Baked Potato Soup
This slimmed down version of a loaded baked potato soup has everything you love about a baked potato – sour cream, cheddar, bacon and chives, at a fraction of the calories!
Baked Potato Soup
It’s also easy to make, it takes less than 20 minutes for a creamy, delicious homemade soup the whole family will love.
This has been one of my most popular soup recipes since I first shared in 2011. I had gotten a request to make over traditional baked potato soup (You really like to challenge me, don’t you!) and was a little stumped on how I was going to take something as carb-rich as potatoes, with added fat like sour cream, cheese and bacon, light!
I knew I had to hide a vegetable in this soup to bulk it up without added calories. My first attempt was parsnips, but the flavor was too overwhelming. My second attempt was cauliflower, knowing how much you all love my Creamy cauliflower puree recipe and it was a winner. It really feels like you’re eating a loaded baked potato, without all the guilt. This would also be great topped with broccoli and cheese if you prefer to forgo the bacon.
How Do You Make a Creamy Potato Soup?
In this recipe, I baked the potato in the microwave, then added it to my broth with the vegetables and pureed it. You can use an immersion blender or a regular blender, just be careful not to fill it too much so it doesn’t splatter.
You can see more Soup Recipes here!

Baked Potato Soup
This slimmed down version of a loaded baked potato soup has everything you love about a baked potato – sour cream, cheddar, bacon and chives, at a fraction of the calories!
Ingredients:
- 2 medium russet potatoes, washed and dried
- 1 small head of cauliflower (3 1/2 cups or 16 ounces), stem removed cut into florets
- 1 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups 1% reduced-fat milk
- salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 cup light sour cream
- 10 tbsp reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 6 tbsp chopped chives, divided
- 3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (you can use turkey bacon if you prefer)
Directions:
- Pierce potatoes with a fork; microwave on high for 5 minutes turn over and microwave another 3 – 5 minutes, until tender. Or if you prefer to use your oven, bake at 400F for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes.
- Meanwhile, steam cauliflower with water in a large covered pot until tender. Drain and return to pot.
- On medium heat, add chicken broth, milk, potatoes and bring to a boil.
- Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. Add sour cream, half the chives, salt and pepper and cook on low another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat. Ladle 1 cup soup into each bowl.
- Top each serving with 2 tbsp cheese, remaining chives, and bacon.
Nutrition Information
Yield: 5 servings, Serving Size: 1 cup
- Amount Per Serving:
- Freestyle Points: 5
- Points +: 5
- Calories: 200 calories
- Total Fat: 7g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Cholesterol: 17mg
- Sodium: 323mg
- Carbohydrates: 23g
- Fiber: 3.5g
- Sugar: 6g
- Protein: 14g
I’ve seen a few recipes, this one included that call for medium potatoes- what would you say are the ounces I should shoot for to be considered medium?
I found this:
Medium potato: 2 to 3″ in diameter, 5-8oz (140-225g)
Large potato: 3 to 4.25″ in diameter, 8-12oz (225-340g)
Excited to try this recipe! Can I use riced cauliflower??
Yum, this soup was amazing! OK, so maybe I’m the first to comment about using all potatoes and skipping the cauliflower, but I just cannot handle the odor from cauliflower. It turns my stomach. I added more potatoes. so yes, the WW points are higher, but I had room in my day and its worked. Back to the soup, it was flavorful and smooth like velvet. I also added 1 small white onion, sauteed it slowly while my potatoes cooked in the microwave, added my potatoes to the pot with onions and added my chicken broth. I covered and cooked those for a bit before adding the milk and processing it in my Ninja blender. Once it was out I added the light sour cream and served. Perfect fall dinner!
I’m glad you said something about the cauliflower because I am the same way about it.
Can you use plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
Very good and easy to make! My family thought it was filling and very satisfying . The cauliflower was not at all overpowering. ☺
I’m wondering the same thing…did you try the greek yogurt in it? thanks, michelle
I always do. Can’t tell the difference. I actually use it any time her recipes call for sour cream.
I have made this soup several times over the years and it is my FAVORITE. I look forward to Fall every year so I can make this. It’s one of my favorite go-to recipes.
This soup is amazing! I even had a bowl of it for BREAKFAST!
How could this be done in the instapot?
I am wondering the same thing! 🙂
So tasty! I modified in that I do not use low fat diary, so all were subbed with full fat versions. Also, I added in the cheese instead of leaving it as a topping and also slightly browned the potato & cauliflower in remaining bacon grease. Very yummy!
I’m not sure what I did wrong but I found this to not have a lot of flavor and it tasted more like cauliflower soup than potato. Maybe my potatoes weren’t big enough or I used too much cauliflower. I would like to try again because of all the positive reviews, I’m just not sure where I went wrong.
same problem for me 🙁
Hi there!!
Was wondering if you could recommend a good immersion blender? I see that you use one a lot in your recipes! Thanks in advance!
Jenn
I have a Kitchen Aid.
This soup is AMAZING! One of our favorites for the colder months. I aways make a double batch but also like it with potato chunks so I use 8 potatoes instead of 2 (higher calories, yes). I am too impatient for baking the potatoes so I peel and chop the potatoes then boil them in 2 separate batches, the puréed bunch a bit longer then just throw the whole chunks in at the end. I don’t see any difference in flavor and speeds it up a bit. Love love love this soup ( along with most other skinny taste recipes I’ve made!)
Thanks Hannah!
Can this soup be frozen?
So good! This got a 10 from my whole family. Made as written, except I didn’t have any sour cream, tasted great without it! Thank you so much for all your amazing recipes!
What if you don’t have an immersion blender or a regular blender? Can you use a food processor?
Yes, I use my regular blender because I don’t have an immersion blender.
Another winner from Skinnytaste. This is so good and EASY (took me less than an hour start to finish and I am not the most experienced cook). The only potatoes I had on hand were Yukon Gold which I think have a less strong flavor but it is still very yummy .
I love cauliflower in place of potatoes, but fresh cauliflower around here is sooooo expensive. I can get frozen cauliflower much cheaper. Has anyone subbed frozen for fresh in this receipe?
I do every time. I just use 2 large frozen bags of cauli florets. Saves a lot of money for us!!
Hi Gina! I have been a huge fan of your recipes for years! This recipe was so delicious! You have definitely helped me stay on ww with such delicious recipes! I have one question for this recipe. I want to make a double batch and freeze for easy meals. Do you think this soup would be ok to freeze? Thanks in advance,Kathy
Sure!
Hi Gina! I have been a huge fan of your recipes for years! This recipe was so delicious! You have definitely helped me stay on ww with such delicious recipes! I have one question for this recipe. I want to make a double batch and freeze for easy meals. Do you think this soup would be ok to freeze? Thanks in advance,Kathy
When I put this recipe into my WW recipe creator, I’m getting 7 freestyle points. What are you all doing to get 5?
Whats your breakdown
I get 7, too…
10 points for the potatoes, 7 for the milk, 9 for the sour cream, 7 for the cheese, 1 for the turkey bacon. I wonder if it’s the cheese???
Can we get an Instant Pot version of this? I feel like it would be faster to make using IP.
Do you have instructions for making this in the IP?