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Green ceramic bowl of creamy potato soup topped with shredded cheddar, sliced green onions and crisp bacon chips

Loaded baked potato soup

Prep 20 min Cook 1 hr 10 min Total 1 hr 30 min Servings 4

By Lukasz Jagiello

Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Sep 25, 2026

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About this recipe

I only post recipes that I have tried and verified and are good to my taste — all taste may vary.

The same potatoes thicken the soup three different ways: the first third is blended smooth for body, the second mashed so it melts down partway, and the last broken up roughly so there is something to bite. Boiling them separately keeps that under control, warm dairy going into the roux keeps it smooth, and holding the salt until the end stops the bacon, stock and cheddar from pushing it over once the soup reduces.

Ingredients

  • Bacon
  • Base
  • Liquid
  • Potatoes
  • Seasoning
  • To garnish

Method

  1. 01

    Cut the 340 g package of bacon in half. Slice one half into small slivers for the soup itself. Cut the other half into shorter strips that will fry flat as chips for the top.

  2. 02

    Fry the slivers in a large heavy pot over medium heat until crisp, then lift them out and reserve. Fry the strips in the same pot until crisp and flat, and reserve those separately.

  3. 03

    Pour off about 75 percent of the rendered fat, leaving roughly a quarter in the pot. That is what the vegetables cook in, and it carries the whole base.

  4. 04

    Add the diced half onion and 2 diced celery stalks. Cook at medium for 5 to 10 minutes, until the onion turns translucent.

  5. 05

    Add 2 minced garlic cloves and cook 30 seconds to a minute, just until fragrant.

  6. 06

    Add 4 tbsp butter and 4 tbsp flour. Stir until the flour disappears completely into the vegetables and butter, with no raw white streaks left.

  7. 07

    Meanwhile, boil the 700 g diced potatoes in a separate pot of water until tender, then drain and divide them into three equal portions. They cook separately so each portion can be treated differently when it goes into the soup.

  8. 08

    Warm 120 ml heavy cream and 480 ml whole milk until very hot but not boiling. Pour the cream into the pot first and stir until the mixture starts to thicken, then add the milk a little at a time, stirring, until it thickens again. Warm dairy going into a hot roux is what keeps it smooth.

  9. 09

    Warm 480 ml chicken stock with 240 ml water, pour it in, and stir until the soup thickens once more.

  10. 10

    Add the first third of the potatoes, then blend the soup smooth with an immersion blender. This portion is doing one job only: body. Blend it before the bacon goes in, or the blender destroys the bacon too.

  11. 11

    Stir the reserved bacon slivers in now that the blending is done. They soften into the soup and keep their texture.

  12. 12

    Simmer 10 minutes, then add the second third of the potatoes and mash them into the soup with a potato masher. These melt down partway and leave a softer, coarser body behind.

  13. 13

    Simmer another 10 minutes, then add the last third of the potatoes and break them up roughly with the masher, leaving clear pieces. This is the portion you actually bite into.

  14. 14

    Simmer 10 minutes more, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Season only now: the bacon, the bacon fat, the stock and the cheddar on top are all bringing salt, so anything added earlier will overshoot once the soup reduces.

  15. 15

    Ladle into bowls and finish at the table with grated sharp cheddar, a spoonful of sour cream, chopped green onions, and the reserved bacon chips standing on top.

Notes & swaps

  • Three grades of potato is what makes this soup. The first third is blended smooth for body, the second mashed so it melts down partway, and the third broken up roughly so there is something to bite. Most versions pick one and the texture goes flat.
  • Boil the potatoes in a separate pot. Cooking them in the soup releases starch unevenly and takes the control away.
  • Blend before the bacon slivers go in, not after. The slivers are there for texture and an immersion blender will pulverise them.
  • Warm the dairy and the stock before they go into the roux. Cold liquid hitting hot flour and butter seizes into lumps.
  • Season at the very end. Bacon, bacon fat, stock and sharp cheddar all carry salt, and the soup concentrates as it simmers. Salt early and you cannot take it back.
  • Leave about a quarter of the bacon fat in the pot. That fat is the base of the whole soup, and pouring all of it off gives you a much plainer result.
  • Make ahead: better the next day, once the potato starch settles. Reheat gently over low heat with a splash of milk to loosen it.
  • Storage: refrigerate up to 3 days. Freezing is not recommended, as dairy-and-potato soups go grainy on thawing.
  • Makes about 6 cups, which is four generous bowls or six starter portions.
  • For a vegetarian version, skip the bacon, start with 3 tbsp butter in place of the fat, use vegetable stock, and add a little smoked paprika to replace the smoke.

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