This Three Ingredient Potato Soup is very simple yet surprisingly filling and creamy. Budget friendly, it’s a comforting and reliable meal that is perfect for beginner cooks and requires very little effort – just peel, chop, simmer and blend. A quick and easy dinner with just three pantry staples.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This 3 ingredient potato soup is a reliable back-up meal when the pantry is almost empty. It’s so easy to make and will be your best friend if you’re tired after a long day, overdue for a grocery shop or just need a simple budget-friendly meal.
Now I know three ingredient potato soup sounds bland BUT rest assured the humble potato is a miracle worker. This soup is filling, and even without dairy it is surprisingly creamy after blending. If you don’t have a blender, you can also leave it chunky (but the texture won’t be creamy).
You can dress the soup up a little to make it more exciting if you have extra ingredients at home. Things like a dollop of yogurt, some fresh (or even dried) herbs to garnish or a drizzle of chili oil make it feel more special, but it’s also fine without those too.
Key Ingredients
This soup is as straightforward as it gets with just three main ingredients: potatoes, onions and vegetable broth. I’ve listed the quantities in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. I’m assuming you also have a couple of other pantry staples like olive oil, salt and pepper, but you can also make it without those in a pinch (see notes below).
- Potatoes – whatever you’ve got will do, but if you have a choice, russet potatoes or yukon gold work best (known as white potatoes in Australia).
- Onion – yellow is best but again, whatever you’ve got on hand will do the job.
- Olive oil – this is for cooking the onion, sauteing brings out the flavor and makes the ‘base’ flavor of the soup. Any vegetable oil will also work here, even a dollop of butter or margarine. If you don’t have any of these, you can water-saute the onion, but the onion won’t get sweet and the soup will taste a bit less satisfying.
Equipment
To make the soup silky smooth and creamy, you need a blender to puree it after cooking. A handheld immersion blender is perfect, but any will do. Make sure if you use a closed blender (like the Nutribullet or Magic Bullet pictured below) that you wait for the soup to cool completely as they can explode if hot ingredients are used.
A food processor can technically be used but it chops more than it blends so there may be some very small little chunks throughout.
If you don’t have a blender, I would suggest leaving the soup chunky – it won’t be creamy but it’s still satisfying. In this case – make sure to dice the potatoes into small pieces (not slices like in the instructions or photos below) so it’s the same size as the potato chunks. I like to use my Fullstar vegetable chopper for this because it makes perfectly sized dice for all ingredients and is so easy to clean up.
How to Make Three Ingredient Potato Soup
Step One: Heat olive oil in a large pot and cook the chopped onion until soft and lightly golden.
Step Two: Add the diced potatoes and pour in the vegetable broth.
Step Three: Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender.
Step Four: Blend the soup until smooth using an immersion blender, or blend partially if you prefer some texture.
Step Five: Season with salt and pepper, then serve with a drizzle of olive oil and optional garnishes.
Storage
Let the soup cool, then store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. It thickens as it sits (potatoes do that), so when reheating, add a splash of broth or water and warm it gently on the stove or in the microwave, stirring once or twice. If I know it’s for leftovers, I usually leave it slightly looser the first night – it reheats better that way.
Expert Tips
Blend while hot for silkier soup, then rest 5 minutes – potatoes thicken as they cool, so don’t overblend.
FAQ
For this soup, it’s potatoes, onion, and broth. Things like salt, pepper, and olive oil don’t usually count – they’re pantry basics you season with to taste.
Starchy potatoes like Russet or Yukon Gold are best, but use whatever you’ve got in the cupboard already, it’s a forgiving recipe and meant to be easy!
The potatoes do the work for you. Once they’re fully tender, blending releases their starch and turns the broth silky without needing dairy.
Yes – but it will thicken naturally in the fridge. Just add a splash of water to loosen it up while reheating on the stove or in the microwave.
More Potato Recipes
If you’re looking for ways to use up some potatoes, try my French Potato Salad, Salt and Vinegar Roast Potatoes or Greek Lemon Rosemary Potatoes.
Let me know what you think of this recipe – would you plan to make it or keep it as a back-up plan only? You can also tag me @glowdiaries___ on Instagram so I can see how it turned out 🙂
Three-Ingredient Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced 900 g
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4 cups 1 liter vegetable broth
- Olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion and cook until softened and lightly golden.
- Add the diced potatoes and pour in the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender (or transfer to a blender in batches) to puree the soup until smooth. For a chunkier soup, only blend half.
- To serve, top with cracked black pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and crusty bread on the side. Garnish with fresh parsley, finely chopped chives or sliced green onion (optional).
Ron says
this was a huge hit! It paired so perfectly with garlic bread as an appetizer. One of my friends loved it so much she asked for the recipe, so I passed along your website link. Just wanted to give credit where credit is due because it was amazing 💞