This recipe is so flexible and versatile, it may as well be a yoga instructor.
Versatile Creamy Potato Soup
Course: DinnerDifficulty: Easy8
servings10
minutesYou can add and adjust so many things in this soup to make it what you want. You can easily make it vegetarian, substitute ingredients, add extra ingredients – it’s my favorite soup recipe to play with!
CORE Ingredients
30 oz. bag of frozen potatoes
32 oz. carton of chicken stock
10.5 oz. can of cream of chicken soup
16 oz. package of cream cheese, or neufchatel cheese
Cheddar Cheese, for topping
- OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS
Can of corn
Diced ham
Diced bacon
a dollop of sour cream
Chopped green onion
Broccoli
Shredded Carrot
Directions
- Dump all of the “Core” Ingredients, minus the cream cheese and cheddar cheese, into the vessel of your choosing. See notes regarding optional ingredients.
- Instant Pot Directions
- Pressure cook for 30 minutes, OR cook for 2 hours on the “slow cook” setting
- After the pressure cook, dice the Cream Cheese and let sit for 15 minutes to melt and emulsify into the mixture
- OR 30 minutes before the end of the “Slow Cook” setting, dice the cream cheese and stir every 10 minutes until combined
- Crock Pot Directions
- In a Crock Pot – cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3 hours. 30 minutes before the end time, dice the cream cheese and stir every 10 minutes until combined
- Stove Top Directions
- Cook on medium-low for 2 hours, with the lid on. 30 minutes before the end time, dice the cream cheese and stir every 10 minutes until combined
Notes
This is the easiest potato soup recipe to play with and substitute ingredients. You throw it into any pot-like cooking vessel, and as long as you follow the basic directions for the vessel you’re using it can’t go wrong. (At this point, I’m not entirely sure “vessel” is a real word… sorry, all!)
You can change all of the chicken-based ingredients for vegetable or vegan ingredients that are similar (like veggie stock, or a vegan cream of mushroom soup). The soup will still come out the same consistency – creamy, potato-y, and healing your soul.
When I make this soup, I dice up some ham and add a can of corn at the beginning. If I have any cooked bacon in the refrigerator, I’ll crumble it and put it on top for serving.
Broccoli is another good additive – you can add any frozen or fresh vegetable, since almost anything will go with potatoes.
You can also add any cooked protein at the end, to heat through.
I’ve made this a hamburger soup by adding ground beef; added kielbasa and sauteed peppers and onions, plus a beer to replace some of the chicken broth; the possibilities are literally ENDLESS.
This is one of the first soup recipes I ever tried in the crock pot, and can confidently say that this is an essential recipe that anyone needs in their repertoire.
