If you’re looking for the one and only potato soup recipe that you’ll ever need, look no further than this Loaded Baked Potato Soup! Ultimate Loaded Baked Potato Soup tastes just like a fully loaded baked potato but served up in a bowl of creamy goodness and topped with all of the best baked potato toppings! This is one of the best soups and a family favorite!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup Ingredient Notes:

Potatoes and soup define comfort food for me (and pasta and cheese too!), so when you combine them together, it’s like comfort food heaven and truly some of my favorite things! The best part about this recipe is that it comes together fast, it’s easy, yet is so full of yummy baked potato goodness. Let’s talk about the ingredients that you’ll need:

• Bacon – you will need about 8 slices of bacon that you’ve cooked and crumbled. If you want to make this soup extra delicious, reserve about 1 tablespoon of bacon grease to stir into the soup. There’s nothing quite like the flavor that comes from bacon drippings. Make sure to reserve some of the bacon for garnish.
• Butter – I recommend using butter and not a butter substitute.
• All Purpose Flour – the flour acts as a thickening agent in this soup. You’ll need about ⅔ cup.
• Milk – You will need about 7 cups of milk. I’ve used a variety of milks including 1%, 2% and whole milk. I do not recommend using skim milk, and I have not tried this recipe with milk substitutes. If you’d like to lighten this potato soup up a bit, feel free to substitute some of the milk for chicken broth, chicken stock or vegetable broth or vegetable stock. I’d recommend using 3.5 cups milk and 3.5 cups of broth or stock. Just be aware that this soup will not be as creamy and delicious if you’re adding in broth in place of some of the milk. The milk is what makes this a creamy potato soup!
• Russet Potatoes – You will need about 4-6 potatoes that you’ve baked, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces. To speed the process along, I recommend cooking the potatoes in the microwave. You can absolutely substitute red potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes if that’s what you have on hand, but russet potatoes are recommended for this loaded potato soup!
• Green onions – I used about 4 green onions chopped up plus additional for garnish.
• Sharp cheddar cheese – you will need about 2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese plus additional for garnish. I recommend grating your own cheese because it melts better! You can substitute the sharp cheddar for a medium or mild cheddar.
• Sour cream – you will need about 1 cup sour cream. Some have asked if heavy cream would be a good substitute here, and it’s not recommended. Stick with sour cream for the best result.
• Seasoning – this soup is simply seasoned with salt and black pepper.

How to make this easy baked potato soup:

Loaded Baked Potato soup is so easy to make. You will want to make sure that your potatoes are baked and cubed before starting the soup. You’ll also want to make sure that your bacon is cooked and chopped up. You can cook your bacon in a large skillet or in the oven (here’s how to Bake Bacon).

This is a great recipe to make with leftover baked potatoes. If you don’t have any leftover baked potatoes, you will want to start by baking the potatoes. Here’s my guide for how to cook baked potatoes in the oven, air fryer, slow cooker, or microwave.

You’ll begin with a large stock pot, or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the butter to to the large pot. When it is melted, slowly whisk in the flour and allow that mixture to cook for a few minutes. This is called a roux.

Slowly add in 7 cups of milk, 1 cup at a time making sure to whisk well between each cup. When all of the milk has been added, continue whisking until the mixture starts to thicken a bit.

Add in the cooked and cubed baked potatoes and green onions then increase the heat to medium high heat. Bring the soup to a boil, making sure to stir the soup frequently.

Reduce the heat to low, then stir in cooked bacon, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste.

When the cheese has melted and all of the ingredients are well combined, gather your family at the dinner table and serve the soup. I like to have extra cheddar cheese, bacon, and green onions on hand to garnish each bowl of soup. Whatever you like on your loaded baked potato, feel free to add as a garnish!

Tips and tricks for making Loaded Potato Soup

This is a very thick, delicious soup. If you’d like to thin this soup out, you can either add a little chicken stock at the end to thin it out, or see my comment above under “milk” for how to swap some of the milk for chicken broth or stock.

If you don’t like chunky soup, I recommend using an immersion blender to smooth the soup out. Alternatively you could use a potato masher to mash the baked potatoes before adding them to the soup.

More Potato Soup Recipes

Looking for more delicious potato soup recipes to try? This Instant Pot Cheddar Broccoli and Potato Soup is absolutely delicious! For something on the lighter side, try this Creamy Cauliflower Bacon Soup that uses cauliflower in place of potatoes. And lastly, a classic! Try our Zuppa Toscana Copycat recipe from Olive Garden.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for Ultimate Loaded Baked Potato Soup. It is the best soup for a cold winter or fall day and truly one of my favorite soups year after year. Your kids will love it too. Enjoy!