Outback Potato Soup is a copycat of the steakhouse’s baked potato soup: soft cubes of potato in a thick, velvety base of butter, chicken broth and heavy cream, finished with melty cheddar, salty bacon and fresh chives on every bowl. It’s a filling cold-weather dinner, or a small cup before a steak night, and one pot fills 8 bowls.
How to make it: Boil the diced potatoes until soft, about 20 minutes. In the same pot, cook a butter-and-flour roux with onion and garlic, stir in the broth and water, bring it to a boil, then add the cream and potatoes and simmer 5 minutes. It’s ready in 45 minutes.
Why You’ll Love It
- Thick without a blender: the roux and heavy cream give the soup its body, so the potatoes stay in tender cubes.
- 45 minutes, start to finish: one pot and a colander, with nothing to bake ahead.
- Load-your-own bowls: set out the cheese, bacon and chives and let everyone top their own.
- Feeds a crowd: the pot makes 8 servings, enough for dinner and lunch the next day.
Ingredient Notes
Potatoes: Six medium russets, peeled and diced into small pieces. The smaller you dice them, the quicker they cook.
Butter: Yes, a full cup, which is two sticks. It’s half of the roux that thickens the whole pot, so this is not the place to skimp.
Flour: Three-quarters of a cup of all-purpose flour, the other half of the roux.
Chicken broth and water: Four cups of broth plus 2 cups of water make up the liquid. Vegetable broth works in place of the chicken broth if that’s what you have.
Heavy cream: One cup, poured in near the end once the base has come to a boil.
Toppings: Shredded cheddar, bacon bits and chopped chives go on each bowl, not into the pot. Store-bought real bacon bits are fine, or crumble bacon you’ve cooked until crisp.
Seasoning: A teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of ground black pepper to start. You’ll taste and adjust at the end.
Ingredients
- 6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced into small pieces
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded, for topping
- 1/2 cup bacon bits (real bacon bits or crumbled crisp bacon), for topping
- 1/4 cup chives, chopped, for topping
How to Make Outback Potato Soup
1. Cook the potatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil while you dice the potatoes into small pieces. Boil the potatoes until soft, about 20 minutes. Drain and set them aside.
2. Soften the onion. Melt the butter in the same pot over medium heat, stirring frequently so it does not brown or burn. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent.
3. Make the roux. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring frequently, for up to 5 minutes, until a thick roux forms.
4. Add the broth. Gradually pour in the chicken broth and water, stirring as you pour so no lumps form. Season with the salt and pepper and bring the soup to a boil.
5. Add the cream and potatoes. Pour in the heavy cream, then add the cooked potatoes. Mix well and simmer for 5 minutes, until the soup is steaming hot (165°F).
6. Top and serve. Ladle the soup into bowls and top each one with shredded cheddar, bacon bits and chives.
How to Get Outback Potato Soup Thick and Creamy
This soup gets its body from a butter-and-flour roux and heavy cream, not from blended potatoes. That’s why you can keep the potatoes in soft, whole cubes and still end up with a spoon-coating, velvety base.
Here’s what to look for at each stage, so you know the pot is on track before you move on:
| Stage | What you do | What you should see |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | Melt it over medium heat, stirring often | Fully melted, not browned or burned |
| Roux | Stir in the flour and keep stirring for up to 5 minutes | A thick paste coating the soft onion |
| Liquid | Pour the broth and water in a little at a time, whisking | A smooth base with no lumps, brought to a boil |
| Cream | Pour in 1 cup | Creamy and pale; add more if you want it looser |
| Potatoes | Fold them in last | Hot all the way through, cubes still holding their shape |
Go slowly with the liquid. Six cups of broth and water hitting a hot roux all at once is how lumps happen. Pour a little, whisk it smooth, then pour a little more. Once it’s all in, bring it to a boil while you keep whisking.
Use the cream to set the texture. One cup gives a thick, rich soup. If yours is thicker than you like, add more cream slowly, up to 1 1/2 cups in total, until it pours the way you want.
Want it thicker? Press a potato masher into the pot a few times to break up some of the cubes and leave plenty of chunks. A few presses are enough: the mashed potato thickens the base while the whole pieces still give you something to bite into. If you’d rather use an immersion blender, scoop out a cup or two of the potatoes first and stir them back in afterward so the soup keeps its chunks.
