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Cheryl MalikPosted: 01/19/23Updated: 08/23/23
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Simple, creamy, and comforting, this old-fashioned potato soup is just like grandma used to make! With only four ingredients, this soup only takes about 30 minutes to make, and you can load it up with any toppings you like for a versatile and delicious potato soup.
🥣 What Makes This Recipe So Good
- Unlike our Instant Pot potato soup or this Irish potato soup, old-fashioned potato soup is incredibly simple. There’s only 4 ingredients (plus salt and pepper, which don’t even really count as ingredients) and it’s ready to eat in roughly 30 minutes.
- Since this recipe is based on old-fashioned soup like grandma used to make, it won’t have the same consistency you’d get from a potato soup made with flour, cheese, sour cream, heavy cream, or canned cream of something soups. The only thickeners here are whole milk and the natural starch of the potatoes. Because of that, it might be a little thinner than you’re used to. I’ve included tips for adjusting the consistency down below!
- You can round out your soup with any toppings you like. Shredded cheddar, chopped green onions, crumbled bacon, a dollop of sour cream. I also like a nice crusty bread with mine, to sop up any soup the spoon just can’t reach.
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👩🏼🍳 Chef’s Tips
- I mentioned before that this is an old-fashioned potato soup, so the consistency won’t be quite the same as a fully-loaded baked potato soup. You can easily adjust it to be thicker or thinner depending on your preferences, though! For a thicker soup, just mash more of the potatoes, leaving few (if any) chunky. The more potatoes used in the soup liquid, the thicker the soup will be.
- For a smoother texture, use an immersion blender to purée the potatoes, rather than mashing them with a potato masher. Blending them will make the soup really creamy, without any lumps or chunks you might end up with when you just mash the potatoes.
- I recommend whole milk to make the soup as creamy and thick as possible, but you’re welcome to use your favorite milk, or milk alternative. For dairy-free milks like coconut or almond, make sure they’re unsweetened. Keep in mind that reduced fat milks will give you a thinner soup than whole milk.
🥔 We’re Obsessed with These Potato Recipes
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5 from 1 vote
Old Fashioned Potato Soup
Prep:10 minutes minutes
Cook:20 minutes minutes
Total:30 minutes minutes
Made with 4 simple ingredients and ready to eat in 30 minutes. This classic potato soup is an absolute dream!
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4 servings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Russet potatoes peeled, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to boil potatoes
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion chopped
- 3 cups whole milk or milk of choice, at room temperature
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Equipment
Large pot
water enough to cover potatoes
Large wooden spoon
Fork
Bowl
colander
dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed pot
Potato masher or immersion blender
Instructions
Add chopped potatoes to large pot. Fill pot with enough water that water sits 1" above top of potatoes. Add 1 to 2 pinches salt and stir to incorporate, then place pot on stovetop over medium-high heat.
Bring water to gentle boil. Boil 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes can easily be pierced with tines of fork but not fall apart.
While potatoes boil, heat dutch oven over medium heat. When pot is warm, add putter and melt completely, moving butter around occasionally with large spoon to coat bottom of pot.
When potatoes are ready, remove 1 cup of water from boiled potatoes and transfer water to small bowl. Pour remaining water and potatoes through colander to drain, then set potatoes aside.
When butter is melted, add chopped onion. Sauté onion, stirring occasionally, until onions have softened. Be careful not to burn butter.
Remove pot with onions from heat. Add boiled potatoes, room-temperature milk, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to pot. Stir to incorporate, then return pot to heat.
Bring mixture to gentle simmer. Be careful not to boil milk – mixture should only develop small bubbles around edge of pot.
Let mixture simmer gently 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove pot from heat. Use potato masher or immersion blender to mash or purée approximately 50% of potatoes, leaving remaining potatoes chunky as desired.
If desired, stir in reserved liquid from boiling potatoes as needed to thin soup and achieve preferred consistency. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed, then portion into serving bowls and serve hot.
Notes
- Consistency: The only thickeners in this soup are the milk and the natural starches of the potatoes. It’ll intentionally have a thinner consistency than potato soups that include flour, cheese, sour cream, or heavy cream. For a thicker soup, mash or purée more than 50% of the potatoes, and let the soup simmer a little longer to reduce the liquid more.
- Make it Dairy Free: Use plant-based butter and your favorite unsweetened plant-based milk alternative.
- Make it Whole30: Use ghee and unsweetened canned coconut milk.
- Leftovers: Let soup cool completely, then transfer to airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat on stovetop or in microwave until just warmed through.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1serving, Calories: 346kcal, Protein: 11g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 37mg, Sodium: 708mg, Potassium: 1248mg, Total Carbs: 51g, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 11g, Net Carbs: 48g, Vitamin A: 474IU, Vitamin C: 14mg, Calcium: 261mg, Iron: 2mg
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
© Author: Cheryl Malik
Meet Cheryl Malik
In addition to being a certified health coach, certified yoga instructor, and mom of 3, Cheryl is also the recipe developer, editor-in-chief, food photographer, and passionate foodie behind 40 Aprons. Having spent the last 10+ years as a food blogger, she's become known for her flavorful recipes, detailed instructions, gorgeous photography, and down-to-earth approach to food and cooking in general.
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lynn kotlan saysEasy and very tasty. I did add bacon when serving. Delicious!
Reply
- Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
Bacon is a perfect topping! Thanks for sharing, Lynn. 🙂
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