How to Make Potato Soup in the Slow Cooker
This is an incredibly delicious potato and cheese soup. It is so easy since it is made in the slow cooker, and it creates such a wonderful warm smell in your kitchen while it is cooking! I have to say, it ranks up there with many comfort foods.
I love making soups and make lots of different versions of them, this one is my most recent creation. It has a little less cheese than my beer cheese soup and more vegetables. I like to think it is healthier, too, with less cheese in it. It still has a great cheese flavor, but it does not overpower the potato flavor at all. I hope if you get a chance to make this soup, you enjoy it as much as we do. It also makes for fantastic leftovers!
Cook Time
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 4 hours
Ready in: 4 hours 15 min
Yields: serves 6-8
Ingredients
- 4 medium russet potatoes, 1/4-1/2" cubes
- 1 sweet yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 cup baby carrots, sliced thin
- 4 cloves garlic, diced or minced
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt, freshly ground
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 4 slices American cheese
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry 4 medium russet potatoes. I do not peel mine, I like to keep the nutrients that are in the skins in tact, but I do cut off any bruised parts of the potato. Cut it up into 1/4 - 1/2" cubes. Place in crock pot.
- Peel the onion and dice into small pieces. If you peel it under running cold water, it should not make your eyes tear up. Sometimes I think of this a little too late and the fumes have already hit me. Add the onion to the crock pot.
- Dice or mince up your four cloves of fresh garlic. Thinly slice the half cup of baby carrots (or regular sized carrots, honestly can't wait for my garden carrots this year, they are so much sweeter than store bought, come on Spring!). I have shredded carrots before for soups, but prefer to thinly slice if I'm using the small baby carrots. Add the garlic and carrots to the slow cooker.
- Pour the three cups of chicken broth (use vegetable broth if you want this to be a vegetarian soup) over the vegetables and add the seasonings and butter. Cook on high in the crock pot for three hours. (This soup cooks for 4 hours on high total or 8 hours on low total)
- At this point I got out my hand-held immersion blender and mashed down the potatoes some. This helps to thicken the soup broth up and makes it a little easier to eat. You can choose how chunky or smooth you want your soup to be. You can also use a hand-held potato masher if you don't have an immersion blender. If you don't have an immersion blender, I would recommend it! It is one of my favorite small appliances.
- Finally, add the shredded cheddar cheese, the cream cheese, and the slices of American cheese to the slow cooker. Stir and cover again, cooking for one more hour.
- Serve with your choice of toppings; sour cream, shredded sharp cheddar and red pepper flakes were my choice. You could also use green onions, bacon or Greek yogurt to top the soup. I served it with hot pepper beer bread for dipping. Delicious, enjoy!
- Slow Cooker Easy and Cheesy Beer Potato Soup
This is a very easy slow cooker, beer, cheese soup. I used small red potatoes in it and half an onion, as well as a handful of carrots. It smells so delicious cooking all day in the slow cooker.
