15 Hearty Baked Potato Soup You Need to Save

There's nothing quite like a bowl of baked potato soup on a cold evening — it takes everything great about a loaded jacket potato and turns it into a thick, spoonable soup. Starting with actual baked potatoes, rather than boiled ones, gives the broth a deeper, roastier flavour that boiled potatoes just can't match. Every recipe below uses the same reliable base of butter, flour, stock, and milk, so once you've made one you can freestyle the rest. Whether you want a fast weeknight fix or a slow-cooker version that looks after itself, there's a baked potato soup here for you.

This is the base recipe the other 14 variations riff on: potatoes baked at 200°C (400°F) until the skins are crisp and the flesh is fluffy, then folded into a roux-thickened stock and milk base. Crumbled smoked bacon, grated mature cheddar, and a spoonful of soured cream go in at the end so the cheese melts gently instead of turning grainy. Mash roughly a third of the potato flesh into the pot with a fork for body, leaving the rest in rough chunks so every spoonful has texture. It's the version to learn first — everything else on this list is a twist on it.

Skip the oven altogether and dice 900 g (2 lb) peeled potatoes into 2 cm cubes so they simmer tender in stock in 12-15 minutes flat. Use pre-cooked bacon bits and a bag of ready-grated cheddar to cut prep to almost nothing, and swap the flour roux for a cornflour slurry stirred in at the end for instant thickening. It won't have quite the same roasted depth as oven-baked potatoes, but a pinch of smoked paprika brings back that baked-potato flavour in seconds. Perfect for a weeknight when the classic version feels like too much of a project.

Brown 350 g (12 oz) sliced smoked sausage or kielbasa in the pot first and leave the rendered fat behind to cook the onion and garlic in — it adds a smoky, savoury backbone the classic version doesn't have. Stir the sliced sausage back in once the soup has thickened, along with a pinch of smoked paprika and a bay leaf simmered in with the stock. This version is filling enough to be a full meal on its own with just a hunk of crusty bread alongside. Leave the potatoes slightly chunkier here, around 3 cm dice, so they hold their own against the sausage.

Double down on the classic bacon-and-chive pairing by cooking 200 g (7 oz) bacon lardons until deeply crisp, then stirring a generous handful of fresh chives through the soup right at the end rather than saving them just for garnish. The chives' oniony bite cuts through the richness of the cream and cheese, so you can afford to be a little heavier-handed with both. A final swirl of soured cream and extra chives on top makes this the prettiest bowl on the list, ideal for serving guests. Cook the flour for the roux in the reserved bacon fat instead of butter for extra savoury depth.

Replace half the milk with 240 ml (1 cup) double cream (heavy cream) for a soup that coats the back of a spoon and feels genuinely indulgent. Because cream thickens more than milk, use slightly less flour in the roux — 30 g (1/4 cup) instead of the usual amount — so the soup doesn't turn gluey. Blend a third of the soup with a stick blender before stirring in the cream for an ultra-silky base, then fold the remaining chunky potato back through. This is the version to make for a birthday dinner or a proper Sunday night in.

Strip the recipe back to potatoes, stock, milk, cheddar, and salt and pepper — no bacon, no roux, no fuss. Boil 900 g (2 lb) diced potatoes directly in 700 ml (3 cups) stock until soft, then mash roughly half in the pot before stirring in 240 ml (1 cup) milk and 150 g (5 oz) grated cheddar off the heat. It's naturally thickened by the starchy potatoes rather than flour, which makes it a handy gluten-free base recipe too. Add any leftover veg or herbs you have in the fridge to make it your own without needing a shopping list.

Stir in 100 g (3.5 oz) each of grated mature cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Parmesan for a soup with real cheesy depth instead of just one dominant flavour. Add the cheese gradually over low heat and off the boil — cheese added to boiling liquid tends to split and turn oily rather than melting smoothly. A final scattering of extra cheddar on top under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes gives each bowl a golden, bubbling crust, just like a jacket potato topping. This is the one to make when cheese is genuinely the whole point.

Poach 300 g (10.5 oz) diced chicken thigh in the stock for 10 minutes before adding the potatoes, until it reaches 74°C (165°F) on a meat thermometer or is no longer pink in the centre, then shred it back into the pot once the soup has thickened for a more substantial, one-bowl dinner. Chicken thigh stays juicier through the extra simmering time than breast does, so avoid substituting breast unless you add it much later in the cooking. A spoonful of wholegrain mustard stirred in at the end gives a gentle savoury lift that works especially well alongside the chicken. Serve with extra black pepper and a scattering of chopped parsley.

