Crispy bacon, tangy cheddar cheese, rich sour cream, and punchy green onion.

This comfy-cozy Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup takes all the delicious toppings from a classic baked potato and sets them atop a creamy and delicious soup. It all comes together with minimal effort and prep time thanks to your trusty, time-saving Instant Pot.

instant pot loaded potato soup

This recipe is…

The loaded baked potato is a classic for a reason: when fluffy baked potatoes get topped with the winning combination of shredded cheese, bacon, sour cream, and green onions, something magical happens. 

This loaded potato soup recipe gives the cozy comfort food favorite a modern makeover with a little help from the Instant Pot, which creates a creamy, nourishing, and delicious potato soup base with little more than gold potatoes, chicken broth, sour cream, and seasonings. Then comes the fun part: adding all the crunchy-creamy-delicious toppings!

Just like our One Pot Lasagna Soup, Pepperoni Pizza Meatballs, and Buffalo Ranch Chicken Casserole, it’s a fun and creative spin on a comfort food classic.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • A new way to eat/slurp your favorite loaded baked potato!
  • Using an Instant Pot makes most of the cooking hands-off.
  • Easily adapted to vegetarian and vegan diets.

Recipe Ingredients

With sour cream, bacon, and a handful of ingredients you probably already have in your pantry, you’re well on your way to making this nourishing soup.

All of the ingredients needed for Instant Pot loaded baked potato soup in bowls and on plates on a light gray surface.
  • Bacon – be sure to get your bacon nice and crispy, as it makes for a great crunch in contrast to the rest of the soup. Also, leaving 1-2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the Instant Pot creates such a depth of flavor!
  • Lemon Juice – citrus juice adds a brightness to this soup that really sets it apart from other loaded potato soup recipes.

A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

Recipe Variations and Modifications

  • Make it vegetarian – to make this recipe vegetarian, sub in vegetable stock and omit the bacon.
  • Make it dairy-free – don’t shy away from this soup if you’re dairy-free. Just skip the store-bought sour cream and make your own Paleo, dairy-free version instead from the Fed & Fit cookbook.) Instead of shredded cheese, swap in some nutritional yeast for that cheesy-salty fix.
  • Use a different green garnish – out of fresh green onions? Sprinkle some chopped parsley or chives on top instead.

How to Make Potato Soup in the Instant Pot

The beauty of this recipe is that it happens in just one pot! We’ll utilize the sauté and pressure functions of the Instant Pot for this one.

Step 1: Use the “sauté” function on the Instant Pot to crisp half of a pound of diced bacon. Once finished, remove the bacon, set aside, and remove all but 1-2 tablespoons of bacon grease. 

Step 2: To the bacon fat, add the potatoes and broth, place the lid on the Instant Pot, making sure it is set to “sealed”, and set to cook for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, manually release the pressure valve and open the lid.

Step 3: Remove about half of the potatoes from the Instant Pot. Using an immersion blender, blend the remaining potatoes with the broth. This Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup is smooth with bits of potato chunks mixed in, just how I like it. If you prefer a completely smooth base, blend all of the potatoes together!

Step 4: Once blended, stir in the seasonings, sour cream, lemon juice, cooked bacon pieces, and reserved potatoes.

Step 5: Spoon the soup into bowls, add your favorite toppings, and enjoy!

Recipe Tips

  • If you’re looking for a fun twist on the original toppings, try shredded chicken + a drizzle of buffalo sauce, or chopped BBQ beef + pickled jalapenos.
  • This recipe makes a dozen servings, so it can either feed a family of six twice, or you can stick half in the freezer for a busy night when you’re too tired to cook from scratch.

How to Serve

Serve this soup piping-hot for lunch or dinner, with small bowls of the toppings so everyone can customize their bowls to their own tastes.

It also makes a great portable lunch for work days: just pack the soup and the toppings separately.

How to Store and Reheat

This Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days (keep the toppings separate to avoid sogginess). Be sure to let the soup cool to handling temperature before transferring it to the container.

It also freezes well, and will stay good for up to 5 months. Freezing soup in gallon Ziploc bags and stacking them in your freezer makes for a real space-saving solution!

The stovetop is the best way to reheat frozen potato soup. Add the frozen soup to a pot and heat over medium heat until warmed through, stirring frequently.

instant pot loaded potato soup

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Loaded Potato Soup Made of?

