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
- 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.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Category: Soup
- Method: Slow Cooker, Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American