Crock Pot Potato Soup with Heavy Cream is a creamy slow cooker soup of russet potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and garlic cooked in chicken broth with bacon and a little thyme, then finished with a flour-and-milk mix and 2 cups of heavy cream. Mashing part of the potatoes right in the pot thickens it. It takes about 15 minutes of prep, 4 to 5 hours on HIGH (or 7 to 8 on LOW) plus a 30-minute finish, and serves 8.
How to make it: Cook the chopped bacon halfway in a skillet, add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery until they start to soften, and move everything to the slow cooker with the broth, bouillon, seasonings and potatoes. When the potatoes are fork tender, whisk the flour into the milk, stir it in with the heavy cream, and cook 30 minutes on HIGH. Mash some of the potatoes and serve with your toppings.
Why You’ll Love It
- Hands-off: after a short skillet step, the slow cooker does the work.
- Thick without a roux: a flour-and-milk mix and a few mashed potatoes thicken the pot.
- Bacon all the way through: it cooks with the vegetables and flavors the broth.
- Makes 8 servings: enough for a family dinner with leftovers.
Ingredient Notes
Bacon: 8 slices, chopped. It starts in the skillet and finishes cooking in the slow cooker. Cook a few extra slices until crisp if you want crumbled bacon on top.
Vegetables: 1 medium yellow onion, diced; 1 tablespoon of minced garlic; and 1 1/2 cups each of chopped carrots and celery.
Broth and bouillon: 4 cups of chicken broth plus 1 rounded tablespoon of chicken-flavor Better Than Bouillon.
Seasonings: 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme, and salt to taste. Taste at the end, since the bacon and bouillon are salty.
Russet potatoes: 2 pounds, peeled and diced.
Flour and whole milk: 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour whisked into 1 cup of whole milk.
Heavy cream: 2 cups, stirred in at the end.
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 rounded tablespoon Better Than Bouillon, chicken flavor
- Salt, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
Optional toppings
- Cheddar cheese, grated
- Green onions, sliced
- Bacon, crumbled
- Sour cream
How to Make Crock Pot Potato Soup with Heavy Cream
1. Start the bacon. In a large skillet, cook the chopped bacon over medium-low heat until it is about halfway done.
2. Soften the vegetables. Add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery and keep cooking until the vegetables begin to soften.
3. Fill the slow cooker. Add the bacon and vegetable mixture to the slow cooker. Add the chicken broth, Better Than Bouillon, salt, pepper, thyme and potatoes. Cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, until the potatoes are fork tender.
4. Add the flour, milk and cream. In a small bowl, whisk the flour and milk until evenly combined. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker, then stir in the heavy cream.
5. Heat through on HIGH. Put the lid back on, turn the slow cooker to HIGH and cook for 30 minutes, until the soup is heated through and reads 165°F on a food thermometer.
6. Mash some of the potatoes. Use a potato masher to mash about one third to half of the potatoes right in the slow cooker, until the soup is as thick as you like.
7. Serve. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with grated cheddar, sliced green onions, crumbled bacon and sour cream, if you like.
When to Add Heavy Cream to Crock Pot Soup
Add it at the end. Cook the potatoes in the broth first, until a fork slides through them easily. Then whisk the flour into the milk, pour it in, stir in the cream, and give the soup another 30 minutes on HIGH. That’s the pattern most slow cooker potato soups follow: the dairy goes in once the potatoes are tender, followed by a short final cook of 15 to 30 minutes.
While the soup cooks, keep the lid on. Lift it only to stir or to check the potatoes.
How to Control the Thickness
- Mash more or less. Mashing about one third to half of the potatoes gives a thick, chunky soup. Mash more, up to about three quarters, for a thicker, smoother one.
- Whisk the flour well. Whisk the flour into cold milk until there are no lumps before it goes into the pot.
- Thinner soup: mash fewer potatoes, or stir in a splash more broth or milk.
Can I Use Frozen Potatoes or Another Kind?
Yes. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced, work in place of russets. For frozen, use a 32-ounce bag of small diced potato cubes, not shredded hash browns, and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours.
Variations
- Cheesy: stir 2 cups of sharp cheddar into the soup at the end instead of using it only as a topping.
- Sour cream in the pot: stir in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of sour cream with the cream.
- Other dairy: use 12 ounces of evaporated milk or half and half in a butter-and-flour roux instead of the cream.
- Crispy bacon topping: cook the bacon until crisp and keep it aside for the top instead of cooking it in the soup.
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerator: Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours (1 hour if the room is above 90°F). Divide the pot into shallow covered containers so it cools quickly. It keeps 3 to 4 days.
Freezer: It can be frozen for 3 to 4 months, but cream soups tend to separate and look curdled after thawing. Thaw in the refrigerator, or reheat from frozen in a saucepan or the microwave.
Reheating: Reheat covered on the stove or in the microwave until the soup comes to a rolling boil (165°F). Don’t reheat it in the slow cooker. For a party, reheat it on the stove first, then keep it hot in a preheated slow cooker at 140°F or warmer.
What to Serve With It
Set out bowls of the toppings and let everyone build their own. For bread on the side, bake butter biscuits or cheesy garlic breadsticks.
More slow cooker potato soups: 5-ingredient loaded potato soup with cream cheese, Paula Deen’s crockpot potato soup with hash browns, and potato broccoli cheddar soup. For a stovetop version, try baked potato soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use heavy cream in potato soup?
Yes. This soup uses 2 cups of heavy cream with 1 cup of whole milk for 8 servings.
When do you put heavy cream in crock pot soup?
At the end, once the potatoes are fork tender. Stir it in with the flour-and-milk mix and cook 30 more minutes on HIGH.
Can I use frozen hash browns or a different potato?
Use frozen diced potato cubes rather than shredded hash browns, or Yukon gold potatoes in place of russets.
How do I control how thick the soup is?
Mash about one third to half of the potatoes in the pot for a thick soup; mash more for thicker, or fewer for thinner.
Final Notes
Start it in the morning, stir in the cream before dinner, and set out the toppings. If you try it with Yukon golds, tell me in the comments how it turned out.
Crock Pot Potato Soup with Heavy Cream
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Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups carrots chopped
- 1 1/2 cups celery chopped
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon chicken flavor, rounded tablespoon
- salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 pounds russet potatoes peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- cheddar cheese grated, for topping; optional
- green onions sliced, for topping; optional
- bacon crumbled, for topping; optional
- sour cream for topping; optional
Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook the chopped bacon over medium-low heat until it is about halfway done.
- Add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery and keep cooking until the vegetables begin to soften.
- Add the bacon and vegetable mixture to the slow cooker. Add the chicken broth, Better Than Bouillon, salt, pepper, thyme and potatoes. Cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, until the potatoes are fork tender.
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour and milk until evenly combined. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker, then stir in the heavy cream.
- Put the lid back on, turn the slow cooker to HIGH and cook for 30 minutes, until the soup is heated through and reads 165°F on a food thermometer.
- Use a potato masher to mash about one third to half of the potatoes right in the slow cooker, until the soup is as thick as you like.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and top with grated cheddar, sliced green onions, crumbled bacon and sour cream, if you like.
