Slow cooker potato soup is one of the easiest yet most hearty and delicious soups that you can make in your crockpot. Russet potatoes simmer in a bacon-flavored broth all day long, then you simply thicken it once you are ready to serve and eat!
If you are looking for more slow cooker soups you can also try our ham bone split pea soup or slow cooker hamburger soup.
Potato Soup in the Slow Cooker
This recipe is so simple, yet so full of flavor that it will soon become a regular in your soup rotation! The hardest part of making it is frying the bacon and onions for it, and the peeling of the potatoes.
If you want, you can cook the bacon and onions the day before, and get everything ready IN the slow cooker, refrigerate it then start it cooking the next day! It is a great way to save time the day you want the soup.
How to Make Slow Cooker Potato Soup
To make it all you do is:
- Saute your bacon and onions until cooked, add garlic, then drain
- Place the bacon mixture, potatoes, broth and spices into the slow cooker
- Cook all day
- Make the roux
- Whisk into the soup, cook a while longer then enjoy!
This is a very hardy soup that is a meal in a bowl thanks to all of the potatoes in it. We like to use potatoes to make a thick soup rather than a ton of cream or milk at the end, it yields a better soup.
But don’t worry there is still milk and cheese at the end!
Do I Need an Immersion Blender?
No, you don’t! The potatoes in the soup are cooked so well that we use a potato masher in the soup at the end before adding the roux to break them apart! Simply take the masher and press down into the soup and press the potatoes against the bottom of the slow cooker. Repeat until you have broken down most of the potatoes yet still have smaller chunks for texture.
After this proceed to the roux.
We prefer to use Velveeta cheese instead of shredded in this soup as it takes the creaminess over the top! However, not everyone enjoys Velveeta (though we think it’s great in moderation) so you can use your favorite cheese shredded for the cheese flavor.
Hope you enjoy it!
The Fast and Slow Team
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You’ll need
Ingredients
Cheese Roux
Instructions
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Saute the bacon and onions in a frying pan until they are soft. Add in the garlic and saute until fragrant, around 1-2 minutes. Drain most of the bacon grease, leaving a tablespoon or so for flavor, then place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
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Place the prepared potatoes into the slow cooker, along with the broth and all spices. Stir to combine.
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Cook in the crockpot on HIGH for 3-4 hours, or on LOW for 7-8 until the potatoes are slightly falling apart and the broth is cloudy.
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Take a potato masher and gently mash down the potatoes in the soup to break them up to the desired consistency. It is best when you break most of them down and leave some chunks for texture! You don't need an immersion blender at all for this, the potatoes should fall apart under a masher.
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To make the roux place a medium-size pot over low heat and melt the butter.
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Stir in the flour until it’s combined, it will be all clumped together, this is ok.
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Next, little by little, stir in the milk making sure that the milk is absorbed into the flour without making it lumpy. Eventually the mixture will be smooth.
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When all of the milk has been added and the mixture is smooth, add in the cheese and stir until melted.
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Whisk in your milk/cheese sauce into the slow cooker. Cook for another 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally so there isn't a skin on the surface.
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Serve and top with shredded cheese, minced green onions, extra bacon etc.
Notes
- If desired you can use a cup of cubed Velveeta cheese instead of shredded cheese to make this EXTRA creamy!
Nutrition per serving: 361 calories
- Calories
- 361 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 35 g
- Protein
- 13 g
- Fat
- 20 g
- Saturated fat
- 9 g
- Polyunsaturated fat
- 2 g
- Monounsaturated fat
- 7 g
- Trans fat
- 1 g
- Cholesterol
- 47 mg
- Sodium
- 974 mg
- Potassium
- 800 mg
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sugar
- 4 g
- Vitamin A
- 291 IU
- Vitamin C
- 10 mg
- Calcium
- 145 mg
- Iron
- 2 mg
Nutrition is an automatic estimate and will vary with the brands you use.
