You just can’t beat a good old slow cooker soup! It’s so easy to throw together and needs no fussing over while it cooks. It took me all of 5 minutes to get the slow cooker going, then I had the afternoon free to do other things. I love not having to peel and cut up potatoes for this recipe! If I still had chopped onion and celery stocked in the freezer, it would have taken even less time.
I have updated this recipe to include stove top cooking directions.

Slow Cooker Best Potato Soup Ingredients
- 1 30-32 oz bag frozen diced hash browns
- 1/2 diced onion
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup thin celery slices (optional)
- 4 – 5 cups chicken broth (depending on desired thickness)
- 1 can cream of celery or cream of chicken soup
- 1/4- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 8 oz pkg softened cream cheese (the Secret Ingredient) Add towards end of cooking time.
- NOTE: I had a 1# bag of diced ham that I added just because. The soup is excellent with or without it.
Optional for garnish:
- Shredded cheese
- Crumbled cooked bacon
Slow Cooker Directions
- In the slow cooker, pour the chicken broth into the slow cooker. Stir in the can of soup, and then add pepper, potatoes, onions and celery.
- Cook on HI 3 hours or LOW approximately 5 hours.
- Stir in the softened cream cheese. I mashed it on a paper plate and put in the microwave for 15-20 seconds, so that it is soft enough to melt in the soup quickly. Stir into the slow cooker and continue cooking for another 30 minutes.
Stove Top Directions
- In a large soup pan, stir together chicken broth and can of cream soup, then stir in the frozen diced hash browns, diced onion, thin celery slices and pepper.
- Cook on medium heat about 15 – 20 minutes, until potatoes are cooked through.
- Add in the softened cream cheese. I mashed it on a paper plate and put in the microwave for 15-20 seconds, so that it is soft enough to melt in the soup quickly. Stir into the hot vegetable mix and continue cooking for another 30 minutes.
Savor the Flavor of Slow Cooker Potato Soup
This rich and creamy potato soup is the ultimate comfort food, especially when served with hot cornbread or warm crusty rolls. Maybe add a side salad or a simple dessert, and you definitely have a drool-worthy meal.
My, oh my! Just thinking about it makes me hungry!


Add a cup of sour cream just before serving, for even better soup.
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Thanks for the tip! 🙂
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I discovered cream cheese is good in mashed potatoes, too.
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I bet! I’ll have to try it. 🙂
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You’re a lady after my own heart. I HATE peeling potatoes, I always managed to to nick myself. I’m going to put aside some of my ham from Easter to make this with. I’ll let you know how it comes out
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Yay! This soup is a major game changer. You will love how easy it is to make.🙂
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The cream cheese is a little stronger than I like. Is there something I can use to mellow the cream cheese?
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Hello, Regina! You might try neufchatel cheese. It is right next to the cream cheese in the store. It doesn’t have cream in it, so is less rich that cream cheese, and maybe use half as much. Or try skipping it entirely and add a little milk. Maybe 1/2 to 1 cup. I’ve not tried either, but the neufchatel cheese is interchangeable with cream cheese in recipes and I grew up on milk-based potato soup, so I’m sure either will work fine.🙂
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My recipe I cook up a package of bacon. Take bacon out and use most of it for garnishing. Use potatoes, carrots, heavy whipping cream, milk, flour, chives. Don’t use cream cheese or hash browns. Like my recipe alot more. Thank you though.
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Sounds wonderful, Linda!
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There are NO potatoes in your recipe!how many do we use etc?
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Hi, Marie. My recipe uses a bag of frozen diced hash brown potatoes. It’s in the recipe list.🙂
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I like yours better as well
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Thank you 😊
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I made this soup yesterday. I don’t have a slow cooker so I did it in low oven. Worked like a charm. I added some dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce and celery seed. I also thickened it with a bit of water and cornstarch. I will definitely be making this soup again. Delicious! 😋
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Thank you, Sandra! I’m so glad you liked it.
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Thank you, winter is going to be so much more enjoyable!
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Awe, thank you, Lori! We love this soup with cornbread, 🙂
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I love that you added ham! Thank you for the recipe!
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Thank you! I love this soup!
Your pkg went put on yesterday’s mail.
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Can’t wait! My granddaughter is so excited to see what it is too. ❤
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You could also use O’Brien hashbrowns. I’ve used them and it was delicious! Don’t have to do a lot of chopping either.
