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    Bless This Mess > Recipes > Soups, Stews, & Chowders

    Creamy Potato Chowder

    Published: Dec 29, 2018 · Modified: Jan 25, 2020 by Melissa · 4 Comments

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    Title Image for Easy Creamy Potato Soup with Bacon and two bowls of creamy potato soup with chunks of potatoes, crumbled bacon, and sliced scallions

    Classic creamy potato chowder with bacon, veggies, and potatoes, made creamy with sour cream. This easy recipe can be made in the slow cooker or the instant pot!

    This is one of the oldest recipes on Bless this Mess and it's getting a much needed make-over. I shared this recipe back in 2009 and I have recently updated the pictures, the post, and the recipe to get it ready to share with you again. Updating really old content is really fun for me because I shared some of my very favorite recipes early on in blogging. I shared them because I loved them, made them often, and knew they were solid recipes. So excited to be bringing this old favorite back into the spotlight today.
    Creamy potato chowder is a favorite in our house because it's simple to make, loaded with bacon, and extra creamy thanks to the use of sour cream to finish off the soup! This is one of those soups that you can top with just about anything, like additional bacon, cheese, green onions, or hot sauce. My kids love it when they have a lot of options for topping their soup.
    This recipe is a great one to feed a crowd, too because it's very easy to scale up and down and having the potatoes as the star of the show makes it very economical. I make this on the stove top, in instant pot, and in the slow cooker. The stove top directions are in the recipe and the Instant Pot and slow cooker directions are noted in the blog post.
    Classic creamy potato chowder with bacon, lots of veggies, potatoes, and made creamy with the addition of sour cream.

    Tips and Tricks for Making Creamy Potato Chowder

    • Feel free to peel the potatoes or not, depending on your preference. This busy mama rarely peels the potatoes and it tastes just great.
    • If you'd like to make this a cheese soup, reduce the amount of sour cream to ½ a cup and add 1 to 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese at the end of cook time. Stir until melted and well combined.
    • Feel free to use chicken broth instead of water and bouillon if you have it on hand.
    • You can add an additional 1 to 2 cups water to this recipe if you like; it'll make a thinner soup. Just adjust it to your liking.

    How to make creamy potato chowder in the slow cooker:

    You'll want to cook up the bacon on the stove top as directed in the recipe. Continue through the steps that cook the onion and garlic, too. Add the cooked onion and garlic to the base of your slow cooker and add the rest of the veggies, water, bouillon, and salt. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 5-6 or until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the sour cream and bacon just before serving and adjust the salt and pepper to taste.

    How to make potato chowder in the Instant Pot:

    You'll want to cook up the bacon on the stove top as directed in the recipe. Continue through the steps that cook the onion and garlic, too. Add the cooked onion and garlic to the base of your Instant Pot and add the rest of the veggies, water, bouillon, and salt. Set the pressure cooker to cook for 8 minutes on high pressure. When the cook time is up, release the pressure valve for quick pressure release. Stir in the sour cream and bacon just before serving and adjust the salt and pepper to taste.

    Classic creamy potato chowder with bacon, lots of veggies, potatoes, and made creamy with the addition of sour cream.
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    Classic & Creamy Potato Chowder Recipe | Slow Cooker or Instant Pot

    Creamy Potato Chowder


    ★★★★★

    5 from 1 reviews

    • Author: Melissa Griffiths - Bless this Mess
    • Total Time: 1 hour
    • Yield: serves 8-10 1x
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    Description

    Classic potato chowder recipe with bacon, veggies & potatoes, made creamy with sour cream. This easy recipe can be made in the slow cooker or instant pot!


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • ½ pound bacon
    • 1 large white or yellow onion, chopped
    • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
    • 2.5 to 3 pounds potatoes, cubed (about 8 cups)
    • 4-5 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
    • 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
    • 6 cups water
    • 1 tablespoon chicken better-than-bouillon
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup sour cream
    • additional salt and pepper to taste
    • chopped green onions, additional sour cream, grated cheese, and/or hot sauce, optional for serving

    Instructions

    1. Cut bacon up into ¼ inch pieces. Add to a large pot or dutch oven and cook bacon over medium high heat until crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon leaving the drippings.
    2. Keep enough bacon drippings to cover the bottom of the pot (about 2 tablespoons), and remove the rest.
    3. Return pot to heat and add onion. Cook onions until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes.
    4. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
    5. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, water, bouillon, and salt.
    6. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cook until veggies are soft, about 30 minutes.
    7. Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked bacon and sour cream. Salt and pepper to taste.
    8. Serve hot.

    Notes

    • Feel free to peel the potatoes or not, depending on your preference. This busy mama rarely peels the potatoes, and it tastes just great.
    • If you'd like to make this a cheese soup, reduce the amount of sour cream to ½ a cup and add 1 to 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese at the end of cook time. Stir until melted and well combined.
    • Feel free to use chicken broth instead of water and bouillon if you have it on hand.
    • You can add an additional 1 to 2 cups water to this recipe if you like; it'll make a thinner soup. Just adjust it to your liking.
    • Prep Time: 15 min
    • Cook Time: 45 min
    • Category: Soup
    • Method: Slow Cooker, Instant Pot
    • Cuisine: American

    Keywords: instant pot potato chowder recipe, slow cooker potato chowder recipe, instant pot potato soup, slow cooker potato soup

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @blessthismessblog on Instagram and hashtag it #blessthismess

    What can you serve with potato soup? I got you covered:

    • Sour Cream Cornbread
    • Momma’s Jumbo Dinner Rolls
    • Skillet Cornbread
    • Super Simple No-Knead Bread
    • The Best Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

    Other soup recipes that you might like:

    • The Best Instant Pot Broccoli and Cheese Soup
    • Healthy One Pot Quinoa Taco Casserole
    • Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup
    • Tortellini Vegetable Soup

    There you have it - one beautifully updated tried-and-true recipe that I can't wait for you to make. Enjoy this rich and creamy soup from my kitchen to yours.

    This recipe was originally published in December 2009 and has been updated, rephotographed, and rewritten in December 2018.
    « Top 10 Recipes of 2018
    Quick, Easy, and Healthy White Chicken Enchilada Soup »
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    About Melissa

    Melissa is dedicated to helping parents figure out the nightly questions, "What's for Dinner?!" with her no-fuss approach to cooking. Read more...

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      Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

    1. Bev

      February 28, 2022 at 6:16 pm

      I made this, on the stovetop, today for the first time after it appeared in my FB feed this morning. My husband and I enjoyed it for a late lunch and I printed the recipe; it will certainly appear on our table again!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    2. Carol GerigI

      October 16, 2019 at 8:15 am

      I plan on making this soup soon. Sounds delicious. How much chicken broth can be used in terms of cups? Can I make the soup on the stove in a soup pan? I don't have an instant pot.

      Reply
      • Melissa

        October 17, 2019 at 9:15 pm

        You'd just use the same amount of chicken broth as water, so 6 cups! And yes ma'am, it'll work great on the stove top too! No issues there.

    3. Farah.F

      December 31, 2013 at 10:21 pm

      I recently made a similar recipe...turned out soooo yum 🙂 Im going to try your version today with the sour cream. Thanks.
      http://coffeeandzest.wordpress.com/2013/12/31/creamy-potato-soup/

      Reply

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