Loaded Potato Soup with Crispy Potato Skins

I made this creamy loaded potato soup in the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender because it's so easy and hands off, but no worries if you don't have the blender. I'll go over how to make it stove-top or in the pressure cooker.

Potato soup is is super easy to make and this one is especially delicious because of a few ingredient that I add to really boost the flavor. It's a big bowl of velvety potato soup with all the fixings!

Including crispy potato strips made from the skins of the potatoes right in the air fryer. They are a game changer!

Frequently Asked Questions

Ingredients & Substitutions

Potatoes

I recommend Russet potatoes if using the blender or for other cooking methods, you can use either all Russets or a combination of Russets and any other potatoes you like. Personally, when I'm making a potato soup that is chunky, I like the combination of Russets and Yukon Gold because the Russets create the creamy base and the Yukon Gold hold their shape a little better and the chunks are small, but definitely noticeable.

You can even use the small white or red potatoes and leave the skins on for a more rustic-style potato soup with potato chunks. I would still use some Russet potatoes, though, for the creamy texture since new potatoes are waxy potatoes.

Feel free to use leftover baked potatoes and make a loaded baked potato soup by adding all the ingredients to a soup pot and warming them and mashing them by hand. Leftover baked potatoes make a wonderful homemade potato soup.

While I prefer fresh potatoes when making cream of potato soup, you can also use canned potatoes.

Bacon

I use Applewood smoked thick-cut bacon in this loaded potato soup recipe, but you can use any type of bacon that you like. If you are using thin bacon, I would increase to 2 slices. You can also omit the bacon, but you may need to adjust the seasonings, especially the salt.

You can also use turkey bacon, if you prefer.

Onion & Green Onions

I used a sweet onion in this recipe, but you can use a yellow onion or even a red onion (your soup might have a pink tint, though) or simply omit the onion. If you don't plan on topping your potato soup with green onions, then just skip the white part of the green onion in the soup altogether.

Roasted Garlic

The roasted garlic in this recipe imparts such a great flavor that I urge you to try it, however if you want to use raw garlic, only use 1-2 cloves and mince or chop them and sauté them with the onion and butter.

Here is the recipe for the Roasted Garlic: Roasted Garlic in the Ninja Foodi

Chicken Stock

I used chicken stock in this recipe, but you can use vegetable stock if you wanted to keep it vegetarian or even water would work, but if using water you may need to adjust the seasonings.

Heavy Cream & Butter

Heavy Cream is going to work best in this recipe if you want a thick and creamy soup; however, you can use whole milk if you prefer. I would only add enough to get the consistency you want. Since milk is thinner, you may not want to add as much. I don't recommend using skim or 2% milk because it will be pretty thin.

You could also skip the cream and use cream cheese in your potato soup for a thicker soup. Sour cream or Greek yogurt would also work, but make sure you add them at the end and just stir them in.

For non-dairy options, you can use coconut milk, but this will impart a different flavor into your soup. Personally, I would skip the dairy and not replace it. To make the soup the soup a little thicker without dairy, you could use a cornstarch slurry. You would still have a creamy broth, but the color of the soup will not be cream-colored.

I used salted butter to sauté the onions, but you can use any oil you like or skip this step and just throw the onions in with the potatoes to cook OR if you are using crispy bacon to top your soup, you can replace the butter with 1-2 Tablespoons of bacon grease.

Seasonings

I kept this recipe very simple, only using salt and black pepper to season it. However, you can get creative and add different seasonings to create your own original recipe. Some ideas are:

• Fresh or dried thyme leaves
• cajun spice
• hot pepper flakes
• nutmeg

Toppings

Now for the fun part! You can top your loaded potato soup with anything you like and omit what you don't like.

I used crispy bacon pieces that I fried up, but you can use bacon bits if you'd like.

I also used shredded cheese and I tried a new cheese, Dubliner by Kerrygold, and it was fantastic in this recipe! The flavor is like a cross between a cheddar and a parmesan cheese -- it's delicious! You can also use a mild or sharp cheddar cheese or, if you like spicy, try it with a pepper jack cheese!

The green part of the green onion adds a nice texture to the soup, but is totally optional.

What I really hope you will try are the crispy potato skin strips. They are amazing and add a nice crunch to the soup.

You can really get creative and use your favorite toppings.

How to Make Crispy Potato Peels in an Air Fryer

I will NEVER throw my potato peels away again! Not only do these crispy potato peels make a great topping for potato soup, they are also a great little snack! I like them better than potato chips!

Make sure to keep your potato peels in cold water until you are going to air crisp/ air fry them or they will turn brown.

Preheat your air fryer on its hottest setting with the basket (or whatever you are going to cook the potato peels on) in for a full 10 minutes.

Pat the skins dry and spritz with oil of your choice. I prefer canola or avocado oil because they don't impart any flavor. Season the strips lightly with salt and pepper (optional) and place them in the air fryer basket.