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That’s one of the things I love about this soup, the no potato peeling and chopping.
Bet it’s really good with the O’Brien hashbrowns too!
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I just wanted to let you know that my family and I enjoyed this soup! I made it in my crock pot and it was delightful. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ☺️
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Awem thank you Elizabeth! That was so sweet for you to come back to tell me that.
Merry Christmas to you as well!
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This soup was really good. We used leftover ham from Christmas and it was an awesome addition. We will make it again. We served with salad and garlic cheese toast. Yum.
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Thank you so much for coming back to comment! I’m glad you liked it!
I’m making a pot today in just a bit, and I think I’ll make up a salad and cheese toast to go with it. Thanks for the idea. 🙂
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Forgot to take a pic but this was amazingly good even my picky hubby loved it. Thanks I’ve shared with everyone!
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Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
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Sounds wonderful! How do you make this gluten free?
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Thank you for visiting! 🙂
I am not eating gluten free, so I had to do some research…
*Replace the potatoes with Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns (I don’t know if those are refrigerated or frozen)
*Kraft shredded cheeses have about 20 parts per million. The powdered cellulose in Sargento’s shredded cheeses is not derived from any gluten grain.
*The other ingredients seem to be all gluten free.
PLEASE read package ingredient lists to verify that infor for yourself.
I hope that helps. 🙂
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Thank you for the recipe. I made it and it was delicious, the family loved it . I added cooked bacon bits, will b definitely be making it again
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Thank you for letting me know! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. 😊
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Yes if you want a processed soup sorry but frozen potatoes cream soup just laziness
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Sorry it wasn’t your favorite, but for those that need a fast tasty soup, this is perfect. Thanks for visiting. 🙂
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Hi,
I live in South Africa, is Hashbrown a type of frozen potato? We don’t have frozen potatoes here, I will have to use fresh potatoes. What would your suggestion be? Thanks, Tamsyn
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Hello Tamsyn! Yes, you can use fresh potatoes. The frozen hash brown potatoes used in this recipe are diced in about 1/2″ (1.27 cm) squares. Peel, cut and then soak the potatoes for 10 or 15 minutes to release some of the starch. Then they will be fine in the soup.. 😊
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I used cream of bacon instead of cream of celery. Yum! It was perfect.
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Thank you, Chris! I have never heard of cream of bacon soup. I’ll have to look for it. 🙂
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This is an amazing recipe! I used Southern style hash browns cubed not shredded. And I used a tbsp of horseradish to the mix too! Found my husband licking the Crock pot! Lol
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Awe, Maureen! Thank you so much for your wonderful comment! Love the horseradish addition. I bet my Hubby would love that too! Glad your Hubby liked it too! 😀
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I am still surprised to read comments that have no purpose other than to be hateful.
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Thank you for visiting. 🙂 Luckily those kind of comments are few and far between. She may have just been having a lousy day.
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Wondering if you could exchange Greek yogurt for cream cheese to reduce calories.
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I don’t like cream cheese. What can I add instead?
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Just use heavy whipping cream in place of the cream cheese. 🙂
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Heavy cream 35%
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I am so sorry I missed this comment. I’m guessing that Greek yogurt would work. I believe there is a lower calorie cream cheese available. 🙂
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I like this soup, the next time I make I’ll make two changes, add bayleaf and instead of ham I’ll add italian sausage. It was a little on the bland side for me.
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Thanks for the suggestions, Connie! That sounds delicious!
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Have you tried using fresh hash browns that are not precooked? I live in Idaho and have a lot of potatoes so I hate to buy frozen ones when I can make my own.
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What is your “secret ingredient “?
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My grocery has recently started carrying a hashbrown/bacon combo bag and instead of cream cheese I used heavy cream (lactose free cream has a better taste than lactose free cream cheese)the LF cheddar is a taster option if you need to use LF products.
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Oh, the hash brown bacon combo sounds awesome! I am so glad you were able to find suitable substitutions! Thank you for sharing! 😊
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I made this soup using 2 lbs. of russet potatoes, 1 can cream of chicken and mushroom soup, and a quart of chicken broth. I added baked ham as well, and I thought it tasted really good. I will definitely make this again.
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Thank you! I’m so glad you liked the soup and I love that you adjusted it to suit you!🙂
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