Use just one onion, 900 g (2 lb) potatoes, milk instead of cream, and a small block of mild cheddar — this version costs a fraction of the loaded original but still delivers a properly satisfying bowl. Bulk it out further with a tin of drained sweetcorn or a handful of frozen peas stirred in for the last 5 minutes, which adds volume without adding much cost. Bacon is optional here; a teaspoon of smoked paprika and a good stock cube give a similar savoury backbone for pennies. It freezes well too, so it's worth batch-cooking when potatoes are on offer.

Sauté the onion and garlic on the pot's sauté setting, then pressure-cook 900 g (2 lb) diced potatoes with 700 ml (3 cups) stock on high for 8 minutes with a quick release. Stir in the milk, cream, and cheese only after releasing the pressure, never before, since dairy can scorch on the bottom of an electric pressure cooker. This cuts total time to around 25 minutes with almost no hands-on work, making it the fastest route to proper baked potato soup flavour. A few pulses with a stick blender thickens it further if you prefer a smoother finish.

Leave the skins on well-scrubbed potatoes for extra fibre, a deeper earthy flavour, and a more rustic, textured finish — just dice them slightly smaller, around 1.5 cm, so the skins soften fully during simmering. This version skips the blender entirely; mash roughly with a potato masher instead so the soup stays chunky and homely rather than smooth. It's the closest in spirit to a proper jacket potato, skin and all, and needs nothing more than a knob of butter and black pepper to finish. Good with a hunk of buttered bread for mopping up the bowl.

This is the classic recipe turned up to full jacket-potato-toppings mode: crisp bacon, extra cheddar, soured cream, sliced spring onions, and a few pats of butter melting on top of each bowl. Set the toppings out in small bowls so everyone can load their own soup exactly how they'd dress a jacket potato. Thicken the soup itself slightly more than usual — 60 g (1/2 cup) flour in the roux instead of the standard amount — so it holds all those toppings without turning watery. It's the showstopper version for potato-soup night with a crowd.

Add diced potatoes, stock, onion, and garlic straight to the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours, until the potatoes are completely soft. Stir in the milk, cream, cheese, and soured cream only in the final 30 minutes, since dairy can split if it cooks for hours on low heat. This hands-off method is ideal for a big family batch — simply double the recipe in a 6-litre slow cooker without changing the cooking time. Mash a portion directly in the slow-cooker insert with a potato masher before serving for the right thick texture.

Roast a whole head of garlic alongside the potatoes at 200°C (400°F) for the same 50-55 minutes, then squeeze the soft, sweet cloves straight into the pot when you add the stock. Roasting mellows the garlic's sharp bite into something nutty and rounded, which makes this the most flavour-packed version on the list without needing extra cream or cheese. A few sprigs of fresh thyme added with the stock and removed before serving round out the flavour further. This is the one worth making when you genuinely want to impress.

Everything happens in a single Dutch oven or large pot: cook the bacon first, sauté the aromatics in the fat left behind, build the roux right there, then add potatoes, stock, and dairy to the same pot with no extra pans and minimal washing up. Dice the potatoes small, around 2 cm, so they cook through in the stock in about 15 minutes without needing to be pre-baked. It's the most practical version for a normal weeknight because clean-up is genuinely just one pot and a knife. Finish with the cheese stirred in off the heat so it melts smoothly rather than clumping.

Bake potatoes the day before and refrigerate them whole — cold baked potato flesh actually dices more cleanly and holds its shape better in the soup than potato used the same day. Whisk the roux constantly for the first minute of cooking to cook out the raw flour taste, then add warm, not cold, stock gradually to avoid lumps. If your soup turns out thinner than you'd like, mash more of the potato into the base rather than adding more flour, which can leave it tasting starchy. Always add cheese off the heat, a handful at a time, stirring until fully melted before the next addition.

Ladle the soup into warm bowls and top with the classic combination of crispy bacon, grated cheddar, a dollop of soured cream, and sliced chives or spring onions, exactly as you'd dress a jacket potato. A side of crusty bread or garlic bread is ideal for mopping up the bowl, while a simple green salad with a sharp vinaigrette balances the richness if you're serving it as part of a bigger meal. For a heartier dinner, serve alongside a small grilled cheese sandwich cut into fingers for dipping. Leftover crispy fried onions or croutons also make a good crunchy contrast on top.

Cool the soup completely before transferring it to an airtight container and refrigerating for up to 4 days. Reheat gently in a pot over medium-low heat, stirring often and adding a splash of milk to loosen the consistency, since the soup thickens further once chilled. Freezing is possible for up to 2 months, but the texture can turn slightly grainy once thawed because of the dairy and potato starch, so it works best in the plainer, less cream-heavy versions. Always reheat from frozen slowly on the hob rather than in the microwave, stirring frequently to keep the soup smooth.