Healthy Potato Soup is total comfort food! This easy creamy potato soup can be made on the stove, in the slow cooker or instant pot.
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Healthy Potato Soup. I mean.. do we really need to say more?
This soup is a DREAM come true. All the flavor of regular loaded baked potato soup with WAY better ingredients, and about 1/4 the calories/fat you’d normally find in it!
why we love this Healthy Potato Soup
- Easy to make: This potato soup is quick to make in your crockpot, instant pot or on the stove. IT’s totally fool proof!
- Tastes like the ‘real’ thing: Regular potato soup is usually super high in calories/fat, this recipe is lower calorie while still tasting absolutely delicious!
- Diet Friendly: This potato soup is dairy free, gluten free, paleo, Whole30 friendly and vegan (even though it’s shown here with bacon!) so everyone can enjoy it!
This creamy potato soup is easily customized for any diet – and I’ve listed ALL the substitutions below for you. If you love a giant bowl of potato soup – get ready for the healthier, easier version you’re going to love!
I know it’s hard to believe.. but this potato soup has NO dairy and is still ridiculously delicious.. I think you’ll love it!
Ingredients for Easy Creamy Potato Soup:
This creamy potato soup is made with very simple ingredients. You’ll need:
- olive oil
- onions, carrots, celery, potatoes
- vegetable broth or chicken broth
- garlic powder, fresh rosemary, salt + pepper
- milk of choice (canned coconut milk mimics heavy cream, otherwise, whole milk, almond milk, skim milk will all work)
For ingredient substitutions, see below in the green shaded box
How to make healthy potato soup from scratch?
You can make this delicious potato soup in your instant pot, slow cooker or on the stovetop. Here’s how to make potato soup in the instant pot:
- First, sauté veggies until soft. Scrape all veggies off the bottom of the pressure cooker to avoid getting a burn error. Stir in potatoes.
- Add broth + stir. Set your instant pot to pressure cook for 10 minutes.
- When done cooking – blend with an immersion blender or blender. (A food processor would also work but it might be a little tough to do/messy!)
How to make slow cooker potato soup:
You can also make this recipe in the slow cooker or on the stove top.
- Image 1 shows the soup in the crockpot before cooking.
- Image 2 shows the potato soup on the stovetop after it has cooked, but before it’s blended. Image 3 shows the potato soup in the blender.
P.S. – If you love crockpot recipes, check out these 45 Healthy Crockpot Recipes!
And if you love creamy soups, you have to try this Healthy Broccoli Soup – it’s so good!
SUBSTITUTIONS FOR DAIRY FREE POTATO SOUP
There are MANY substitutions for this recipe which is what we like about it. It’s easily adaptable to your own diet/needs.
Milk: You can use any milk you’d like in this recipe. Canned coconut milk is higher in fat, which mimics the taste/texture of heavy cream which is typically used in potato soup. The coconut milk does not taste like coconut, but if you’re worried about that or you don’t have it on hand you can use almond milk, light coconut milk, skim milk, whole milk, or even heavy cream will work in this recipe.
Potatoes – You can use any potatoes in this recipe, red, baby, russet, and yellow will all work.
Peeling potatoes – You don’t have to peel the potatoes in this recipe. I prefer them without the skins, but if you prefer them with the skins on – keep them on!
Veggies– Feel free to add or omit more onions, celery or carrots to this recipe. Cauliflower would also be a great addition! If you like a veggie packed soup, try our Cauliflower Soup recipe. If you like leeks, try our Potato Leek Soup!
Blender- You can use an immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor to make this potato soup creamy.
To make soup chunkier – To make this soup chunkier, I recommend only pureeing some of it. You can mash some of the potatoes directly in the pot, and puree the rest. Stir the puree in with the chunks.
Herbs – If you don’t have fresh rosemary you can use 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary. If you don’t like rosemary, you can also use thyme or parsley.
Broth – You can make this with bone broth, vegetable broth, or chicken broth/beef broth – any broth will work. I would recommend looking for low sodium
Ham – Many people enjoy ham in their potato soup. We have a Ham & Potato Soup Recipe or you can add ham to this after pureeing it.
Best Potatoes for Soup
You can use any potato for potato soup. Red, baby, russet, and yellow will all work. I like to make this soup with red potatoes or russet potatoes.
Russet potatoes have the highest starch content in potatoes, which makes them thicken up considerably. If you love a thick, hearty bowl of potato soup – russets are your best bet.
If you prefer a creamier, lighter texture potato soup – yukon gold or red potatoes are probably a better option
Tips for the best vegan potato soup:
Cut your potatoes small – Regardless of whether you make this in the instant pot, crockpot or stove top – you’ll want to make your potatoes small. The smaller they are, the quicker they will cook! You don’t want to have huge chunks of potatoes that take too long to cook.
Thicker soup – if you prefer thicker soup, you can leave some of the potatoes out rather than blending. Blend 3/4 of the mixture and stir in the remaining 1/4 of thicker chunks.
Get a food processor – This will make chopping your carrots, onion and celery SO simple.
Get a good vegetable peeler– If you are going to peel your potatoes – having a good peeler helps! This vegetable peeler is my favorite.
How to store potato soup:
How long does this healthy potato soup last? This soup will last for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Reheating: You can reheat this potato soup in a pot or in the microwave.
Can potato soup be frozen? Yes it can! Store your potato soup in an airtight containers. I love these containers for freezing leftovers!
When you’re ready to eat, defrost the night before by leaving this in the fridge, or take out of the refrigerator and heat over the stove/in the microwave.
