Crockpot Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Ok, so I’m a little addicted to this Crockpot loaded baked potato soup recipe. With 3 busy kids, a household to take care of, a husband, and working full time, there isn’t a lot of time to cook. Just one of our favorite crockpot recipes.

We make this and our If you loved our Crockpot potato soup with frozen hashbrowns year round, because you just throw it all in until tender. Even making it in the summertime. Serve it with our easy rolls recipe and you’re set. Make it as creamy or chunky as you want to and it’s a hearty meal that kids and adults love. Dress it up with potato toppings of your choice for even more fun.

You can make this a number of different ways. You can simmer it on the stovetop until ingredients are tender, or if you’re in a real hurry you can make this Instant Pot potato cheese soup recipe too! Follow the instructions in the recipe card below to make cheesy and let’s get started.

Ingredient Notes

Potatoes, I like using red or russet potatoes. Keep all the pieces the same size so they cook evenly. If you like a chunkier soup make the pieces a bit bigger (but still diced or they won’t cook thru).  Smaller will make it thinner, depends on your desired consistency.

Should you peel potatoes for potato soup?

I do not. I like the added texture and nutritional benefit from leaving them on. If you choose to remove them just know it won’t be as chunky as if you left them on. For a very creamy version yes you would want to peel them and maybe even use an immersion blender at the end to get it really smooth.

Can you use frozen hashbrowns instead of real potatoes?

You could, that is the substitution we used for our Instant Pot Potato Soup with Frozen Hash browns and it does work however the texture will be different, smoother.

Cream of mushroom soup canned or you can make your own homemade cream of mushroom. For alternatives you can find a dairy free version online or can opt for cream of potato if you prefer.

What can you use other than cream of mushroom soup?

For our homemade without condensed soup version, follow our Crockpot ham and potato soup with heavy cream recipe. It is from scratch, and tastes similar.

Sour Cream or plain Greek yogurt will work to make it really creamy at the end. Go for the real thing, not the low fat versions of either of these. We aren’t counting calories here friends.

For the necessary Milk I prefer whole or 2% at least to keep it nice and thick, you could use heavy cream if you wanted to go all the way.

We love to add lots of shredded cheddar cheese, we like,sharp, and a lot of it. You will stir it in at the end so it melts and then put a bit at the top when served too. 😉 An optional add in but so worth it.

How Long to Cook Loaded Baked Potato Soup in Crockpot

You want to let this cook on low all day (at least 6-8 hrs on low, high for 4 hrs but low is recommended) Longer and slower is better if you ask me.  30 minutes before serving add your milk, cheese, and sour cream. Stir and put top back on for about 30 minutes so cheese can melt. Serve with shredded cheese and chives on top.

What is the best way to thicken potato soup?

I use sour cream and cheese. This will make it thicker, but not too much. If you want it more you can use a tbsp. cornstarch whisked together with cold water and mix that in. Heat a bit more after. As it cools it will thicken too so you could just leave the lid off for 20 minutes and that should do the trick.

Tips

If it isn’t after the holidays with leftovers I will just grab a ham steak in the meat department. They’re precooked, cheap, and you can even buy it already diced many times.

If you are wondering What to do with Leftover Baked Potatoes this is a terrific option to reduce waste. If already cooked you can reduce cook time by half. It will fit in a 6 quart or larger. Double this easily if you want to but you’d need a 12 quart pot for that and it would take a little while longer.

Cutting potatoes don’t need to be perfect but just cut each one in half and then criss cross cut so they are diced and all of similar sizes. If you are using frozen bagged potatoes then you can skip this step. Use the larger chunks instead of shredded so you are left with more texture but the timing won’t change.

If you like it smoother you can use a potato masher to mash potatoes right in the pot. Chicken broth could be used instead of milk if you need a dairy free soup option.

Not only do we love this slow cooker potato soup, but Crockpot baked potatoes and try slow cooker cheesy potatoes too. The low and slow approach is great to getting this starch nice and tender.