Tips for Success
Why did my potatoes turn to mush?
They cooked too long. The potatoes are already soft when they go into the soup, and the longer they sit in it, the softer they get. Boil them only until fork-tender, add them last, and serve within 5 to 10 minutes of stirring them in.
Why did the bacon go soft?
Bacon stirred into the pot softens in the hot liquid. Keep it in a bowl on the table with the cheese and chives, and add it to each serving right before you eat.
Why does my soup taste flat?
Taste it once the cream is in, not before. Add more salt and pepper a pinch at a time until it tastes right to you. For a deeper chicken flavor, stir in 1 teaspoon of chicken bouillon at the end.
Variations
- Start with bacon: Cook chopped bacon in the pot until crisp and lift it out with a slotted spoon. Keep about 3 tablespoons of the grease in the pot and soften the onion in it before you add the butter. Save the crisp bacon for the tops of the bowls.
- Different toppings: Use Colby-Monterey Jack instead of cheddar, sliced green onions instead of chives, or add a dollop of sour cream to each bowl.
- A little herb: Stir 1/4 teaspoon of dried basil into the pot with the broth and water.
Storage & Reheating
USDA FSIS says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours in shallow, covered containers and eat them within 3 to 4 days. You can freeze the soup for 3 to 4 months, but FSIS notes that cream sauces don’t freeze well, and cream can separate and look curdled after thawing. Thaw it in the refrigerator. Reheat it covered in a saucepan, stirring, until it comes to a rolling boil or reaches 165°F, and don’t reheat it in a slow cooker. For a party, you can pour the hot soup into a preheated slow cooker to keep it at 140°F or warmer while people serve themselves. Keep leftover toppings in their own containers.
What to Serve With It
Serve it with crusty bread or yeast rolls and a crisp green salad. For a steakhouse night at home, follow it with Outback Steakhouse Alice Springs chicken or garlic butter steak bites with cheesy smashed potatoes. If potato soup is your thing, try our baked potato soup with cheddar and sour cream melted into the pot, the hands-off 5-ingredient slow cooker loaded potato soup, Paula Deen’s crockpot potato soup made with hash browns, or a crockpot potato broccoli cheddar soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the ingredients in Outback potato soup?
This copycat uses potatoes, butter, onion, garlic, all-purpose flour, chicken broth, water, heavy cream, salt and pepper. Cheddar, bacon bits and chives go on top of each bowl rather than into the pot.
What makes Outback potato soup so good?
The contrast. The soup itself is thick, buttery and creamy with soft potato in every spoonful, and the toppings bring melting cheese, salty crunch from the bacon and a fresh bite from the chives.
Can I use baked potatoes instead of boiled?
Yes. Bake the russets instead of boiling them, then halve them, scoop out the insides and chop them roughly. Potatoes you baked ahead of time work too. Add them in step 5, just like the boiled ones.
Can I make Outback potato soup in a slow cooker?
Yes, with a slightly different method. Soften the onion and garlic in a skillet, then put them in the slow cooker with the diced potatoes and chicken broth. Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours until the potatoes are soft, mash some of them, and stir in the heavy cream and a little butter before serving.
Final Notes
Dice the onion and mince the garlic while the potatoes boil, so you’re ready to start the roux the moment they’re drained. If you have a question or make this soup, tell me how it turned out in the comments.
Outback Potato Soup
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Ingredients
- 6 medium potatoes russet, peeled and diced into small pieces
- 1 cup butter 2 sticks
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded, for topping
- 1/2 cup bacon bits real bacon bits or crumbled crisp bacon, for topping
- 1/4 cup chives chopped, for topping
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil while you dice the potatoes into small pieces. Boil the potatoes until soft, about 20 minutes. Drain and set them aside.
- Melt the butter in the same pot over medium heat, stirring frequently so it does not brown or burn. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Stir in the flour and cook, stirring frequently, for up to 5 minutes, until a thick roux forms.
- Gradually pour in the chicken broth and water, stirring as you pour so no lumps form. Season with the salt and pepper and bring the soup to a boil.
- Pour in the heavy cream, then add the cooked potatoes. Mix well and simmer for 5 minutes, until the soup is steaming hot (165°F).
- Ladle the soup into bowls and top each one with shredded cheddar, bacon bits and chives.
