Slow Cooker Creamy Potato Soup

Potato soup is the dinner we start on the gray mornings — the ones where you know that by six o'clock nobody will want to cook, including you. Fifteen minutes of chopping, everything into the slow cooker, and the house smells like bacon and thyme by mid-afternoon. It is the whole promise of our Slow Cooker and Casseroles collection in one pot.

Russets are the right potato here, and it is not close. They soften and slump at the edges over the long cook, and a short session with a potato masher at the end turns part of the soup into its own creamy base — no roux, no blender, no floury taste. Our Classic Slow Cooker Beef Stew uses the same trick of letting one ingredient do two jobs.

The cheddar, bacon and green onions go on at the table, in bowls people dress themselves. Set out sour cream too. Potato soup is humble food, but the topping bar is what makes a Tuesday pot of it feel like an occasion.

Mash a third, keep two-thirds chunky

Texture is everything in potato soup, and the sweet spot is a broth that is creamy with plenty of intact potato still in it. Once the potatoes are fully tender, push a potato masher straight down into the cooker six or eight times — no more — mashing roughly a third of the cubes into the broth. An immersion blender works too, but pulse it two or three times at most; a fully blended potato soup turns gluey as the starch works, and there is no way back from gluey.

Dairy goes in at the end, always

Half-and-half and cheese that spend six hours in a slow cooker come out grainy, and the cheese can turn oily and stringy. Everything dairy waits until the last 30 minutes, once the potatoes are cooked and mashed. Keep the cooker on low for that final stretch, stir the cheese in a handful at a time, and the soup stays silky from the first bowl to the last.

Ingredients

• 3 lb russet potatoes (1.4 kg), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced (about 150 g)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced (about 9 g)
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (960 ml)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (6 g), plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (1.5 g)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (0.5 g)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (28 g)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch (16 g)
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half (360 ml)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar (170 g), plus more to serve
• 6 slices bacon (about 170 g), cooked crisp and crumbled
• 1/2 cup sour cream (120 g), to serve
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced, to serve

Amounts are for the yield below. US customary measures first, grams in brackets for scale users.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Load the slow cooker. Put the potato cubes, onion and garlic into a 6-quart slow cooker. Pour in the chicken broth, then add the salt, pepper, thyme and butter. The broth should just about cover the potatoes; if a few corners poke out, that is fine — they will slump as they cook.
2. Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours, until the potatoes are completely tender — a cube should crush against the side of the cooker with the back of a spoon and offer no resistance.
3. Mash for body. With a potato masher, mash straight down into the soup six to eight times, breaking up roughly a third of the potatoes so they melt into the broth and thicken it. Leave the rest in chunks. Resist blending it smooth.
4. Thicken a little more. Whisk the cornstarch with 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of cold water into a smooth slurry and stir it in. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes, until the soup has thickened slightly and lost its watery edge.
5. Add the dairy. Pour in the half-and-half and stir. Add the cheddar a handful at a time, stirring after each addition until it melts before adding more. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes more, just until everything is hot and silky — do not let it bubble hard.
6. Serve with toppings. Taste and adjust the salt — potatoes drink salt, so this soup often needs a final pinch. Ladle into bowls and let everyone add crumbled bacon, sour cream, green onions and extra cheddar at the table.

Nutrition estimate

Nutrition figures are estimates calculated from standard ingredient data for the yield stated. Your actual values will vary with brands, substitutions and portion sizes — treat them as a guide, not a guarantee.

Storage & reheating

Leftovers keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator and reheat gently on the stove over low heat, stirring often and thinning with a splash of broth or milk if the soup has thickened. Freezing is the one thing we do not recommend for the finished soup — potatoes turn grainy and the dairy can separate after thawing. If you want a freezer batch, freeze the cooked potato-and-broth base before the dairy goes in, for up to 3 months, and finish it fresh. Nutrition figures are estimates from standard ingredient data and vary with brands and substitutions.

Slow Cooker Creamy Potato Soup

Recipe by Shahid Imran, FryDaily editor · Published 18 October 2026

Tender russets, cheddar and bacon in a rich, cozy broth — the cooker does the work.

Yield: 6 servings  ·  Scale: 1x2x3x

Prep15 minutes

Cook6 hours

Total6 hours 15 minutes

Servings6 servings

Calories420 kcal

Ingredients

• 3 lb russet potatoes (1.4 kg), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced (about 150 g)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced (about 9 g)
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (960 ml)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (6 g), plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (1.5 g)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (0.5 g)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (28 g)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch (16 g)
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half (360 ml)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar (170 g), plus more to serve
• 6 slices bacon (about 170 g), cooked crisp and crumbled
• 1/2 cup sour cream (120 g), to serve
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced, to serve

Tick ingredients off as you prep, and tap a step below to mark it done as you cook. Scaling adjusts the listed amounts - seasoning to taste stays your call.

Instructions

1. Load the slow cooker. Put the potato cubes, onion and garlic into a 6-quart slow cooker. Pour in the chicken broth, then add the salt, pepper, thyme and butter. The broth should just about cover the potatoes; if a few corners poke out, that is fine — they will slump as they cook.
2. Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours, until the potatoes are completely tender — a cube should crush against the side of the cooker with the back of a spoon and offer no resistance.
3. Mash for body. With a potato masher, mash straight down into the soup six to eight times, breaking up roughly a third of the potatoes so they melt into the broth and thicken it. Leave the rest in chunks. Resist blending it smooth.
4. Thicken a little more. Whisk the cornstarch with 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of cold water into a smooth slurry and stir it in. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes, until the soup has thickened slightly and lost its watery edge.
5. Add the dairy. Pour in the half-and-half and stir. Add the cheddar a handful at a time, stirring after each addition until it melts before adding more. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes more, just until everything is hot and silky — do not let it bubble hard.
6. Serve with toppings. Taste and adjust the salt — potatoes drink salt, so this soup often needs a final pinch. Ladle into bowls and let everyone add crumbled bacon, sour cream, green onions and extra cheddar at the table.

Calories: 420 kcalProtein: 13 gCarbohydrates: 44 gFat: 22 gSaturated fat: 11 gSodium: 810 mgFiber: 4 gSugar: 5 g

Recipe by Shahid Imran · FryDaily. Printing? This card is designed to print cleanly on its own.

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