Name: Wisconsin Bacon and Potato Cheese Soup Recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 4 Tablespoons butter; ½ cup baby carrots (sliced); 2 celery stalks (sliced); ⅓ cup chopped onion; ⅓ cup red bell pepper (diced); ½ cup fresh sliced mushrooms; 3 potatoes (peeled and diced small); 4 ½ cups chicken broth (divided); ¼ cup flour; 2 cups half and half cream; 10 strips of cooked bacon (diced and divided); 1 teaspoon dry mustard; 1 teaspoon Frank's hot sauce; ½ teaspoon garlic salt ((could also use minced garlic)); 1 ½ teaspoons salt; ¼ teaspoon pepper; 2 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese

Recipe Ingredient Notes

To make our Wisconsin bacon and potato cheese soup recipe, you need the following ingredients:

Butter

Baby carrots sliced

Celery stalks sliced

Chopped onion

Red bell pepper diced

Fresh sliced mushrooms

Potatoes peeled and diced small (russet potatoes or red potatoes)

Chicken broth divided

Flour

Half and half cream (heavy cream or whole milk can work in a pinch)

Strips of cooked bacon diced and divided

Dry mustard

Frank’s hot sauce (more or less depending on how much spice you like)

Garlic salt (could also use minced garlic)

Salt

Black pepper

Shredded cheddar cheese (sharp cheddar cheese is our favorite)

How to Make Wisconsin Bacon and Potato Soup

In a large pan or soup pot melt butter, and then add carrots, celery, diced onion, red bell pepper, and mushrooms. Cook over medium heat until tender.

In another large saucepan or Dutch oven cook the diced potatoes in 1 1/2 cups chicken broth until tender. Then drain.

Add the cooked potatoes to the cooked vegetable mixture. Combine flour by stir in the 1/4 cup flour and coat all veggies.

Then stir in 3 cups chicken broth, half and half. Cook over medium heat stirring until slightly thickened. Reduce heat and add in 3/4 cup of bacon bits, dry mustard, hot sauce, garlic salt, and salt & pepper.

Then gradually stir in cheese stirring until melted. To avoid curdling, don’t let the soup boil after the cheese has been added to have the best creamy potato cheese soup.

Top each serving of the thick soup with the remaining bacon bits and or green onions.

A pot of creamy soup with visible vegetables and a wooden spoon rests on an orange cloth.

A bowl of creamy soup topped with shredded cheese, bacon, and herbs sits on a brown cloth next to a piece of bread, with more bacon and cheese in bowls in the background.

Recipe Notes

If you want to add meat to this soup, we recommend the following: chicken sausages, bacon (turkey or pork), ground beef, ground turkey, shredded chicken, grilled chicken, steak, or ham.

If you have any of the cheesy potato soup recipe left over, place the room-temperature soup in an airtight container and store it in the fridge for next time. This recipe will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.

A bowl of creamy soup with potatoes, mushrooms, celery, bacon, and shredded cheddar cheese, garnished with chopped herbs.

Explore More Delicious Soup Recipes

Explore our collection of soup recipes made in the stovetop, slow cooker or Instant Pot. For more soup inspiration, check out our full list of soups.

Join The Discussion

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Questions & Reviews

Liz says:

Yum - thank you. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and all your other sisters.
Overthinking Honey says:

Had this at a friend’s house to followed the recipe to the letter, and it was incredible! We paired it with garlic bread, salad and roasted broccoli. Felt like we were eating a feast! The only thing completely gone was the soup. We had happy, full bellies for all of game night. I wanted to try this at home! Question: why boil the potatoes separately in chicken stock (for flavor) then discard the starchy water and use flour as a starchy thickener? Would it affect the flavor if I used the starchy potato chicken stock as some of the chicken stock it calls for in the soup?
Momma Cyd says:

I'm sure that would work too!
Rachel says:

I’ve made this twice & loved it each time. I boil the potatoes in vegetable broth & use the broth after in the soup rather than discarding. My only complaint if there was one to be had would be there is no way that it serves 10 as is written. I made it for my family of 4 & there was precious little leftover.