This Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup is creamy, delicious, and tastes like you slaved over it all day! It’s easy to prepare and is ready in a flash thanks to the Instant Pot. There’s also a slow cooker version if you’d rather prepare it that way!
Cooler weather is just around the corner, or maybe it’s already made its appearance in your neck of the woods!
When the temperatures take a dip, all I want to do is put on some warm fuzzy socks and curl up with a bowl of this Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup.
I’ve been busy creating recipes for my Instant Pot and am super excited about this one.
This recipe is an adaptation of the Slow Cooker version shared by Carrie of Kenarry: Ideas for the Home on my site, and it came out so good and was ready in a flash!
Ingredients for Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup
- butter
- onion
- garlic
- chicken broth
- cream of chicken soup
- Russet potatoes
- salt and pepper
- milk
- flour
- cheddar cheese
How to Make Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup – Step by Step
- Add butter to the Instant Pot and turn on the sauté button. Once butter is melted, add in the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes until soft. Add in the garlic and cook for one additional minute until fragrant, stirring constantly so that garlic does not burn.
- Add the chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, potatoes, salt, and pepper to the pot, and stir well. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the vent valve to “sealing.” Cook over manual high pressure for 10 minutes, then quick release the pressure.
- Meanwhile, stir together the milk and flour in a small bowl to create a slurry. Set aside. Once the steam has completely released and the pin has dropped on the lid, open the lid and stir in the slurry. Turn the pot to sauté and cook the soup for 4-5 minutes, until thickened. Stir in the 2 cups of cheddar cheese and stir until melted.
- Serve garnished with chopped bacon, green onions, and more cheese. Enjoy!
Tips and Notes
- Make sure to chop your potatoes into roughly the same size for even cooking. About 1 inch cubes is what I recommend.
- If you prefer a less chunky soup, you can use an immersion blender to smooth out your soup at the end of cooking, or place the soup in a blender and blend it until it reaches the consistency you like.
- My favorite cream of chicken soup is from Pacific Foods Brand. It’s really flavorful and only contains simple, real food ingredients.
- My favorite kind of cheese to use in this soup is sharp cheddar. It adds such great depth to the flavor. I also recommend shredding your own cheese from a large block as it will melt beautifully.
What kind of potatoes work best for Potato Soup?
Russet potatoes have a high starch content and work wonderfully when making loaded potato soup. They are what I use and prefer most often. I also like Yukon gold potatoes and use those occasionally. Red potatoes would also work here, but won’t lend quite as creamy a texture as russets will.
How to Make Loaded Potato Soup in the Slow Cooker
If you’d rather make your potato soup in a slow cooker, I have a full recipe and directions for how to do that! This is a great way to prepare it while you are gone during the day.
Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten Free, and Dairy Free Options
To make this recipe vegetarian, swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth and the cream of chicken soup for cream of celery soup. For a vegan alternative, swap out the butter for vegetable or olive oil. Also swap the milk for soy, hemp, rice, or almond milk, and the cheese for a vegan cheese alternative, or leave it out completely.
This Loaded Potato Soup can be made gluten free by using a gluten free cream of chicken soup. My favorite cream of chicken soup is from Pacific Foods and it is gluten free. I’ve also found that Walmart carries a gluten-free cream of chicken soup under their Great Value brand.
You will also need to swap the all purpose flour for a gluten free version, such as rice flour, chickpea flour, or oat flour.
To make this Loaded Potato Soup dairy free swap out the milk for soy, hemp, rice, or almond milk, and the cheese for a vegan cheese alternative, or leave it out completely. You will also want to use a dairy free cream of chicken soup, which isn’t always easy to find on the shelf at the grocery store. Here is a recipe for dairy free cream of chicken soup you can make at home.
More Delicious Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Instant Pot Cheesy Broccoli and Rice
- Instant Pot Shrimp Fried Rice
Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup (with a slow cooker version)
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 medium onion,, diced
- 3 cloves garlic,, minced
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 can/box cream of chicken soup, (I prefer Pacific Foods brand)
- 7-8 medium sized russet potatoes,, peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes (about 2.5 pounds of potatoes)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, (or more/less to taste)
- black pepper to taste, (I like a lot of pepper)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, (I use sharp cheddar)
Garnish:
- 5-6 slices bacon, (cooked and chopped)
- sliced green onions
- shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Add butter to the Instant Pot and turn on the sauté button. Once butter is melted, add in the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes until soft. Add in the garlic and cook for one additional minute until fragrant, stirring constantly so that garlic does not burn.
- Add the chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, potatoes, salt, and pepper to the pot, and stir well. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the vent valve to "sealing." Cook over manual high pressure for 10 minutes, then quick release the pressure.
- Meanwhile, stir together the milk and flour in a small bowl to create a slurry. Set aside.
- Once the steam has completely released and the pin has dropped on the lid, open the lid and stir in the slurry. Turn the pot to sauté and cook the soup for 4-5 minutes, until thickened. Stir in the 2 cups of cheddar cheese and stir until melted. Serve garnished with chopped bacon, green onions, and more cheese. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Make sure to chop your potatoes into roughly the same size for even cooking. About 1 inch cubes is what I recommend.
- If you prefer a less chunky soup, you can use an immersion blender to smooth out your soup at the end of cooking, or place the soup in a blender and blend it until it reaches the consistency you like.
- My favorite cream of chicken soup is from Pacific Foods Brand. It's really flavorful and only contains simple, real food ingredients.