Separation is normal and ok! Just stir it up. We have a whole post on the best way to freeze soup!
Can potato soup be canned? I have not tried canning this soup. I’d check out this post and do your own research on whether canning this soup is safe.
Toppings for Skinny Potato Soup:
There really is no wrong way for how to serve this potato soup. We love it with a loaf of crusty bread, or with a side of some veggies and chicken for a more balanced meal.
Here are some of our favorite healthy potato soup toppings:
- Bacon – Regular or turkey bacon both work!
- Chives
- Cheddar Cheese
- Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt
- Cracked Black Pepper
- Crackers
We hope you love this healthy baked potato soup as much as we do. It’s truly the ultimate comfort food, no matter how you enjoy it! Get creative and make sure to tag us and share the recipe if you try it!
Tips for blending hot soup:
You can blend this soup with an immersion blender, regular blender, or even a food processor.
Make sure to be very careful when blending soup in a regular blender. If you are blending hot soup, it can lead the blender to steam up or build pressure which can result in the top popping off. To avoid that, here are our tips for blending hot soup in a regular blender.
Allow the soup to cool for a few minutes if you can. It’s best not to take this right off the stove/instant pot/crockpot and put it in the blender. Give it a few minutes uncovered/off heat to release some steam.
Blend the soup in batches. It’s probably best to divide this in half and blend it 1/2 the batch at a time. By doing this you’re leaving room in the blender for the soup to move around.
Remove the center cover from the blender and cover with a towel instead. Most blender tops have a removable plastic piece in the center. Take this center piece out and put a clean dish towel over the opening while blending. (You don’t want soup on the ceiling!). Doing this allows the steam to vent out and prevents pressure from building up in the blender. Make sure to hold your hand over the dish towel to avoid it from moving/splattering.
Healthy Potato Soup FAQ
Fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, and sage add flavor to potato soup. You can also add Italian seasoning, more pepper, hot pepper flakes or cheese. This soup is flavorful on it’s own so you don’t need to worry about this!
No need to boil your potatoes before adding them to the soup. In this recipe the potatoes cook right in the broth and get blended. It’s all in one pot!
To thicken potato soup soup I add 1/4 cup of flour to a bowl and scoop out about 1 cup of liquid from the soup pot. Whisk the flour and broth mixture together until it’s a thick paste like consistency. Stir it into the soup and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, stirring continually.. You can add more flour directly to the pot and stir it in if necessary.
More Healthy Soup Recipes:
Looking for other soup recipes? Check out these 40+ Healthy Soup Recipes. Click here to grab our free healthy soup cookbook.
Healthy Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup onions diced
- 1 cup carrots diced
- ½ cup celery diced
- 4 cups potatoes peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces (about 1 lb or 5-6 medium sized potatoes)
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary chopped finely
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups milk of choice
Instructions
Instant Pot Directions:
- Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode for 15 minutes. Heat olive oil. While oil is heating, chop veggies.
- Sauté onions, carrots, and celery until onions are translucent. Turn off sauté mode. Make sure to scrape off any pieces of food on the bottom of the Instant Pot or you will get a burn notice during cooking.
- Pour in remaining ingredients, except milk.
- Set the Instant Pot to sealing, pressure cook for 10 minutes on high pressure. It will take about 10 minutes for the pot to come to pressure before it starts to count down.
- Manually release pressure when timer goes off.
- Stir in milk. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to make the soup smooth. Serve with your favorite toppings like bacon, chives or cheese.
Crockpot Directions:
- In a sauté pan, heat olive oil. While oil is heating, chop veggies.
- Sauté onions, carrots, and celery until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. (This step is optional, but adds flavor)
- Add all ingredients into the crockpot, except milk.
- Set the crockpot to cook for 6 hours on high, or 8 hours on low.
- Once cooked, stir in milk. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to make the soup smooth. Serve with your favorite toppings like bacon, chives or cheese.
Stove Top Directions:
- In a large pot, heat olive oil. While oil is heating, chop veggies.
- Sauté onions, carrots, and celery until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes
- Add all remaining ingredients, except milk.
- Bring the soup to a boil. Allow it to boil for 30 minutes, or until your potatoes are fork tender.
- Once cooked, stir in milk. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to make the soup smooth. Serve with your favorite toppings like bacon, chives or cheese.
Video
Notes
- Milk: You can use any milk you’d like in this recipe. Canned coconut milk is higher in fat, which mimics the taste/texture of heavy cream which is typically used in potato soup. The coconut milk does not taste like coconut, but if you’re worried about that or you don’t have it on hand you can use almond milk, light coconut milk, skim milk, whole milk, or even heavy cream will work in this recipe.
- Potatoes – You can use any potatoes in this recipe, red, baby, russet, and yellow will all work.
- Peeling potatoes – You don’t have to peel the potatoes in this recipe. I prefer them without the skins, but if you prefer them with the skins on – keep them on!
- Veggies– Feel free to add or omit more onions, celery or carrots to this recipe. Cauliflower would also be a great addition!
- Blender – You can use an immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor to make this potato soup creamy.
- To make soup chunkier – To make this soup chunkier, I recommend only pureeing some of it. You can mash some of the potatoes directly in the pot, and puree the rest. Stir the puree in with the chunks.
- Herbs – If you don’t have fresh rosemary you can use 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary. If you don’t like rosemary, you can also use thyme or parsley.
amy says
We are on a healthier track and this one is a staple. It is easy and delicious. I use no salt added broth and 2% milk. Definitely worth making. I do it on the stovetop and use a blender. I like that there are directions for different methods. A certified hit at my house.