Slow Cooker Jalapeno Cheddar Potato Soup
Slow Cooker Jalapeno Cheddar Potato Soup: the ultimate comfort food made with Russet potatoes, fresh jalapenos, and sharp cheddar cheese!
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Cheesy, creamy comfort food, that’s exactly what you get with Slow Cooker Jalapeno Cheddar Potato Soup!
It’s kind of like everything you love about a jalapeno popper, in soup form!
This easy recipe uses Russet potatoes for their starchiness, which makes the soup nice and thick.
Cream cheese adds a slight tang to balance the richness of the soup, while also making it creamy without the use of heavy cream.
Cheddar cheese gives it its sharp cheesiness, and fresh jalapenos because, what goes better with jalapenos than cheese?
The jalapenos mellow as they cook, providing lots of great flavor, but not a lot of heat. Feel free to add freshly sliced jalapeno as a garnish for some extra spice!
Slow Cooker Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup is another great potato soup recipe!
Ingredients needed (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):
- Russet potatoes
- Yellow onion
- Carrot
- Fresh jalapenos
- Garlic
- Broth
- Cream cheese – full fat melts better
- Cheddar cheese
- Seasonings – smoked paprika, bay leaf, dried thyme, salt & pepper
📍The full recipe with exact ingredient amounts and instructions is on the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Sometimes I peel the potatoes and sometimes I just scrub them really well and chop them up. Both ways are delicious!
How to serve Potato Soup
Slow Cooker Jalapeno Cheddar Potato Soup is delicious as-is, but it’s next-level garnished with these toppings:
- Scallions or chives
- Shredded cheese
- Crumbled bacon
- Jalapeno rings
Sides that are perfect with this soup:
- Jalapeno & Green Chile Spoon Bread
- Texas Toast
- Slow Cooker Herbed Focaccia Bread
- French Bread
- Calabrian Chili Garlic Bread
💡Tips & Tricks
- Potatoes: Russet potatoes are best in this soup because they’re starchy and break down, thickening the soup instead of staying in chunks like red or gold potatoes will.
- Cream cheese: I recommend full-fat cream cheese for smooth melting. Low-fat cream cheese has additives that don’t melt well.
- Grating cheese: To quickly and easily grate 12 ounces of cheese blocks, I put them in the grating attachment of my food processor. It will grate all the cheese in seconds! You could use pre-shredded cheese, but it doesn’t melt as smoothly.
Looking for more slow cooker soups? Here are some favorites:
- Slow Cooker Curried Lentil Soup
- Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
- Slow Cooker Asparagus Leek Soup
- Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Love jalapenos? You can find this recipe and more in my 30+ Recipes Using Jalapeno Peppers collection!
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Slow Cooker Jalapeno Cheddar Potato Soup
Equipment
- 6-quart slow cooker
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Russet potatoes chopped
- 1/2 cup diced carrot (approx. 1 medium carrot)
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 3/4 cup diced fresh jalapeno (approx. 2-3 large jalapenos)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 8 ounces full-fat cream cheese
- 12 ounces cheddar cheese blocks freshly grated
- 1 teaspoon sea salt plus more to taste
- black pepper to taste
- Optional garnishes: sliced jalapeno, shredded cheese, sliced scallions or chives.
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients except for the cheddar cheese to the slow cooker (potatoes, carrot, onion, garlic, jalapeno, bay leaf, dried thyme, smoked paprika, vegetable broth and cream cheese). Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours, or until the vegetables are soft.
- Remove the bay leaf. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup to your desired consistency. I like mine mostly smooth with a little bit of potato chunks, but you can blend it as smooth as you like.
- Stir the cheddar cheese into the soup until it has melted. Taste soup and add salt if desired.
- Ladle soup into bowls and top with garnishes. Jalapeno slices, grated cheese, bacon, and sliced scallions or chives are all excellent with this soup! Enjoy!
Notes
- Because of their high-starch content, I recommend Russet potatoes for this recipe. You can peel them or scrub them and leave the skins on.
- Low-fat cream cheese contains thickening agents that interfere with proper melting, so I use full-fat when cooking.
- Blocks of cheese that you grate yourself melt nicely and don’t leave a gritty texture. Food processors can grate it all in under a minute!
- If you’d like to make the soup thinner, add a splash of milk or broth a little at a time.
- Once cooled, store soup in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Freezing is not recommend, as dairy-based soups get gritty upon reheating.
Love that is vegan, has a California kick to it
Can’t wait for you to try this flavorful soup that’s made in the slow cooker!