Instant Pot Potato Soup
This Instant Pot Potato Soup is a hearty dinner that comes together in about half an hour with the help of your pressure cooker! It’s like a baked potato in soup form.
Instant Pot Potato Soup recipe
On chilly evenings, there are two comforting things that make dinner more cozy: soup and baked potatoes.
But why not have both? This Instant Pot Potato Soup is a delicious and easy winter soup that tastes just like a baked potato. You can pile it high with your favorite toppings, like bacon, sour cream, chives and more.
This isn’t your grandma’s baked potato soup. This recipe has a rich flavor base, and it’s thick, hearty and filling, while still full of veggies. The toppings make it so customizable for everyone dining with you.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This is going to be your new favorite reason to love your Instant Pot! Here’s what I love about it:
- With chunks of diced potatoes in every bite, this soup is substantial and satisfying. Potatoes provide a comforting, hearty element to the dish, making it a perfect choice for a cozy meal.
- Baked potato soup is usually made on a stovetop, but the Instant Pot significantly reduces the cooking time. In just 30 minutes, you can have a delicious, homemade soup ready to serve.
- It’s a convenient dinner option for busy weeknights, lazy weekends and chilly weather.
Ingredients
Add these items to your shopping list to make this recipe. You might have a lot of them in your pantry already!
- Canola oil
- Yellow onion
- Garlic cloves
- Chicken broth
- Gold potatoes
- Salt
- Dried thyme
- Dried oregano
- Black pepper
- Sour cream
- Shredded cheddar cheese
Baked potato soup toppings
This soup is so much more fun with lots of toppings. We like to set up a baked potato bar, of sorts, complete with bowls of everyone’s favorites. Here are some ideas to add to your soup:
- Chives
- Green onion
- Cooked bacon
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream or Greek yogurt
- Sliced jalapeños for a spicy kick
- Crispy fried onions
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Chopped fresh parsley
- Drizzle of hot sauce
- Crumbled blue cheese
- Crumbled tortilla chips or potato chips
Substitutions
Healthy swaps: If you want a leaner soup, go for vegetable broth, low-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, a lighter oil like avocado oil and stick to veggie toppings like chives and green onion.
Vegetarian options: Stick to vegetable broth and skip the bacon on top, or use a vegan bacon substitute.
Vegan options: Follow all the vegetarian steps above. Use cashew cream, soy yogurt or another sour cream substitute instead of the sour cream. For the cheese, add nutritional yeast.
Instructions
Hungry yet? Let’s get into this recipe for Instant Pot Potato Soup! Here’s how to make it:
First, dice all your potatoes and onions. Get all your ingredients ready to dump into the Instant Pot, then it goes very quickly from there.
Set Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Add oil to the insert. Once hot, add onion and cook, stirring occasionally. Cook until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in garlic, cooking for another minute or so, until fragrant.
Pour in the chicken broth. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the insert.
Stir in the diced potatoes, salt, thyme, oregano, and black pepper. Turn off Instant Pot.
Cook on High pressure for 10 minutes. Quick release (or manually release) pressure at the end of cooking. Remove the lid.
Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.
Stir in sour cream and cheddar cheese until melted. Stir in chives. Taste and season with salt and pepper, as desired.
Serve in bowls. Garnish as desired with sliced green onion, chopped crispy bacon, and shredded cheddar cheese.
Tips & Tricks
- Try to dice the potatoes into uniform 1-inch pieces. This ensures even cooking throughout the soup and prevents some pieces from being undercooked while others are mushy.
- Take your time sautéing the onions and garlic at the beginning of the recipe. This step allows the onions to caramelize, enhancing their sweetness, and develops the garlic’s aroma, which contributes to the overall flavor profile of the soup.
- An immersion blender works better than a regular blender, which can make mashed potatoes very gluey. However, a blender can also be used to lightly puree the cooked potato mixture after pressure cooking. Depending on the size of your blender, you may have to work in batches.
FAQ
Absolutely! Simply use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, and substitute vegan sour cream and vegan cheddar cheese for the dairy options listed in the recipe.
While you can freeze this soup, the texture of the dairy and the potatoes may change slightly upon thawing, becoming slightly grainy. However, the flavor will still be delicious. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Instant Pot Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 2 1/2 pounds gold potatoes about 15 to 18 potatoes, washed and diced into 1-inch pieces
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoon fresh
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 teaspoon fresh
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 8 ounces sour cream
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 3 teaspoon freshly chopped chives
- garnishes such as sliced green onion, chopped cooked bacon, shredded cheddar
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to Sauté. Add oil to the insert. Once hot, add onion and cook, stirring occasionally. Cook until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in garlic, cooking for another minute or so, until fragrant.
- Pour in chicken broth. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the insert.
- Stir in diced potatoes, salt, thyme, oregano, and black pepper. Turn off Sauté mode.
- Cook on High pressure for 10 minutes. Quick release (or manually release) pressure at the end of cooking.
- Remove the lid. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.
- Stir in sour cream and cheddar cheese, stirring until melted. Stir in chives.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper, as desired.
- Serve in bowls. Garnish as desired with sliced green onion, chopped crispy bacon, and shredded cheddar cheese.