- My favorite kind of cheese to use in this soup is sharp cheddar. It adds such great depth to the flavor. I also recommend shredding your own cheese from a large block as it will melt beautifully.
- Best Potatoes to use: russet potatoes have a high starch content and work wonderfully when making loaded potato soup. They are what I prefer and use most often. I also like Yukon gold potatoes and use those occasionally. Red potatoes would also work here, but won't lend quite as creamy a texture as russets will.
- How to Make Loaded Potato Soup in the Slow Cooker: If you'd rather make your potato soup in a slow cooker, I have a full recipe and directions for how to do that! This is a great way to prepare it while you are gone during the day.
- To make this recipe vegetarian, swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth and the cream of chicken soup for cream of celery soup.
- For a vegan alternative, swap out the butter for vegetable or olive oil. Also swap the milk for soy, hemp, rice, or almond milk, and the cheese for a vegan cheese alternative, or leave it out completely.
- This Loaded Potato Soup can be made gluten free by using a gluten free cream of chicken soup. My favorite cream of chicken soup is from Pacific Foods and it is gluten free. I've also found that Walmart carries a gluten-free cream of chicken soup under their Great Value brand. You will also need to swap the all purpose flour for a gluten free version, such as rice flour, chickpea flour, or oat flour.
- To make this Loaded Potato Soup dairy free swap out the milk for soy, hemp, rice, or almond milk, and the cheese for a vegan cheese alternative, or leave it out completely. You will also want to use a dairy free cream of chicken soup, which isn't always easy to find on the shelf at the grocery store. Here is a recipe for dairy free cream of chicken soup you can make at home.
Nutrition
Stacy says
Came out delicious! I used half and half instead of regular milk. I would also like to add that the slurry is unnecessary if you just mash the potatoes a bit when done cooking. Not so much that you end up with a smoothie, just until you notice it start to thicken. Let it rest a minute or two and it’s perfect as is with plenty of potato chunks still.
Linda says
Left skin on potatoes, left out cream of chicken soup, added sautéed pork steak, used 1% milk. It was delicious!
Mary Beth Hunt says
truly the best and easiest potato soup there is. Make it every week to take to friends and family and they also love it.
Andrea D Busath says
I made this for Dinner Last night! It was so good we have plenty for leftovers! I will definitely make it again
Laura J says
Made this for dinner tonight- it was excellent! I added one carrot and some frozen corn but otherwise followed the recipe. My 3 picky kids loved it, and my husband (who loves potato soup) even said that it was “better than usual” and wanted to know what I did differently this time. This will be my go-to potato soup from now on, thanks!
Starr says
The soup is awesome. I’m curious, can this soup be frozen.
Linda says
I made this in the instapot following the directions. Definitely a do again recipe. Might add some diced ham next time.
Tish says
This is great!
Susan j says
Can I use 2 percent milk in place of whole milk?
Ashlyn Edwards says
Yes!
Dana says
I basically made the soup as written, but I did change a couple of things, but not until after the soup cooked. I didn’t add any salt. I used cornstarch instead of flour. And, I added Canadian Bacon, and bacon crumbles. Excellent flavor and silky texture. A keeper!
Chuck Goodman says
When we released the pressure the instapot started spweing broth, maybe we did something wrong but it wasn’t the best for out kitchen.
Lana larson says
I made this yesterday for lunch and its AMAZING and even better the next day.
Kitty says
This is one of my favorite go-tos. I add a can of corn sometimes, too! Thank you so much for this!!
Ashley VanHusen says
Can this easily be double !?
Ashlyn Edwards says
I haven’t tried to double it before, but if you have a large enough Instant Pot I think it would be fine.
Derek says
Excellent recipe. Came out exactly the way I wanted it to. Now the question is, where do I store it! 😂
Brittany Ramsey says
I doubles it! Turned out perfect!❤️
Lindsay says
This soup is amazing! Better than any restaurant I’ve ever ate at! I hate when people comment and completely change the entire recipe…..and here I find myself doing it….ugggh….but I only changed heavy whipping cream for milk. I get a bag of fresh bacon bits, instead of frying up the bacon, and add the whole bag when I add the cheese. I never ever have any leftovers! Love it!!
Corinna says
I don’t normally rate recipes but this turned out so good. I used half and half not milk 1 cup and corn starch 2 tablespoons. It is the best I have ever made.
Melissa says
This was DELICIOUS!! At the end when you stir in the cheese we also stirred in extra bacon and green onions, also topped with more, so good!
agreso says
this soup is amazing, When I make it i do use no salt broth, and no salt condensed soup. I find the cheese makes it salty enough, plus can always add more salt. The first time I made it I used 30% less sodium broth, and regular soup and it was way too salty for me with the cheese. Sometimes I like to add in a little frozen broccoli but this soup is tasty just as it is 🙂
Brenda says
Absolutely delicious! My daughter requested a thick hearty soup for dinner. The flavors are delicious together. Super simple to make in my instant pot. One problem… NO LEFTOVERS! Thanks for a delicious recipe!
Brittany J says
Fast, easy and absolutely delicious! I will definitely be making this again.
Steph b says
I added garlic and onion powder, mustard powder, some dried thyme and Rosemary and a few teaspoons of worchrstire sauce. It all gave it so much flavor!
Leslie says
also large can or small can/box of cream soup?
Ashlyn Edwards says
Small size, 10..5 oz
hanna says
what size instant pot is this for ?
Margarita Wallace says
Eating it now! Such an easy yet amazing recipe. I used corn starch instead of flour, used 2% milk and only added a cup of cheese to the soup and it came out great.