The 2 Best Ingredient Additions To Thicken Potato Soup

We can't think of a more hearty ingredient than potatoes. This root vegetable is comforting in every form, and fluffy potatoes pureed into soup or chopped and simmered in a rich broth is as cozy as it gets. While potato soup is mostly about the spuds, the creamy texture is equally as important, and the potatoes often need some help. For the best potato soup thickener, use cream cheese or sour cream.

These two dairy products are tangy and smooth, and while heavy cream is a go-to for thickening broths, featured in a number of comforting potato soup recipes, both sour cream and cream cheese have a lot more body. They're (literally) the crème de la crème of thickeners, due to their lower water content. Plus, their delightfully tangy tastes bring a balance to the potato soup's savory, rich, yet mild notes.

When you add sour cream or cream cheese to make the soup a little heartier, don't spoon it directly into the pot, or you'll most likely end up with small clumps of dairy on the surface. The stodgy dairy products need a whirl in a blender first, so that they'll take on a smooth, lump-free consistency that won't disrupt the soup. You'll need to take certain steps to avoid curdling, too.

The key for adding cheese to soup so that it melts just right has to do with regulating the temperature, but with cream cheese or sour cream, you also need to mind the risk of curdling. Although they're great thickeners, you need to be careful when incorporating fresh dairy products into the hot soup. After cooking together all the soup ingredients except the sour cream or cheese, spoon a small amount of soup into a bowl and add in your dairy. Whisk them together and pour it into the pot with the rest of the soup, similarly to how you would prepare miso soup. 

Doing this provides a sort of buffer, allowing the dairy to acclimate to the warm temperature gradually, while further ensuring there are no lumps in the final dish. Another way to incorporate the ingredients is to just blend the dairy and soup together. Mixing them together this way works best for soups that are already pureed, like cauliflower potato soup or classic potato leek soup. 

No matter how you add the dairy, avoid other mistakes that will cause it to curdle. Add it in towards the end of cooking, and don't allow the soup to reach a boiling point — a gentle simmer is best. You should also avoid adding acidic ingredients when the soup is still cooking, as these can curdle the mixture quickly.