Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: This soup tastes exactly like a loaded baked potato with the sour cream, green onion, cheddar, and bacon. So delish.
Texture: The soup is surprisingly thick and creamy for having no heavy cream (use 1% milk instead). I love the chunks of potatoes and you can’t beat the cheese and bacon on top.
Ease: Watch the video to see how simple this soup is!
Appearance: Love the texture and color the toppings add.
Pros: Simple, light, and flavorful. Perfect for a cool day.
Cons: None.
Would I make this again? I’ve made this many times before.
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Back in 2010, during the early years of Handle the Heat, I posted a recipe for light loaded potato soup that became one of my most popular recipes to date. I’ve since changed the recipe up slightly to streamline the soup making process and I wanted to share it with you in the form of a video! I have to tell you, though, a lot of work and frustration went into creating everything for this post. Much to my dismay, something happened to the video and photo files I uploaded to my computer for this soup and I lost half of everything. I had to re-film parts of this video and re-shoot some pictures. Of course this all happened moments before my site went down. I ended up spending almost 45 minutes on the phone with my host trying to get the site back up and running at nearly midnight. No fun AT ALL. Thankfully I worked everything out and am here to share with you this recipe on time for my usual Wednesday video. Yay! Watch the video, I think it will inspire you to make this soup. It’s ultra rich, tasty, and comforting!
Light Loaded Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 4 (6-ounce) red potatoes, peeled and diced into cubes
- 2 teaspoons canola oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 1/4 cups lower-sodium chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups 1% low-fat milk, divided
- 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 bacon slices crisp cooked bacon, crumbled
- 1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (1 1/2 ounces)
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add the broth and the potatoes. Bring to a simmer. Cook the potatoes, covered, until they are fork tender, about 15 minutes.
- Combine the flour and the milk in a large measuring cup. Bring to a boil, stirring often, being careful to not let the milk boil over. Cook for 1 minute. Coarsely mash potatoes into soup using a potato masher. For a smoother texture, use an immersion blender to blend the soup. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream, salt, and pepper.
- Ladle the soup into four bowls and top with the bacon, cheese, and green onions.
making a pot right now! Except I always sautee the onions in the bacon fat instead of using oil. The flavour is AH-mazing and I just tell myself the calories in bacon fat are the same as the oil…. This soup rivals the local BBQ joint’s famous recipe!
This is a fantastic recipe! I’ve made it twice in the past 2 weeks (the second time by request). It is easy enough to get on the table in 30 minutes from start to finish. I used skim milk and low-fat sour cream and cheese. It does tend to thicken up after being refrigerated, but a splash or two of milk helps to bring back the desired soup consistency. Super good!
I made this tonight for dinner with a few changes and it was SO delicious. I’ve never made nor eaten a potato soup and this one really set the bar high. I used unsweetened coconut milk beverage, 2% Fage Greek yogurt, turkey bacon, and shredded Mexican blend cheese. It truly was like eating a bowl of the best loaded mashed/baked potato.
I love potato soup (in fact potato anything, except chips!) but I always seem to make potato and leek soup, must try this soon, thanks.
Just curious why you decided to peel the potatoes. I’ve always left mine unpeeled. Just a personal preference?
yum, yum….what better way to enjoy the Autumn cooler weather. This is going to be dinner today!
G’day! Your soup looks very warm and welcoming Tessa, true!
Is just brekkie here, but I could go for a bowl of this right now…great photos too!
Cheers! Joanne
You are adorable. I simply loved watching you make this soup! It looks amazing. I love potato soup, but have never had the “loaded” kind. Seriously must try one chilly evening!
Thank you so much Sally!!
I’ve made the original recipe of this soup probably 50 times or more over the past 3 years. Maybe even more. It’s a staple recipe for me, and I’m so happy to see that you’ve further simplified it. I have always hated having to scoop boiling hot potato out of the skins… I think peeling and cubing them will go so much faster and won’t burn my hands! Thanks for this update – it’s much appreciated!
I hated that too!! Glad I could help a fellow potato soup lover out 🙂
I just recently posted a potato soup but your lightened version will definitely help keep my skinny jeans fitting!
Great minds 😉
There isn’t much better than a loaded baked potato soup! Love that you lightened it up!
Really, who doesn’t like potato soup? I love it and as my workout times wind down 😉 a light version could be just what I need!!