This comforting soup is made with all the ingredients you love in a classic loaded baked potato: sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, green onions, and bacon. The potatoes get blended with chicken broth and seasonings for a creamy and flavorful soup base, which gets topped with all of the usual crunchy, creamy, and cheesy fixings.

How Can You Make Baked Potato Soup Thicker?

Potato is a natural thickener, and our loaded potato soup recipe was created to be a perfect consistency when blended with the broth and sour cream.
 
If, however, you like a thicker soup, you can add a little more potato or potato flakes. Or, create a slurry by whisking cornstarch with water and adding it at the end of the cooking process.

What to Serve with Loaded Baked Potato Soup

With hearty potatoes and all the toppings, this soup makes a complete meal. But it’s also great served alongside crackers, a fresh green salad, or steamed broccoli.

If you tried this Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!

Loaded Instant Pot Potato Soup

5 — Votes 7 votes
By Cassy
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Total: 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
This creamy potato soup is loaded with bacon, sour cream, cheese, and chives and comes together in minutes in the Instant Pot!

Ingredients  

  • 1/2 pound of bacon diced
  • 3 pounds baby gold potatoes peeled and roughly chopped
  • 32 ounces chicken broth
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 8 ounces sour cream
  • juice of one lemon
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For Toppings:

  • 4 ounces sour cream
  • 1/2 cup cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped chives

Instructions 

  •  Set Instant Pot to ‘saute’ mode and add bacon pieces. Cook for about 5 minutes until bacon is crispy and fat is fully rendered. Turn off the pot and remove bacon and excess bacon grease, leaving 1-2 tablespoons.
  • Add the potatoes, chicken broth, and salt to the Instant Pot. Place the lid on the pot and ensure the pressure valve is closed. Press the ‘manual’ button and set to cook for 15 minutes. The pot will have to come up to pressure and then the countdown will begin.
  • Once the timer goes off, manually release the pressure valve carefully. Once the pot has stopped releasing steam, open the lid.
  • Remove about half of the potatoes from the pot and place in a medium sized bowl.
  • Puree the remaining potatoes and broth with an Immersion Blender. Then, stir in the sour cream, lemon juice, and remaining seasonings.
  • Stir in the cooked bacon pieces and potatoes, then taste for seasoning and add more if needed.
  • Serve alongside additional sour cream, cheese, and chives for topping.

Recipe Notes

For dairy free:
Substitute with Paleo sour cream recipe from the Fed & Fit Book and top with nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor.
To make in the slow cooker:
  1. Crisp bacon on the stove in a pan over medium-high heat. Remove bacon and set aside. Add 1-2 tablespoons bacon grease to slow cooker along with potatoes, chicken broth, and salt.
  2. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
  3. Follow the recipe from step 4 onward.

Nutrition

Calories: 247kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 549mg | Potassium: 572mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 257IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 1mg

Additional Info

Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 247
Keyword: instant pot potato soup, loaded potato soup

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Elizabeth Brownfield


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41 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    so easy and so tasty! I don’t have an immersion blender so I just stuck it in my blender in a couple batches and it was perfect. my kids ate it up and my husband wished he wasn’t fasting tonight

    1. Hahaha! We are so so happy y’all loved it, Dana! Thank you for taking a minute to share!

  2. 5 stars
    Love the recipe! It was delicious. I just hate peeling the potatoes! Do you think it would be bad if I just left the skin on?

    1. Great question, Kristin! Totally agree… its the worst! Unpeeled should be fine!

  3. This is truly the easiest recipe! I love that I don’t have to make a roux or add flour. I even took some license with the onion (added sautéed onion) and potato type (russet). Still came out great!

  4. This is truly the easiest recipe! I love that I don’t have to make a roux or add flour. I even took some license with the onion (added sautéed onion) and potato type (russet). Still came out great!

    1. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback, Liz! -Melissa

  5. I don’t have an Emerson blender. Has anyone used this with regular hand mixer or Kitchen Aid stand mixer? Or would you recommend transfering it to the food processor for a more creamy soup-like texture?

  6. 5 stars
    This soup is so flavorful! Quick and easy to make. The hardest part is peeling the potatoes. We didn’t make any substitutions and it was perfect.

    1. We’re so glad you all enjoyed it, Andrea! Thank you for the comment!

    1. Yum! Feel free to share some with me, mom!! 😉

    1. Awesome! Thank you for sharing this with us, Mckenna!