Air crisp or air fry on 360°F/180°C for 10 minutes. Make sure to toss them around and separate the peels every 2 minutes so they get evenly crispy. Allow to cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy!

How to Make Loaded Potato Soup on the Stove

Peel and dice the potatoes into small pieces -- about 1" cubes. Put the potato peels into cold water if you want to air crisp them for a topping. Roast the garlic. Chop the white part of the green onions, if using. Dice the sweet or yellow onion into a small dice about ½". Dice the celery into small pieces

In a large pot, sauté the onions and celery with butter over medium heat until the onions are translucent in color. If you are making crispy bacon for your toppings, you can use the bacon grease instead of butter.

Add in the bacon slices (keep them whole), diced potatoes, seasonings, chicken stock, roasted garlic and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender (about 10-15 minutes).

Turn the heat off and remove the strips of bacon and discard (you can leave them in if you are using a high-speed blender). Mash the potatoes up until the soup is the consistency you like. You can do this with a hand masher, immersion blender, hand mixer or let the soup cool and use a regular blender.

Add in the cream and stir. If the soup is too thick, add a little more chicken stock or cream until it is the consistency you like.

Serve with your favorite toppings.

How to Make Potato Soup in a Slow Cooker or Crock Pot

Peel and dice the potatoes into small pieces -- about 1" cubes. Put the potato peels into cold water if you want to air crisp them for a topping. Roast the garlic. Chop the white part of the green onions, if using. Dice the sweet or yellow onion into a small dice about ½". Dice the celery into small pieces.

Sauté the onions and celery with butter over medium heat until the onions are translucent in color. If you are making crispy bacon for your toppings, you can use the bacon grease instead of butter. Add the onions to the slow cooker.

Add in the bacon slices (keep them whole), diced potatoes, seasonings, chicken stock, roasted garlic, and cream. Slow cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Due to the longer cooking time (more evaporation), I would add in a little more chicken stock, maybe another ½ cup or so.

Remove the slices of bacon and discard.

When the potatoes are nice and soft, you can mash them with a potato masher or for a creamy potato soup without chunks, use an immersion blender.

Serve with your favorite toppings.

How to Make Loaded Potato Soup in a Pressure Cooker

Peel and dice the potatoes into small pieces -- about 2" cubes (leave them larger if you want a chunky potato soup). Put the potato peels into cold water if you want to air crisp them for a topping. Roast the garlic. Chop the white part of the green onions if using. Dice the sweet or yellow onion into a small dice about ½". Chop the celery into small pieces.

In the inner pot, sauté the onions and celery with butter over medium heat until they are translucent in color. If you are making crispy bacon for your toppings, you can use the bacon grease instead of butter.

Add in the bacon slices (keep them whole), diced potatoes, seasonings, 1½ cups of chicken stock (the amount is reduced due to less evaporation when pressure cooking), and roasted garlic. Put the pressure lid on and turn the valve to seal.

Pressure cook on high for 2 minutes with a 5 minute natural release. If you are doubling or tripling the recipe, extend the natural release to 10 minutes.

Remove the strips of bacon (and discard) and mash the potatoes up until the soup is the consistency you like. You can do this with a hand masher, immersion blender, hand mixer or let the soup cool and use a regular blender. Use a hand masher or this mix 'n mash tool for a chunkier soup.

Add in the cream and stir. If the soup is too thick, add a little more chicken stock or cream until it is the consistency you like.

Serve with your favorite toppings.

How to Make Loaded Potato Soup in the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender

This is my favorite way to make this recipe because the blender does all the work! It's the perfect way to make a small batch of potato soup. The prep is minimal and you have piping hot soup in 30 minutes.

Roast the garlic if using. Chop the bacon into small pieces so it cooks and blends during the hearty soup function and extract function.

Dice the white part of the green onions (if using) and add to the blender pitcher. Put the butter, roughly chopped sweet or yellow onion, celery pieces, and chopped bacon in the pitcher of the blender and hit the sauté function. If you want to use minced garlic (1-2 cloves) add them with the onions and celery.

After the sauté function does the chopping, you may need to scrape down the sides of the pitcher to get the vegetables back down into the bottom of the blender. I like to use this long skinny scraper from Pampered Chef. Make sure to remove the lid and not just the center so the blades don't spin while doing this. Hit the sauté function when done to resume the program.

While that is running, peel and chop your potatoes into large pieces. Put the skins in cold water if you want to make the crispy potato skins for a topping.

When the sauté function is complete, add the remaining ingredients except the cream and select the hearty soup function.

When the hearty soup function is complete, add the cream and select the extract function to puree the soup into a smooth and velvety potato soup. If you don't have the extract function, use the smoothie function.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top with your favorite toppings.

Serve & Enjoy!