Creamy Sausage and Potato Soup
There is nothing more comforting than this creamy soup loaded with tender chunks of potato, plus bacon and sausage! It’s surprisingly easy to make, so delicious, and dairy free!
Update: This recipe was originally published in 2020 and has been republished with all new photos.
My 30 Minute Dairy Free Potato Soup is a favorite around here. It’s easily one of my top three favorite soups of all time! That’s no minor honor, my friend, because I really love soup on a cold day. My whole family knows it’s always soup season in my house. That incredible potato soup was the inspiration for today’s recipe. I wanted a version with more protein (we’re using sliced sausage and bacon here) to create an even more flavorful broth.
This hearty sausage potato soup is creamy but made with no heavy cream! We’re blending diced potatoes and using a little canned coconut milk to get the perfect texture. It’s loaded with good for you ingredients but tastes incredibly indulgent.
Creamy Sausage and Potato Soup Ingredients
- Potatoes: I like to use yukon gold potatoes or yellow potatoes but russet potatoes work well too.
- Fully cooked sausage: I love chicken sausage in this soup but go with whatever you prefer. Chicken, beef, turkey, or pork sausage are all delicious in here.
- Bacon: Oh yes. I use Wellshire or Applegate turkey bacon. I love how thick both are! Pork bacon is clearly a solid choice also.
- A little oil: Extra virgin olive oil is my favorite. A high quality avocado oil is a solid solution as well.
- Onion: White or yellow onion will both work well.
- Simple seasonings: Salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and dried thyme or chives are the only seasonings you need.
- Chicken stock or broth: Both chicken stock and chicken broth can be used in this chili. Stock is typically made by simmering chicken bones for hours along with carrots, celery, and onion. Broth is made by simmering the whole chicken instead of only the bones. You can sub vegetable stock if that’s what you have on hand.
- Unsweetened canned coconut milk: Canned coconut milk is the secret ingredient to help make our soup creamy without adding any dairy. It’s important to use an unsweetened variety so it doesn’t alter the flavor of our soup.
How to Make Creamy Sausage and Potato Soup
We’ll start by sautéing the sausage, onion, and bacon in oil. You can do this in your soup pot so that you’re not dirtying another dish. That’s always my preference. I don’t like to create more work for myself and dirty dishes are my nemesis.
Once the onion is tender and bacon is fully cooked, add the chicken stock, potatoes, and seasoning to your pot. Crank that heat up to boiling and then let everything simmer for 5 to 8 minutes. Dicing the potatoes will greatly help decrease the cooking time required to get those potatoes perfectly tender.
Now use a slotted spoon to scoop out one or two cups of the potatoes and add to a blender with coconut milk. (For a thicker soup use 1 1/2 to 2 cups.) Blend. The consistency will be like mashed potatoes.
Add the blended potato mixture to your soup. Stir, stir, and stir some more so it’s thoroughly mixed into the rest of your soup. Oh baby, you’re done and you’re going to love this creamy soup! Enjoy as is or top with crispy bacon, parmesan cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, green onion, or sour cream. If you want some heat try a little hot sauce and/or crushed red pepper flakes.
Honestly this is a great recipe with all the right cozy vibes. I could eat it weekly. Make it tonight and enjoy a hot bowl of soup this evening. I just know you’re going to love it and can’t wait for you to try it!
Why Use Unsweetened Canned Coconut Milk?
Canned coconut milk is my favorite way to make dairy free recipes creamy. It’s thick and if you’re not using too much you won’t get a strong coconut flavor. There really is no coconut taste in this soup.
It’s important to make sure you don’t use a sweetened can though. That drastically changes the flavor and won’t work well.
Can You Substitute a Different Milk for the Canned Coconut Milk?
In most recipes the answer is no because those other milks are all a lot thinner. But here I say yes since the potatoes do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to achieving the texture we want.
You’re welcome to use regular cow’s milk, almond milk, or the refrigerated coconut milk instead of canned coconut milk. Be sure whatever you use is unsweetened and add less since these other milks are not as thick.
Can You Substitute a Different Sausage?
