Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup That Stays Chunky and Creamy
Most Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup recipes cut a corner I won’t, melting a brick of processed cheese into the pot. Mine skips it entirely, and you can taste the difference in the first spoonful: it tastes like a loaded baked potato, not a bowl of cheese dip.
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I loooove soup! This slow cooker Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup is so thick, rich, and hearty. It’s a meal in a bowl and one of my all time favorites.
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The slow cooker does the long, hands-off part, cooking the potatoes in broth. Then, toward the end of the cooking time, you add the rest of the ingredients.
Make it on a cold Saturday, or for a game day crowd that wants something heartier than chili.
Chef Jenn’s Take on Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup
The most common mistake I see with slow cooker potato soup is putting everything in the crock pot at the start, flour and cream included, and hoping for the best. Five hours on LOW is too gentle to cook the raw taste out of flour, and it’s far too long for dairy, which breaks and turns grainy when it sits over heat that long.
So I split the work. The potatoes, onion, and broth get the long cook by themselves. The thickener gets built separately on the stove as a quick roux, with warm milk whisked in until it’s smooth and already thick before it ever touches the soup. That way the flour is fully cooked, and the dairy only spends about 20 minutes in the slow cooker.
The cheese comes last, with the slow cooker on WARM, never HIGH. That order is the reason this soup turns out velvety instead of gluey, and it’s why you don’t need processed cheese to get it creamy. Treat the final stretch like stovetop cooking, not set-it-and-forget-it.
What You’ll Love About This Loaded Baked Potato Soup
- No processed cheese anywhere. Plenty of loaded potato soups lean on it for creaminess, and I’d rather get there with a real roux and a block of sharp cheddar.
- The potatoes stay in actual chunks, so every spoonful has a bite of potato instead of a mouthful of paste.
- Almost all the time is hands-off. Twenty minutes of prep up front, a quick roux at the end, and the slow cooker covers the afternoon in between.
Ingredients
- Yukon Gold potatoes – I use Yukons over russets every time. Russets fall apart after hours in the slow cooker and turn the soup into mashed potatoes. Red potatoes work in a pinch, and you can leave the skins on.
- Chicken broth – Buy low-sodium. The bacon and cheese bring plenty of salt on their own.
- Yellow onion – A sweet onion works too. Skip red onion; it turns a dull gray in a cream soup.
- Garlic – Fresh cloves only. Skip the jarred stuff.
- Thick-cut bacon – Thick-cut gives you real pieces on top. Regular bacon works, just cook a couple of extra slices since it shrinks more.
- Unsalted butter – Salted is fine. Taste before you add any salt at the end.
- All-purpose flour – For gluten-free, a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend works in the roux.
- Whole milk – Warm it before it goes into the roux; cold milk is how roux turns lumpy. Don’t go below 2%, or the soup ends up thin.
- Heavy whipping cream – Half-and-half works for a lighter soup. Expect it a little thinner.
- Sharp cheddar cheese – Buy a block and grate it yourself. Pre-shredded bags are coated with starch and melt grainy. Extra-sharp or white cheddar both work.
- Sour cream – Full-fat. Plain whole-milk Greek yogurt is the closest swap. Low-fat versions of either are more likely to curdle.
- Salt and black pepper – Season at the very end, after the bacon and cheese are in.
- Green onions – Chives are a fine swap.
How to Make Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Scroll down for the full recipe card with exact measurements and printable instructions.
Fry the bacon in a skillet until it’s fully crisp, then transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings and keep the skillet on the heat.
Cook the diced onion in the reserved drippings for 4 to 5 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the garlic for the last 30 seconds, just long enough to smell it.
Add the potatoes, the onion mixture, and the chicken broth to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours. You’re looking for potatoes that are fork-tender but still in distinct chunks.
About 20 minutes before the potatoes are done, make the roux. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, whisk in the flour, and cook it for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the warm milk a splash at a time at first, whisking constantly until it’s smooth and thickened.
Stir the milk mixture into the slow cooker along with the heavy cream. Cook another 15 to 20 minutes, stirring gently so you don’t break up the potatoes.
Switch the slow cooker to WARM and stir in 1 cup of the cheddar until it melts. Let the soup sit a few minutes to cool slightly, then stir in the sour cream. Don’t let it boil once the dairy is in, because high heat splits the cream and makes the cheese grainy. If the soup is thicker than you like, loosen it with a splash of warm chicken broth.
Taste and season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and top with the remaining cheddar, crumbled bacon, and sliced green onions.
Make It A Meal
A bowl of this is dinner on its own, but when I want something fresh next to it, I serve it with my Italian Broccoli Salad or a Waldorf Salad. Something cold, crisp, and a little acidic is exactly what a rich, cheesy soup needs.
For a full soup-and-sandwich night, try it alongside The Ultimate Garlic Bread Grilled Cheese. If you’d rather have something to dunk, make a batch of Honey Butter Cornbread Madeleines.
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, with the bacon and green onions kept separately so the bacon stays crisp. Reheat gently on the stove over medium-low, adding a splash of milk or broth as needed. I don’t freeze this one, because dairy-heavy potato soup turns grainy after thawing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Cook the potatoes on HIGH for about 2 ½ to 3 hours, until fork-tender, then add the roux, cream, and cheese the same way, switching to WARM before the cheese goes in.
Yes, but the timing and method are different, so I have a separate recipe for it: my Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup made in the pressure cooker.
Swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth, skip the bacon, and soften the onion in 1 tablespoon of butter instead of drippings. A pinch of smoked paprika on top brings back some of the smoky flavor.
Mash a few of the potato chunks against the side of the slow cooker and stir them back in. It thickens the soup without turning the whole pot into mashed potatoes.
Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cut into ¾-inch chunks
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 6 slices thick-cut bacon
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk warmed
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 ½ cups freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese divided
- ½ cup sour cream
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- sliced green onions for serving
Instructions
- Fry the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve 1 tablespoon of the drippings in the skillet.
- Cook the onion in the reserved drippings for 4 to 5 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the potatoes, onion mixture, and chicken broth to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours, until the potatoes are fork-tender but still in distinct chunks.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the warm milk until smooth and thickened.
- Stir the milk mixture into the slow cooker. Add the heavy cream and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, stirring gently.
- Switch the slow cooker to WARM. Gradually stir in 1 cup of the cheddar until melted. Let the soup cool slightly, then stir in the sour cream. Do not let the soup boil after adding the dairy.
- Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and top with the remaining cheddar, crumbled bacon, and sliced green onions.
Notes
Recipe Card Tips:
- Check the potatoes at the 4-hour mark. Past 5 hours on LOW, Yukons start to fall apart.
- Add the cheddar a handful at a time and let each one melt before adding the next. Dumping it all in at once makes it clump.
- Temper the sour cream. Stir a ladle of hot soup into it in a small bowl first, then stir that into the pot. Cold sour cream straight from the fridge is more likely to curdle.
Nutrition
A Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for this recipe is provided as a courtesy and is calculated based on available online ingredient information. It is only an approximate value. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.