Instant Pot Potato Soup | The Best Loaded Potato Soup Recipe

Instant Pot Potato Soup is a family-friendly soup perfect for cooler weather! Grab a few pantry staples to make this easy soup recipe that is hearty and delicious.

Why You’re Going To Fall In Love With This Soup

• Fast. Ready in under 30 minutes for a quick weeknight meal.
• Easy. A simple pour and cook recipe that is easy enough for the kids to help with.
• Versatile. Make this loaded potato soup as loaded with your favorite ingredients as your heart desires.
• Budget-friendly. Packed with cheap and easy to find ingredients, this Instant Pot Potato Soup is sure to be on your weekly dinner rotation.

Ingredients To Grab

• Frozen Cubed Potatoes– You’ll find these in the frozen potato section of your local grocery store next to the french fries. They may be labeled Southern Style Hashbrowns depending on which brand you grab.
• Ham– You can use leftover ham from your Sunday dinner or holiday meal. If you don’t have leftover ham, grab a bag of precooked cubed ham from the grocery store. It packs just as much protein per bite.
• Bacon– The addition of bacon truly makes this potato soup loaded. Double protein along with the extra flavor of the bacon grease makes every bite a flavor bomb.
• Chicken Broth– This is the thin liquid that helps create pressure inside the Instant Pot.
• Heavy Cream– Gives the potato soup the traditional creamy texture and helps thicken it.
• Velveeta– If you know me, you know I love my Velveeta. It melts like a dream and is an easy way to thicken a cream sauce–plus it gives a massive punch of cheese flavor without being overly expensive.
• Cream Cheese– A perfectly tangy flavor that counteracts the saltiness of the ham and bacon.
• Salt
• Pepper
• Nutmeg

How To Make Instant Pot Potato Soup

Step 1: Cook the bacon. Select “Saute” on your Instant Pot. Once the pan is hot, spray the liner with nonstick spray and place the bacon in the Instant Pot liner. Stir it frequently until the bacon is crisp. Turn off the Instant Pot and remove the bacon from the Pot. If you want to cut back on some of the calories, you can remove some of the bacon grease from the pot with a paper towel, but feel free to leave it all in for extra flavor.

Step 2: Deglaze the pan and add potatoes. Pour the chicken broth into the Instant Pot liner and use a silicone spatula to remove any bits of bacon that may be stuck to the bottom of the pot. Pour in the potatoes, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Step 3: Cook the Instant Pot Potato Soup. Place the lid on your Instant Pot and cook for 1 minute under high pressure. When the cooking time is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, and then release all remaining pressure.

Step 4: Stir in the remaining ingredients. Turn the Instant Pot back to “Saute” and add in the heavy cream, cubed Velveeta cheese, and cream cheese. Stir and warm the soup until it is bubbly and all of the Velveeta and cream cheese are melted.

Step 5: Serve. Ladle the Instant Pot Potato Soup into a bowl and top with your favorite garnishes.

Tips And Variations

• Skip the cheese. If you prefer the flavor of your potato soup without cheese, you can always omit the Velveeta. This will make the soup a bit thinner. Use my trick for making your Potato Soup thicker below.
• Make it Vegetarian. Looking for another filling dinner for your next Meatless Monday? Skip the ham and bacon and double the amount of potatoes. This recipe is a cheap and easy way to feed a crowd or a large family.
• Use fresh potatoes. If you are trying to use items that you already have in your pantry, you can use fresh Russet potatoes. Peel them and dice them into 1/2″ cubes. Increase the cooking time to 3 minutes with a 10 minute natural release.
• Add veggies. Who says that you can’t have veggies and comfort food all in one bite? Add in some broccoli, cauliflower, or onion for a little more flavor or nutritional value.

How Do You Make Potato Soup Thicker?

With the use of both Velveeta cheese and heavy cream in this recipe, you likely won’t need any help getting this soup to the lush thick consistency of your old favorite potato soup recipe. If you are ready to serve your soup and want it just a little bit thicker, it’s a breeze to do so without any additional ingredients.

All you need to do to thicken this Instant Pot Potato Soup is use the back of a spoon and gently smash half of the potatoes in your Instant Pot liner. Stir the soup so that the smashed potatoes are incorporated in every serving, and enjoy.

What Goes Well With Loaded Potato Soup?

If you ask me, more potato soup. I’m only joking–kind of. This Instant Pot Potato Soup recipe is so good, you don’t need to serve anything with it for it to feel like a complete meal. If you’re trying to stretch this recipe to feed a few extra mouths or just want to offer a little more on the dinner table, here are some of my favorite things to eat alongside it:

• Garlic Bread
• Naan
• Grilled Cheese Sandwich
• Saltines

How To Store And Reheat

Instant Pot Potato soup is one of my favorite meal prep recipes. It stores well and reheats even better. If you place it in an airtight container, you can expect it to stay just as good (if not better) as the day you made it for up to 5 days after it is prepared.

To reheat this Loaded Potato Soup, just pour it back into your Instant Pot liner, press saute, add an additional cup of water or chicken broth, and stir frequently until it comes to a boil.

More Tasty Instant Pot Recipes

Love how quick and easy this Instant Pot Potato Soup is to make? Try a few of these other super simple recipes you can make in your electric pressure cooker.

• Instant Pot Tortellini Soup
• Spaghetti and Meatballs
• Instant Pot Chicken Enchiladas

If you love this Instant Pot Potato Soup, make sure you share the recipe with your friends so they can try it too! Don’t forget to save the recipe on Pinterest so you can make your new favorite Loaded Potato Soup recipe over and over again.