This sausage potato soup recipe is designed to feature sliced fully cooked dinner sausage, but you can opt for a crumbled sausage if you prefer. A breakfast sausage, spicy italian sausage, sweet italian sausage, or mild italian sausage are all good swaps.
Can You Sneak in Any Veggies?
Well of course! Chopped broccoli or fresh spinach would be perfection in this soup. If using spinach or steamed broccoli you can just add it at the end of cooking time. If using raw uncooked broccoli add it with the diced potatoes.
What to Serve with this Soup?
I think a soup and salad combo is a pretty perfect meal, how about you? This creamy potato soup is delicious with crusty bread but you can also add a salad to your dinner.
Try my Strawberry Goat Cheese Salad, Blueberry Citrus Spinach Salad, or Blueberry Goat Cheese Salad with Chicken.
Does this Soup Freeze Well?
Oh yes it does! This soup freezes, thaws, and reheats beautifully. Just add it to a pot on the stove over low to medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Feel free to double this recipe so you have plenty to freeze.
How to Store Leftover Creamy Sausage and Potato Soup
Want to enjoy this hearty soup the next day or later in the week? Leftover soup can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat on the stovetop on low to medium heat until warmed through.
Creamy Sausage and Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive or avocado oil
- 4 fully cooked sausages, Sliced into half-circles about 1/4 inch thick.
- 1/2 large white or yellow onion
- 3 slices bacon, Diced. I prefer turkey bacon.
- 2 lb potatoes, Peeled and diced. I prefer yukon gold potatoes. (It's about 4 cups diced potatoes.)
- 32 oz chicken stock or broth
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme or dried chives
- 1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
Instructions
- Add oil to your soup pot on medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add diced bacon, onion, and sausages. Sauté, stirring frequently, until onion is tender and bacon is fully cooked. You should see some browning on your sausages.
- Add chicken stock and potatoes (peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes) to the soup pot. Season with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried thyme (or dried chives). Bring to boiling and cook for approximately 5 – 8 minutes or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Be careful to not overcook your potatoes or you'll end up decreasing the amount of chicken stock you have.
- Once cooked, remove 1 to 2 cups of the diced potatoes from chicken stock. (Going with 2 cups will give you a thicker finished soup. It's okay if a little onion or bacon gets mixed in but don't pull out any of the sausage.) Blend with 1/2 cup canned coconut milk until smooth. The consistency will be close to thick mashed potatoes. Add back to your soup and stir until well combined. Now your soup is creamy! Taste and add more salt if desired.
9 Comments on “Creamy Sausage and Potato Soup”
Working on making this for dinner. Question about step 1: it states onions in with bacon and sausage. Then in step 2: it brings up onions, putting onions with chicken stocks. Just wanting clarification. Thanks!
Thank you for the heads up! It’s corrected. Onions are added in step 1.
not sure why but my soup did not end up thick and creamy like yours looks 🙁 any advice? I used the full 2 cups of potatoes. It still tasted delicious, just wish it had been more creamy!
For thicker soup you’ll want to blend the full two cups of potatoes and not just one cup. Also make sure you’re using a full fat canned coconut milk!
Another winner! The seasoning in this soup is spot on. And no one in my family even realized this was a dairy free healthier option. They were all too busy shoveling it in to even ask what was in it! Delicious!!
Everyone loved it. Easy to make. I’d cut salt a bit.
Thank you! Delicious recipe! I happened to have carrots and mushrooms so sautéed those after the sausage (I had chicken sausage on hand) which I removed from the pan before adding the potatoes. I read too quickly and had cut potatoes in smaller pieces and would never have been able to separate from the small sausage pieces. My own mistake but worked out. I used my immersion blender in my Dutch oven and then once creamy, added back the sausage, onions, carrots and mushrooms. Didn’t have bacon and still yummy. Thank you very much!
I ended up changing the recipe a bit, but it was still so delicious! I had chicken bone broth and beef bone broth at home, so I used a mixture of those instead of the chicken broth. I also was too lazy to pull out the blender, so I just mixed in a cup of coconut milk at the end, without blending it with potato. The broth was so yummy!! I do want to try it the way it was intended some day, but the broth was still to die for!
We have made this recipe 4 times in the last two weeks. Absolutely phenomenal and so easy!