Dish up a bowl of creamy Instant Pot potato soup for dinner tonight. Easy one pot recipe anyone can make, it's best topped with crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, and chopped green onions!
Time FLIES! As the weather starts to cool down, it's hard to beat a good hearty soup to keep warm; and of course, it's healthy too.
What I love about this potato soup recipe is just how convenient it is. Even better, it's so easy to make a large batch to put up for easy weeknight meals.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This yummy pressure cooker potato soup makes a healthy meal for your family; it also happens to be gluten-free.
- This recipe is so quick and easy. Potato soup is a hearty meal that's absolutely perfect for a busy weeknight.
- Potato soup stores and preserves very well. Don't be afraid to can a large batch for later meals!
- This recipe uses affordable, every-day ingredients that you likely already have on hand. I like to keep it simple.
Ingredient Notes
- Potatoes – Although you can make this recipe with just about any kind of potato, I recommend using a waxier potato, like yellow potatoes, red potatoes, or Yukon Gold potatoes. Russets have a very starchy texture, which can often lead to a gluey, sticky consistency in the soup.
- Chicken Broth – Any chicken broth will do, including chicken bouillon. If you don't have any chicken broth on hand, you can substitute with vegetable stock.
- Milk – For this recipe, I used raw milk from a local dairy farm; I recommend using whole milk. For a dairy-free substitute, I recommend using either coconut milk or almond milk; just be sure to change any other dairy-containing ingredients in the recipe, as well.
- Heavy Cream – I like to use raw cream, but heavy whipping cream works too. Again, for a dairy-free substitute, I recommend using unsweetened coconut cream. if you're worried about coconut flavor, don't be. Coconut cream has a much subtler flavor than coconut flakes; in fact, most people can't even tell that it's coconut.
How to Make Instant Pot Potato Soup
To make this Instant Pot potato soup recipe, just follow these steps…
- Chop the bacon and cook using the sauté function in the Instant Pot, 'til crispy and done.
- Set the bacon aside, but leave the bacon grease in the pot. Sauté the minced onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in the grease, 'til the onions are translucent and soft, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and chicken broth to the Instant Pot. Then put the lid on your Instant Pot and set the pot to “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” for 8 minutes. When the timer goes off, do a quick release and remove the lid. The potatoes should be soft and tender.
- Set to sauté; stir the milk and cream into the soup, whisking everything together.
- If you want, you can use a potato masher to mash some of the potatoes, giving the soup a slightly thicker consistency.
- Dish up the soup and serve with the crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese, and green onions.
Expert Tips and Recipe FAQ's
If you are using a potato with a high starch content, like a Russet, I would highly recommend soaking the potatoes before cooking to get rid of some of that excess starch. That said, if you are using a waxy potato with very little starch, I would skip this step. This is because a minimal amount of starch is needed to thicken the soup.
Gluey potato soup can happen for a few preventable reasons, like using the wrong potato, mashing the potatoes for too long, or even cooking the soup for too long.
The heavy cream in this recipe serves as a thickening agent; it also lends a richer flavor and creamier texture. The variety of potato used also greatly affects the consistency of your soup; as I said before, I prefer to use a waxy potato, like yellow potatoes, red potatoes, or Yukon gold potatoes. However, mashing the potatoes just a bit after cooking lends to a naturally thicker soup, as well.
Potato soup is best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Stored this way, it should last up to 3-4 days.
Potato soup does not generally freeze well. It will often dry out significantly, as the potatoes have a tendency to sponge up too much moisture; and it'll often become very grainy when thawed. Instead, I highly recommend canning potato soup. Preserved this way, potato soup can sometimes last for quite a long time in a cool, dark environment!
What to Serve With Instant Pot Potato Soup
There are so many toppings that go well with potato soup in the Instant Pot. Here are a few ways that you can spice things up…
- Some of my favorite toppings include shredded cheese, scallions or chives, sour cream, or bacon bits. Sometimes I even like to dip slices of cheddar cheese into my soup. Yum!
- Try your hand at baking homemade bread to serve on the side! Some of my favorite breads to serve with any soup include my Grandma's homemade dinner rolls and even this rustic sourdough bread.
- Even better, try making delicious grilled cheese to dip in your soup. This is where that homemade bread would come in handy!
- Make some garlic bread!
- Potato soup is definitely not low-carb, being particularly rich in starches and sugars. Add some fiber to the meal with one of these fresh, crisp salad recipes.
More Delicious Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot chicken noodle soup
- One pot vegetable soup
- Easy Instant Pot chili
- Instant Pot baked potatoes
Haven't taken your Instant Pot out of the box yet? Learn how to quickly use your Instant Pot with our Instant Pot Quick Start Guide, filled with practical tips, more Instant Pot recipes, accessory ideas, and more!
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Instant Pot Potato Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon
- 1 medium yellow onion minced
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 6 medium potatoes peeled & chunked
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Chop the bacon and cook using the sauté function in the Instant Pot, 'til crispy and done.
- Set the bacon aside, but leave the bacon grease in the pot.
- Sauté the minced onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in the Instant Pot, 'til the onions are translucent and soft, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and chicken broth to the Instant Pot.
- Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set the pot to "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" for 8 minutes. When the timer goes off, do a quick release and remove the lid.
- Set to sauté; stir the milk and cream into the soup, whisking everything together.
- If you want, you can use a potato masher to mash some of the potatoes, giving the soup a slightly thicker consistency.
- Dish up the soup and serve with the crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese, and green onions.
