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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.
Soup and rolls is a perfect comfort food combo. Try some of my favorites: Mom’s Jumbo Dinner Rolls, Fluffy Sourdough Rolls, and Grandma Lucy’s Famous Clover Rolls.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s simple to make – and you can make it on the stove top, in the instant pot or in the slow cooker.
- You can top it with just about anything – bacon, cheese, green onions, hot sauce – so it’s easy to customize.
- It’s easy to scale up to feed a crowd!
- It’s very economical since potatoes are the star of the show.
Ingredients
- Bacon
- Large White or Yellow Onion
- Minced Garlic
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Celery
- Water
- Chicken Better-Than-Bouillon
- Salt & Pepper
- Sour Cream
- Optional: Chopped Green Onions, Additional Sour Cream, Grated Cheese, and/or Hot Sauce, for serving
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities
How to Make Creamy Potato Chowder
Step #1. Cut bacon into 1/4″ pieces and brown in the bottom of a stock pot. Remove with slotted spoon.
Step #3. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, water, bullion, and salt to pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes until vegetables are soft.
Step #2. Cook onions in 2 Tablespoons of bacon fat until translucent. Add garlic and cook just until fragrant.
Step #4. Remove from heat. Stir in cooked bacon and sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Recipe FAQs
Russet potatoes are usually the go-to for soups but really any kind of potatoes will work in a pinch.
These are some of my favorites:
Sour Cream Cornbread, Momma’s Jumbo Dinner Rolls, Skillet Cornbread, Super Simple No-Knead Bread, and The Best Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
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 Creamy 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.
Expert Tips
- 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 1/2 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.
More Soup Recipes to Consider
Beef Recipes
Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon
Soups, Stews & Chowders
White Chicken Chili
Soups, Stews & Chowders
Slow Cooker Veggie Beef Soup
Soups, Stews & Chowders
Texas Chili Recipe
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Creamy Potato Chowder
Ingredients
- 1/2 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
- Cut bacon up into 1/4 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.
- Keep enough bacon drippings to cover the bottom of the pot (about 2 tablespoons), and remove the rest.
- Return pot to heat and add onion. Cook onions until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add potatoes, carrots, celery, water, bouillon, and salt.
- Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cook until veggies are soft, about 30 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked bacon and sour cream. Salt and pepper to taste.
- 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 1/2 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.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in December 2009 and has been updated, rephotographed, and rewritten in December 2018.
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!
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.
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.
I recently made a similar recipe…turned out soooo yum 🙂 Im going to try your version today with the sour cream. Thanks.
https://coffeeandzest.wordpress.com/2013/12/31/creamy-potato-soup/