This easy and delicious creamy potato soup is loaded with flavor, bacon, and hearty chunks of potatoes too. It’s the perfect comfort food on cold winter nights! It’s dairy-free, Whole30 compliant and paleo friendly.
Is there anything cozier on a cold winter night than a creamy soup? I’m calling it winter now, even though it’s still technically fall for a month or so. We’ve had temperatures in the 20’s early in the morning – so winter it is!
Which for me means I need comfort food. Okay, truth is is that I’m a comfort food kinda gal year round (ya think?) so let me specify that I need MORE winter comfort food right now. Which means creamy soup all the way!
And this creamy potato soup with bacon? It’s a dream come true. Really. You’ll do a double take (or double taste?) at the first bite – it’s delicious and just perfect! And yes, it’s Whole30 and paleo friendly 🙂
What You Need To Make Creamy Potato Soup with Bacon
You don’t need anything fancy for this potato bacon soup! The ingredients are simple and delicious – here’s what you’ll need:
- Russet potatoes
- Bacon (Sugar-Free for Whole30)
- Onion
- Garlic
- Tapioca or arrowroot flour
- Chicken bone broth
- Coconut Milk
- Nutritional Yeast (for flavor)
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Scallions
How to Make Creamy Potato Soup
It all starts with the bacon 🙂 After cooking your bacon until crisp in your stock pot, set it aside to drain and reserve 3 tablespoons of the fat. Cook your onions in the bacon fat until soft, then add the garlic. Your kitchen is smelling amazing already!
Next, toss in the peeled and cubed potatoes to coat. I like to do this because it adds even more flavor to the potatoes! Sprinkle the tapioca flour over the potatoes, and then add in the broth, coconut milk, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast.
At this point, you’ll stir everything and bring it to a boil so the potatoes soften. It takes about 10-12 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes. You’re looking for them to be fork-tender.
Since I like creamy soup AND chunks of potatoes, I blended half of the soup with an immersion blender. You can also use a regular blender for this if you don’t have an immersion blender (an immersion blender is so much easier though.)
Add the blended half of the soup back to the pot, add 3/4 of the bacon back and let it simmer a few minutes. Then, season to preference with salt and pepper. Make sure to serve with lots of sliced green onions and the rest of the bacon!
But – Are White Potatoes Paleo?
I get this question every time I post something involving white potatoes. The answer depends on who you ask, but for the most part (at this point in time), most will say that white potatoes can absolutely fit into a paleo diet!
White potatoes were added into the Whole30 program several years back (as long as we’re not talking restaurant fries!). And yes, they are high in carbs, but the Paleo diet isn’t about limiting carbs – it’s about eating real food.
That said, not every “real food” is for everyone of course – so it’s best for you to decide what works for you and what doesn’t. Labels aren’t as important as nourishing your body based on what makes it healthier! And that will be different for each person. For more info on the white potatoes on a paleo diet, click here.
To sum up, many people who live grain free and paleo are totally fine with some white potatoes here and there. I’m guessing if you’ve reached this point in the post, you may just be one of those people 🙂
I hope you’re seriously READY for some delicious creamy potato soup! Grab your best soup pot and start peeling your potatoes – it’s time to go!
Creamy Potato Soup with Bacon {Whole30, Paleo}
Creamy Potato Soup with Bacon {Whole30}
Ingredients
- 1 lb bacon sugar free for Whole30, cut into 1” pieces
- 3 Tbsp reserved bacon fat
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 3 lbs russet potatoes peeled and cut into small pieces (about 1/2 inch pieces)
- 3 tbsp tapioca flour or arrowroot
- 4 cups chicken bone broth
- 14 oz can full fat coconut milk
- 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Thinly sliced green onions for garnish
- Additional sea salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
-
Heat a large stock pot/dutch oven (cast iron preferred) over medium-hi heat and add the bacon to cook. Once crisp, use a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels and set aside. Reserve about 3-4 Tbsp of the bacon fat in the pot and discard the rest.
-
Lower the heat to medium and add the onions. Cook about 3-5 minutes or until soft and fragrant.
-
Add the garlic and cook another minute until soft and fragrant. Add the potatoes and toss to coat. Sprinkle the tapioca flour over the potatoes and stir to coat. Add in the broth, coconut milk, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast. Stir to combine everything well.
-
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat and cook until potatoes are fork tender - about 10-12 minutes. Lower the heat to medium low.
