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!
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.
Creamy Potato Chowder
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: serves 8-10 1x
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
- 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
- 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.
- 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 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
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.
Bev
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!
★★★★★
Carol GerigI
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.
Melissa
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.
Farah.F
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/