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4.98 from 36 votes

Instant Pot Potato Soup

Easy to make Instant Pot Potato Soup with few pantry ingredients. Silky smooth, rich, and creamy potato soup loaded with flavors. A tasty loaded baked potato soup that warms your heart.
Servings 6 - 8
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ pound (680g) Yukon gold potatoes , chunked
  • ½ pound (226g) small red potatoes , chunked
  • 6 slices (215g) bacon , chopped
  • 1 (232g) medium onion , diced
  • 6 cloves (30g) garlic , minced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 cups (1L) unsalted chicken stock
  • Optional: 2 tablespoons (30ml) fish sauce
  • 1 cup (250ml) heavy cream
  • Salt & ground black pepper to taste

Garnish

  • 2 stalks green onions , chopped
  • Optional: freshly grated parmesan cheese/medium cheddar cheese

Instructions

  • Crisp Bacon: Add 6 slices of bacon or chopped bacon in Instant Pot, then heat up Instant Pot using Sauté More function. Stir occasionally and allow the bacon to crisp. Remove bacon from Instant Pot, then place them on a paper towel to absorb the excess fat.
    Amy + Jacky's Tips! We're using Instant Pot’s preheating heat to render and crisp the bacon. No need to add oil because bacon has a lot of fat.
  • Saute Onions and Garlic: Add diced onion in the bacon fat, then saute until soften (~2 mins). Add in minced garlic and 2 bay leaves, then saute for another minute.
  • Deglaze: Pour ½ cup (125ml) unsalted chicken stock in Instant Pot, then deglaze by scrubbing all the flavorful brown bits off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
  • Pressure Cook Potato Soup: Add in potato chunks, 2 tbsp (30ml) fish sauce, and 3½ cups (875ml) unsalted chicken stock. Give it a quick mix.
    With Venting Knob in Venting Position, close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position. Pressure cook at High Pressure for 3 minutes, then Natural Release for 15 minutes. Carefully open the lid.
  • Blend & Season: Find and discard the bay leaves.
    Chunky Potato Soup Tips: If you want a chunky potato soup, remove and set aside some potato chunks from Instant Pot before blending the soup. Then, add the potato chunks back into the soup after blending.
    Blend potato soup into desired consistency with an immersion hand blender. Add 1 cup (250ml) of heavy cream, then stir to combine it with potato soup.
    Taste the soup and season with more salt. For reference, we added 3 large pinches of kosher salt.
  • Garnish & Serve Potato Soup: Garnish soup with crisp bacon bits, freshly grated medium cheddar cheese, freshly grated parmesan cheese, and green onions. You can season soup with some black pepper. Enjoy~

Notes

1. Types of Potatoes: Different types of potatoes have different starch and moisture content. So if you're substituting with other types of potatoes, it'll affect the thickness and textures of the soup, remember to adjust accordingly.
2. How to Thicken Potato Soup: You can thicken the soup further by using Instant Pot's Saute function or add in your preferred thickener.
3. Crispy Bacon:
  • In order to cook the meat and fat evenly, crispy and not burnt, place them in the cold pot before turning on the heat. Then, let the heat slowly render out the pork fat.
  • It’s important to absorb the bacon’s excess fat with paper towel after sauteing. This helps crisp up the umami bacon bits!
4. Fish Sauce: Fish sauce is not a traditional potato soup ingredient. So we're keeping it optional for this recipe. But it'll add a kick of tasty umami to this soup. Don’t worry! A high-quality fish sauce won't make your soup tastes fishy! This Red Boat 40N Fish Sauce is still our favorite. Three Crabs Brand Fish Sauce is another solid choice.
5. Heavy Cream: It enriches the soup's flavor and adds a silky mouthfeel to the soup. You can substitute it with half and half or whole milk.
6. Unsalted Chicken Stock: If you’re substituting with salted chicken stock, keep in mind that the sodium level can vary a lot between different brands. Always taste and adjust accordingly.
Rate Amy + Jacky's Recipe: If you've tried our recipe, rate the recipe in the Comments section. Thank you!
Author: Amy + Jacky
Calories: 320kcal

Nutrition

Calories: 320kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 240mg | Potassium: 722mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 475IU | Vitamin C: 16.2mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 3.5mg