My Best Easy Crock Pot Potato Soup is hearty, knock-your-socks-off delicious! Rustic chunks of potato nestled into thick, luscious, creamy and flavorful vegetable broth never tasted so good. You’re gonna love it!
I LOVE potatoes! Give me a potato anything. Heaven!
But, I’ve never been a fan of potato soup. Most seem bland and flavorless, to me. which is just a crime against potatoes. So sad.
I’ve tried a variety of different recipes over the years, but none I ever cared to make again.
The only exception has been my Colcannon Soup. And if you’re looking for quick and easy 30-minute potato soup recipes, I highly recommend it or Lauren’s quick and easy four-ingredient potato soup over at Lauren from Scratch.
But, my Colcannon Soup isn’t technically a plain potato soup. It gets lots of flavor from cabbage, too. And it’s scrumptious! But, it’s not the potato-only soup I’m looking for.
Everyone else seems to love potato soup. Where is that amazing recipe they’re all enjoying? lol Why is a hearty, flavorful, and comforting potato soup eluding me?
The other issue is that I’m not a huge fan of smooth cream soups. I need texture. See how picky I am? lol
So, I developed this recipe as a challenge to myself to create a rich and flavorful potato soup that everyone (including me) would love and that would be super easy to make.
You are going to flip for this delicious slow cooker potato soup. It’s warm and comforting and LOADED with flavor.
Crock Pot Potato Soup is easy to make and loved by adults and kids, alike. Easy on the grocery budget, this delicious potato soup recipe is economical, gluten free and completely vegetarian, as written.
It’s everything potatoes love to be. lol I can’t wait for you to taste it!
The Ingredients
- Baby Potatoes I have used both baby red potatoes and baby yellow potatoes. I have even mixed them. They both work equally well.
- Red Onion You know my penchant for red onion. I love it for a little sweetness and lots of color. Any onions you have will work, however.
- Celery I really wouldn’t leave this out. Onion, celery and carrots are sort of the Midwest trinity of base flavors in soup and stew. You lose the rich and savory layers of flavor they create by omitting one of them.
- Carrots Color and slight sweetness to balance some savory umaminess. Again, I wouldn’t leave them out.
- Vegetable Broth It didn’t make it into the picture for some reason, but you need broth in your Crockpot Potato Soup. You can sub in chicken broth if that’s what you have on hand. My homemade vegetable broth will rock your world in this soup, though. Just sayin’. 🙂
- Seasonings A great flavor combo of minced garlic, parsley, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper and chipotle powder.
- Heavy Cream
Choosing Your Potatoes
When I said I love potatoes, I wasn’t kidding. Baked potatoes, boiled potatoes, fried potatoes, mashed potatoes, potato salad, loaded baked potato salad and even air fried potatoes with green beans and bacon. I never met a potato I couldn’t be friends with.
There are so many different varieties of potatoes to choose from. And some work better in specific preparations.
The most common varieties we find here in the United States are Russet Potatoes, Idaho Potatoes (which are technically Russets), Red Potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, and sweet potatoes/yams. Occasionally, I will run across purple potatoes. But, they are definitely more of a novelty.
We can purchase potatoes fresh, frozen, dehydrated and canned. We have options and all of them have their place.
For making soup in a crock pot / slow cooker, where the soup will cook for many hours, it’s important to use fresh potatoes to get the optimal texture. And starchy potatoes won’t hold up as well as waxy for the extended cooking time.
Russet and Idaho Potatoes will break down too quickly. And when overcooked, both become unpleasantly mealy and mushy.
If I was making this soup on the stove top where it would cook for a shorter amount of time, I could get away with using a starchier potato like Russet potatoes or Idaho potatoes.
But, for slow cooking, I prefer baby red potatoes or baby golden potatoes. You could chop up the full size of these potatoes, too, if you prefer. I was just going for quick and easy.
And I prefer to leave the skins on. Not only does this add to the nutrition, but it also helps the potato pieces hold their shape.
Also, the skins are thin enough that some of them can still be easily blended when I use half the potatoes to create the creamy base for the Crock Pot Potato Soup.
Looking for a quicker, stove top version of potato soup? Check out this yummy Rafferty’s Potato Soup recipe.
The Tools I Use
You can always find my favorite tools, appliances, hard to find ingredients and kitchen gadgets by visiting my Amazon store front. You’ll find my top picks for slow cookers, there, along with other tools for making Crock Pot Potato Soup, like ladles, wooden spoons, cutting boards and knives.
How to Make Crock Pot Potato Soup
- Wash the baby potatoes and cut them in halves or quarters. Go for bite-sized pieces that are all roughly the same size.
- Mince onion, celery, carrots and garlic. I make quick work of this task by chopping them finely in my food processor. I want the flavor and nutrition of these aromatic veggies in my broth. But, it’s not always a great idea for other members of my family to “see” big chunks of vegetables in their soup. By mincing them finely, the carrots, celery and onion will all but melt away into your broth.
- Arrange the baby potatoes evenly into the bottom of your crock pot.
- Add the minced vegetables in a layer over the potatoes.
- Sprinkle the seasonings on top of the vegetables.
- Pour in the vegetable broth and stir it all together.