-
Now you will blend half of the soup mixture one of two ways. First - If you have an immersion blender, remove half of the soup to another pot and puree only one half of the soup (it doesn’t matter which half you puree)
-
Second - if you’re using a regular blender. Carefully transfer half of the soup to the blender (using a ladle works best) and puree until smooth.
-
Combine the pureed soup with the chunky half and stir well. If you decide you want the soup creamier with fewer chunks of potato, you can puree another batch of soup.
-
Add 3/4 of the bacon to the soup and allow it to simmer for a few minutes. The bacon will make the soup saltier, so don’t add any additional salt until you’ve allowed the flavors to blend. After 5 minutes or so, taste the soup and season with additional sea salt and black pepper, if desired.
-
Garnish with plenty of thinly sliced scallions or chives to serve and the remaining bacon. Enjoy! Store leftovers covered in the refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Shop Products and Ingredients:
Want More Whole30 Soup Recipes? Try one of These!
Creamy Chicken Soup with Mushrooms and Kale
Stuffed Pepper Soup in the Instant Pot
Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon and Apples
Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting The Paleo Running Momma!
I thought potatoes were not PALEO. I hope I’m wrong.
Check out my post, I address this issue.
Thank you Michele for the recipe!! I will be making it! Thank you for the info regarding potatoes❤️❤️
Instead of coconut milk could you use almond milk? None of my family like the taste of coconut.
Hello Ginny ,
late answer here but,
I tasted it right before I added the nutritional yeast and it tasted quite ‘coconutty’ but after that the strong coconut flavour was gone! So maybe the nutritional yeast cancelled it out?!…..does that even make sense! But the recipe is delicious 🙂
I made this last night for dinner and it was simple and very delicious!
You never let me down, Michele! This recipe was delicious!
This was delicious!!! My husband and I ate a potato bacon soup at Uley’s Cabin on Mt. Crested Butte and I was craving it at home. This recipe was easy a great match (I didn’t have tapioca flour so I used cauliflower flour – worked fine). Perfect for a cold day!
I used cauliflower in place of russet potatoes and also made this recipe with 1/2 cauliflower and 1/2 potatoes….both are delish versions
This was amazing!
Delicious, easy to make too!
Wonderful flavor! I made it with Hannah white sweet potatoes and it was scrumptious! Thanks so much for sharing this and all the recipes you do.
can you use arrowroot powder instead of tapioca flour?
Really really yummy and comforting on a cold whole30 night! I also used the leftover bacon grease to fry up the potato peels! A yummy crunchy bonus!
My husband liked this better than my non-paleo recipe I’ve always made….
Awesome recipe. I used unpeeled red potatoes, and it came out great. So comforting and filling. Only change I would make is to cut the bacon pieces smaller. Thanks for sharing.
This was delicious.
Does this taste like coconut? I am not a fan of coconut, but would like it to be creamy.
I made this soup today and it is so easy to make. That being said let’s talk creamy rich, flavourful and lovely to the eye as well as the pallete.
Whole30 definately an addition to the menu
well as the pallete.
I’ve made this soup several times and we love it! I’m wanting to make ahead and freeze it for an upcoming trip – does it freeze well?
Thank you Michele for the recipe!! I will be making it! Thank you for the info regarding potatoes❤️❤️
Trilaen mobile website is designed to help users stay organized and on top of their daily tasks. With this app, users can create and manage to-do lists, set reminders, track progress, and sync tasks across multiple devices. It also provides a simple and intuitive interface with customizable categories, making it easy to stay organized and productive.
Thank you I will definitely try for it.
Also I want to draw the attention towards Element Technologies is a premier IT outsourcing firm serving small and mid-size businesses for over 30 years. We love what we do and have a passion for customer service which reflects in our people and defines who we are. Our team has the depth and breadth to tackle a wide range of issues and the ability to provide thought leadership to our clients. We are all about keeping our clients running, responding quickly to problems, and providing solutions in a meaningful yet easy-to-understand way.
I made this recipe when I was doing Whole30 and loved it. I am planning on making it again but was wondering how would you do this if you wanted to do it in a crockpot or instant pot? Most slow cooker recipes for potato soup want all the veggies raw when you toss them in and then you make to rue at towards the end to thicken it up.
Certainly! If I’ve prepared this soup multiple times and it has become a family favorite, I’m considering making a batch in advance and freezing it for an upcoming journey. Does the soup hold up well when frozen?
good