Hash Brown Potato Soup

By Becky Hardin

Published Feb 22, 2017

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Hash Brown Potato Soup is an absolute must make for winter! It’s the ultimate potato cheese soup recipe, made in minutes. It’s loaded with cheese and made with frozen hash browns for convenience. It’s the best comfort food soup for weeknights. Top with sautéed carrots and bacon for extra flavor!

What’s in this Potato Cheese Soup?

Making potato soup with hash browns is so easy, you’ll never go back to using fresh potatoes. This recipe can be made in less than an hour, with minimal prep work.

• Hash Browns: Using frozen shredded hash brown potatoes for this soup is what makes it so quick, easy, and convenient. Be sure to thaw them before starting the soup.
• Chicken Broth: This is the base of the soup. I recommend using unsalted stock or broth, as there’s enough salty ingredients in the recipe as is. You can also substitute a vegetable broth.
• Cheese: Cheddar and gruyere tastes best, but you can use whatever you prefer. I recommend grating your own cheese, since it will melt best.
• Bacon: Bacon adds so much flavor, especially while sauteing the onions. However, you can skip the bacon if you want a meat-free soup.
• Vegetables: Carrots and onion add just the right amount of texture to this potato soup.
• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is the secret ingredient to super creamy soups. It creates a silky texture.
• Seasonings: you’ll need salt and pepper to taste, red pepper flakes for just a hint of heat, and a Fines Herbes blend (chervil, parsley, tarragon, and chives).

If you want to add more veggies into the soup, broccoli or cauliflower would be great additions. Use frozen for convenience, and add them in when you add the chicken stock.

Potato Soup Toppings

Whether you want to serve this cheesy hash brown soup simply, or load it up with toppings (what’s better than loaded potato soup?), there are plenty of delicious ingredients to add.

Top each bowl of soup with more bacon crumbles, sour cream, sliced jalapenos, caramelized onions, or just some crumbled crackers.

How to Store & Reheat Potato Soup with Hash Browns

Store leftover hash brown potato soup in an airtight container, and keep it in the refrigerator up to 4 days. Reheat on the stovetop for best results, gently heating and stirring until warmed through.

How to Freeze Hash Brown Soup

To freeze this soup, pour it into freeze-safe bags (if you’d like to freeze it flat) or containers. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge then reheat on the stove.

Because this soup contains potatoes, cheese, and heavy cream, the texture might change when it’s frozen and reheated, so keep that in mind.

What to Serve with Hash Brown Potato Soup

A bowl of this cheesy hash brown potato soup doesn’t need much, but it pairs well with homemade cornbread and our favorite Parker House rolls. Or make these roasted mushrooms to serve on the side, or on top. To add some greens, try this chopped salad.

If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.

Recipe Card

Hash Brown Potato Soup (Potato Cheese Soup)

4.60 from 133 votes

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 30 minutes mins

Total: 45 minutes mins

Servings: 8

Author: Becky Hardin

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This cheesy potato soup is made with hash browns for the easiest, coziest recipe.

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Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 6-8 slices bacon slices cut into 1/8 inch slices
• ▢ 4 carrots peeled, shredded
• ▢ 1 yellow onion diced
• ▢ 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ▢ 30 ounce Frozen Shredded Hash Browns thawed
• ▢ 6 cups Unsalted Chicken Broth
• ▢ 1-2 teaspoons kosher salt start with 1 teaspoon and add more if needed after adding the cheese
• ▢ 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Fines Herbes a mixture of chervil, parsley, tarragon & chives or parsley
• ▢ 1 cup Heavy Cream
• ▢ 1 cup Milk
• ▢ 2 cups Grated Cheese a mixture of Cheddar and Gruyere tastes great.

Optional Garnishes

• ▢ chopped chives
• ▢ crispy bacon
• ▢ sautéed shredded carrots

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Instructions 

• In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium-high heat until crisp then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Set bacon aside and add immediately before serving.
  6-8 slices bacon slices
• Remove all but 2 tablespoons bacon grease from pan.
• Return pan to heat and sauté shredded carrots and diced onions until onions are translucent and carrots soften and begin to caramelize. (If desired, set aside 3 tablespoons of the sautéed vegetables to use as garnish.)
  4 carrots, 1 yellow onion
• Sprinkle flour over sautéed onions and carrots, mix well and cook 30 seconds.
  3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Add chicken stock and seasonings.
  6 cups Unsalted Chicken Broth, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon Fines Herbes, 1-2 teaspoons kosher salt

See *NOTE if a smoother soup is desired. See **NOTE if you want to add broccoli or cauliflower.

• Add hash browns and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until potatoes are tender.
  30 ounce Frozen Shredded Hash Browns
• Add cream and milk and cook 5-10 minutes, stirring often. Watch closely so soup doesn’t scald.
  1 cup Heavy Cream, 1 cup Milk
• Add cheese and stir until cheese melts.
  2 cups Grated Cheese
• Taste the soup, and if needed, add more salt and other seasonings.
• Serve immediately.
• Garnishes: chopped fresh parsley, chives, sautéed carrot/onion mixture.
  chopped chives, crispy bacon, sautéed shredded carrots
• Enjoy!

Becky’s Tips

*NOTE: Directions to follow if a smoother soup is desired: Before adding the cream and milk, use a hand blender (or stick blender) to puree the soup, then add the cream and milk. **NOTE: This soup is the perfect base for adding steamed, frozen or roasted cauliflower or broccoli. Just add the vegetables when adding the chicken stock.

Storage: Store soup in an airtight container, in the fridge up to 4 days.

Calories: 442kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 19gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 76mgSodium: 905mgPotassium: 699mgFiber: 2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 5815IUVitamin C: 11.7mgCalcium: 362mgIron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you make this? Leave a comment!

More Potato Soups We Love

• Cheesy Potato Soup
• Instant Pot Potato Soup
• Crockpot Potato Soup
• Ham and Potato Soup
• Loaded Baked Potato Soup