Cozy up with this traditional Irish Potato Soup! It’s made with a handful of simple ingredients and is a tried-and-true comfort food to warm you up any time of the year.
If you love hearty soups, try my Roasted Garlic Potato Soup for a twist on this classic! For an appetizer, serve my Beer Cheese Dip with my Pretzel Bites recipe. Don’t forget the Lucky Charms Bars for dessert!
This hearty soup is so easy and comes together with just five basic ingredients you may already have. It’s one of those classic bare-cupboard recipes for when times are hard. It doesn’t require anything fancy, yet tastes like a hug in a bowl!
This Irish potato soup recipe is a perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day or to honor your Irish roots. It’s an excellent dish to enjoy the day after St. Patrick’s Day with a bit of leftover corned beef and soda bread. So good!
What is Irish Potato Soup?
This Irish potato soup is made with everyday ingredients often found in traditional Irish homes, like potatoes, onions, butter, stock, and cream. These were all ingredients Irish families could grow on their parcel of land or pick up in town. It could easily be thinned, feeding a larger crew as needed.
This vegetarian soup is naturally thickened by the starches in the potatoes, which make this soup filling and perfect for warming up during those cold winter months.
Irish Potato Soup Ingredients
- Onion: Onions are a classic aromatic and add layers of flavor to this simple soup.
- Potatoes: Choose naturally starchy potato varieties, like Russet potatoes or Yukon Gold.
- Butter: Use salted or unsalted butter to saute the onions. You can also use olive oil in a pinch.
- Vegetable stock: Cook the potatoes in vegetable broth to add flavor to otherwise bland potatoes.
- Heavy cream: A spot of cream makes this soup rich and thick.
- Salt and black pepper: Potatoes require a lot of seasoning to add flavor, so taste often and season as you go.
How to Make Irish Potato Soup
It’s so easy to make homemade potato soup. Check out the recipe card below for full ingredients and instructions.
- Prepare the potatoes – Scrub, rinse, peel, and dice the potatoes.
- Sauté onions – Melt butter in a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the diced onion, and cook for 5 minutes.
- Cook the potatoes – Put diced potatoes in the pot and mix with the onions, cook for 8 minutes. Stir the vegetables half-way through.
- Add broth – Add the vegetable stock, salt, and pepper and bring the liquid up to a boil. Reduce heat down to a simmer and continue cooking for another 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through.
- Mash some potatoes – Pull out ¼ of the potatoes with a slotted spoon and put them in a separate bowl. Smash them really well with a fork or potato masher. Then stir them back into the soup.
- Make it creamy – Add in the cream and mix everything together.
- Serve – Serve hot. Salt and pepper to taste.
Tips for Success
- Choose a starchy potato variety like Russets. Red potatoes are too low in starch and will not become creamy.
- Cook your potatoes in a broth instead of water to ensure your soup is full of flavor.
- Mash the potatoes really well. I prefer this recipe with really mashed potato because it thickens the soup well. Leave your potatoes more chunky if you like some soft potato pieces for a little texture.
- If you have an immersion blender, pulse the soup in the pot 3-5 times to break up some of the potatoes.
Recipe Variations
- Dairy free: Use coconut oil and non-dairy cream for a dairy-free soup. Coconut cream often has a coconut scent, so choose something neutral.
- Leek and potato soup: For Irish potato leek soup, sauté leeks with your onions.
- Use chicken stock: If you are not vegetarian, you can use chicken broth or stock.
- Flour thickener: If you don’t want to mash up some of the potatoes, you can pull out 1/4 cup of the soup liquid and stir in 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour or cornstarch. Once combined, pour back into the soup pot.
- Garnish your soup: Top your soup with your favorite toppings like chopped parsley, diced green onion, a dollop of sour cream, bacon bits, chopped corned beef, or shredded Irish cheddar cheese. Don’t forget a chunk of crusty bread, Irish soda bread or homemade French bread!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to thicken potato soup?
Your potato soup should only need to be thickened if you used fewer potatoes than recommended or added too much stock. Potatoes are naturally starchy and will thicken the soup on their own. Try mashing some of the potatoes in your soup to release their starches.
What potato is best in soup?
This depends on the final texture you want your soup to have. For Irish potato soup, use Russets, Yukon Golds, or a combination of the two for a smooth, hearty soup. Other potato varieties, like red or purple potatoes, have less starch and will not break down as well. Use those for recipes when you still want the potatoes to have some texture.
What can I substitute for heavy cream in potato soup?
If you don’t have heavy cream for your potato soup, try one of these alternatives:
- Whole milk
- Plant-based cream
- Milk with butter
- Evaporated milk
- Half and half
- Buttermilk
How to Store & Reheat
How to refrigerate Irish Potato Soup? Let the soup cool all the way, then store it in an airtight container, like a mason jar, in the fridge for 3-5 days.
How to keep at room temperature? This soup needs to be refrigerated to keep it fresh. If you want to serve it at a party, keep it in a slow cooker on low heat. Stir occasionally and add 1/4 cup of stock every hour or two to prevent it from thickening too much.
How do you reheat easy potato soup? Heat your leftover soup in a pot, stirring occasionally. You can also microwave it in a microwave-safe bowl for 2-3 minutes.
Can I Freeze Easy Potato Soup?
How to freeze Irish potato soup? Allow the soup to cool completely and refrigerate it in an airtight container. Once fully chilled, store the soup in the freezer for 3-5 months. If using glass jars, leave at least 1 inch of headspace to allow the soup to expand. To eat, thaw the soup in the fridge overnight and reheat it like normal.
Pair this soup with these festive desserts and drinks!
- Watergate Cake
- Pistachio Pudding Cookies
- Baileys Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mint Grasshopper Shot
- Irish Trash Can Drink
If you’ve tried this comforting bowl of creamy potato soup, don’t forget to give me a star rating and leave me a comment below in the comment section. I love to hear from people who have made my recipes!
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Irish Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion
- 6 jumbo potatoes
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper plus more to taste
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Scrub and rinse potatoes. Peel them and dice them into bite-sized chunks.
- Add butter to a large soup pot. Add in the diced onion, cook for 5 minutes.
- Put diced potatoes in the pot and mix with the onions, cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the vegetable stock and bring liquid up to a boil.
- Reduce heat down to a simmer and continue cooking for another 20-25 minutes, stirring the potatoes half-way through to ensure they are cooking evenly. Cook until the potatoes are tender when poked with a fork.
- Pull out ¼ of the potatoes with a slotted spoon and put them in a separate bowl. Smash them really well with a potato masher or fork. Then stir them back into the soup.
- Add in the cream and mix everything together.
- Serve hot. Salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
-
- Dairy free: Use coconut oil and non-dairy cream for a dairy-free soup. Coconut cream often has a coconut scent, so choose something neutral.
- Leek and potato soup: For Irish potato leek soup, sauté leeks with your onions.
- Use chicken stock: If you are not vegetarian, you can use chicken broth or stock.
- Flour thickener: If you don’t want to mash up some of the potatoes, you can pull out 1/4 cup of the soup liquid and stir in 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour or cornstarch. Once combined, pour back into the soup pot.
- Starchy potatoes: Choose a starchy potato variety like Russets. Red potatoes are too low in starch and will not become creamy.
- Mashed potatoes: Mash the potatoes really well. I prefer this recipe with really mashed potato because it thickens the soup well. Leave your potatoes more chunky if you like some soft potato pieces for a little texture.
- Soup will last 3-5 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
Nutrition
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