- Put the lid on the slow cooker.
- Set the slow cooker on high and cook the soup for about 2.5 hours. Or, set it on low and let the soup cook for 4 to 5 hours.
- When the potatoes are cooked through (fork tender), use an immersion blender to blend somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the soup until it’s creamy and smooth. (If you don’t have an immersion blender, ladle the amount of soup you want to blend into the pitcher of your regular blender. Carefully blend until you achieve the smooth, creamy texture you want. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions and precautions for blending hot food in your specific blender. then add the puree back to the slow cooker with the rest of the soup.)
- Pour the heavy cream into the crock pot and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir everything together until you have the creaminess and thickness that you love. (If you want the potato soup thinner, you can add a little vegetable stock or extra cream.)
- Serve with your favorite garnishes.
Topping Ideas
Topping homemade potato soup is a matter of personal preference.
If you want to keep your soup vegetarian, try some of these delicious topping ideas.
- sour cream
- crumbled crackers
- chopped parsley
- chopped chives
- chopped green onions
- freshly grated cheese
- toasted pine nuts
- croutons
- thinly sliced jalapeno
If keeping it all vegetables isn’t a concern, crumbled bacon is another delicious garnish option.
Storing Leftovers
You can. But I don’t recommend it. Cooked potatoes tend to break down in the freezer. If you mashed ALL the potatoes in your soup it could work. The texture will be different after thawing. And you should wait to add the heavy cream. Freeze the blended soup without the cream. When the soup is reheated, then add the cream to finish off your leftover Crock Pot Potato Soup.
We never have very many leftovers, but they store simply in the fridge for up to 4 days. And the soup can be reheated in the microwave.
Use an airtight container to store the soup.
What to Serve with Crock Pot Potato Soup
Crock Pot Potato Soup is delicious all on it’s own. But, who doesn’t love crusty bread to dip into warm, delicious soup? Give my Easy Soda Bread recipe a try.
Biscuits and Pumpkin Muffins are also delicious served with potato soup. As is a simple House Salad. There’s nothing like crisp cool greens and veggies to complement a hearty soup. You’ll love this easy winter Kale Salad, too.
I hope you and your family get a chance to warm up with a steamy bowl of rich and creamy Crock Pot Potato Soup, very soon.
If you make the recipe, I hope you’ll stop by to let me know that you did, how you made it your own and to leave a 5 star comment on this post. Your 5 star comments helps others to find the recipe when they do a Google search.
Thanks for all you do to help me keep this blog growing and all the recipes free. I can’t wait for you to try this new Crock Pot Potato Soup recipe!
The Recipe
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Best Easy Crock Pot Potato Soup
- Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 3 pounds baby potatoes, (red or gold), halved or quartered
- 1 lg. onion, finely minced
- 2 stalks celery, finely minced
- 4 med. carrots, finely minced
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth, (Homemade if you have it, but store-bought works, too.)
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup heavy cream
- optional garnishes: chives, parsley, grated Cheddar, crumbled bacon
Instructions
- Wash the baby potatoes and cut them in halves or quarters. Go for bite-sized pieces that are all roughly the same size.
- Mince onion, celery, carrots and garlic. I make quick work of this task by chopping them finely in my food processor. I want the flavor and nutrition of these aromatic veggies in my broth. But, it’s not always a great idea for other members of my family to “see” big chunks of vegetables in their soup. By mincing them finely, the carrots, celery and onion will all but melt away into your broth.
- Arrange the baby potatoes evenly into the bottom of your crock pot.
- Add the minced vegetables in a layer over the potatoes.
- Sprinkle the seasonings on top of the vegetables.
- Pour the vegetable broth over everything.
- Put the lid on the slow cooker.
- Set the slow cooker on high and cook the soup for about 2.5 hours. Or, set it on low and let the soup cook for 4 to 5 hours.
- When the potatoes are cooked through (fork tender), use an immersion blender to blend somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the soup until it’s creamy and smooth. (If you don’t have an immersion blender, ladle the amount of soup you want to blend into the pitcher of your regular blender. Carefully blend until you achieve the smooth, creamy texture you want. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions and precautions for blending hot food in your specific blender. then add the puree back to the slow cooker with the rest of the soup.)
- Pour the heavy cream into the crock pot and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir everything together until you have the creaminess and thickness that you love. (If you want the potato soup thinner, you can add a little vegetable stock or extra cream.)
- Serve with your favorite garnishes.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 5 hours
- Category: Soup
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
About Glenda
I believe cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be complicated and that YOU can do it. My simple recipes, tutorials, and cooking tips will help you get weeknight dinners on the table with less stress. Forget takeout or the drive-thru. Let me show you how to make homemade easy. Read more...
We loved this soup! The kids already asked if I would make it again.
Wendy, that’s awesome! I’m so glad to hear it!
One of my go-to soup recipes. This potato soup is so hearty and comforting, one of the bests! Must-try!
Journa, thank you so much! It’s great to hear.
This is fantastic! Super creamy, comforting, and I love that there are a few extra veggies in it. I’ll be making this all winter.
So glad you’re enjoying it, Genevieve! It’s a great way to fill up the family while maximizing food dollars with groceries being so costly right now.