoes, but you can use baby red potatoes as well.
- Broth: Chicken broth adds amazing flavor to the potato soup, but you could also use a veggie stock.
- Seasoning: Grab some dried thyme, dried oregano, salt and pepper.
- Dairy: Heavy cream (or half and half) along with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese add a great creaminess to the soup.
- Cornstarch: For thickening the soup.
- Toppings: We’re partial to a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped green onions, and crispy bacon for a bowl of loaded potato soup. Yum!
How to Make Potato Soup in Instant Pot
All you need is 10 minutes of prep and then the instant pot will do all the heavy lifting. Check out the recipe card at the end of this post for detailed instructions.
- Sauté: Set the instant pot to the sauté function and cook the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon and then sauté the onion and celery in the bacon grease. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more.
- Deglaze: Add 1/4 cup of your broth to deglaze the pot. Scrape the bottom, being sure to get all those tasty bits stuck to the pot.
- Pressure Cook: Add the potatoes, seasonings, and remaining broth. Give everything a good stir and lock the lid. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes, then do a quick release for any remaining pressure.
- Make it Creamy: Turn the sauté mode back on and stir in the sour cream and heavy cream. Mash up some (or all) of the potatoes until you reach your desired texture.
- Thicken Soup: Whisk to combine the cornstarch and water, stir it into the soup and cook for a few minutes, until the soup thickens.
- Serve and Enjoy: When you’re ready to serve, stir in the shredded cheese and garnish with any toppings you like. Enjoy!
Cook’s Tips and Tricks
- Mashing the Potatoes: This is a bit of personal preference based on how much texture you want in your soup. We only mash half of the potatoes because we like a little texture. If you want a completely smooth soup, you can always puree it in a blender or use an immersion blender.
- Don’t Skip the Deglazing: It is a really important step. The bacon will leave bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. If you don’t scrape those up, you’ll get the dreaded burn notice.
- Choice of Fats: The bacon and bacon grease adds a ton of flavor, but you can use olive oil or avocado oil if you’d like to make the soup vegetarian.
- Peeling Potatoes: Since we used russet potatoes, we opted to peel our potatoes. If you don’t, the skin will peel away as the potatoes cook and won’t mash well into the soup. If you use gold potatoes or red potatoes, you can leave the skin on as it’s more tender, but it will still add texture to the creamy soup.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
We love it when we get lucky enough to have leftover soup. It always somehow tastes even better the next day! Here’s how to store this instant pot potato soup:
- Store: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Reheat: We reheat individual servings in the microwave. If reheating a large portion, we recommend using the stove top or the instant pot set to sauté. Stir the soup often.
- Freeze: We do not recommend freezing because of the dairy used in the soup. Once thawed it can separate or become grainy.
Yield: 6 servings
Instant Pot Potato Soup
Our Instant Pot Potato Soup is a hearty and creamy soup made easier and faster in the instant pot. We use lots of bacon, onions and cheesy goodness to pack this potato soup with flavor!
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 4 cups chicken broth, divided
- 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup heavy cream, or half and half
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
Optional Toppings:
- Sour cream
- Cheddar cheese
- Green onions, or chives
- Bacon
Instructions
- Set the instant pot to sauté. Add the chopped bacon and cook until crispy about 5 minutes, stirring often. Use a slotted spoon and remove the crispy bacon to a plate and set aside.
- Add the onion and celery to the bacon grease, and sauté for 3 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds more.
- Next deglaze the pot by adding 1/4 cup broth. Scrap the bottom making sure to get any bits of the onion and celery from the bottom of the pot. (This is important to prevent a burn notice.)
- Add the potatoes, thyme, oregano and the remaining broth to the instant pot. Stir to combine.
- Lock the lid in place on the instant pot, set the valve to seal, and set the cook time to 10 minutes on high pressure. (Remember it will take about 10 minutes for the instant pot to come to pressure.)
- After the cook time, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes. While the instant pot is depressurizing, make the slurry by whisking to combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Quick release any remaining pressure and open the instant pot. Turn the instant pot to sauté and add in the cream and sour cream, stir just until blended. Use a potato masher (or an immersion blender) and mash some or all of the potatoes. (We prefer to leave a little of the potato un-mashed to add texture.)
- Add in the cornstarch slurry and stir to combine. Continue to sauté, stirring often, until the soup has thickened, about 3 minutes.
- When ready to serve, stir in the shredded cheese. Serve warm with all of your favorite toppings.
Notes
Store: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Reheat: We reheat individual servings in the microwave. If reheating a large portion, we recommend using the stove top or the instant pot set to sauté. Stir the soup often.
Don’t Skip the Deglazing: It is a really important step. The bacon will leave bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. If you don’t scrape those up, you’ll get the dreaded burn notice on your instant pot.
Choice of Fats: The bacon and bacon grease adds a ton of flavor, but you can use olive oil or avocado oil if you’d like to make the soup vegetarian.
Peeling Potatoes: Since we used russet potatoes, we opted to peel our potatoes. If you don’t, the skin will peel away as the potatoes cook and won’t mash well into the soup. If you use gold potatoes or red potatoes, you can leave the skin on as it’s more tender, but it will still add texture to the creamy soup.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 659kcal, Carbohydrates: 49g, Protein: 20g, Fat: 44g, Saturated Fat: 23g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 12g, Trans Fat: 0.03g, Cholesterol: 123mg, Sodium: 1009mg, Potassium: 1170mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 1231IU, Vitamin C: 15mg, Calcium: 382mg, Iron: 3mg
