Bacon Potato Chowder
Smoky bacon, soft potatoes, oniony cream — the bowl of winter.
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Join HomecookedIngredients
- 150 g Bacon
- 600 g Potatoes
- 1 Onion
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 700 ml Chicken stock
- 250 ml Milk
- 100 ml Heavy cream
- 2 tbsp All-purpose flour
- 20 g Butter
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black pepper
- 1 Bay leaves (optional)
Method
- Dice the bacon.
- Peel and dice the potatoes into 1 cm cubes; hold in cold water if there is a wait.
- Render the bacon in a pot over medium heat until crisp, about 6 minutes. Lift out to drain and leave the fat in the pot.
- While the bacon renders, dice the onion.
- While the bacon renders, mince the garlic.
- Soften the onion in the bacon fat for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and butter and cook for 1 minute more.
- Sprinkle the flour over and stir for 1 minute. Pour in the stock and milk, then add the potatoes, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer.
- Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in the cream and most of the bacon. Serve, topping each bowl with the rest. Serve hot.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from ingredients; varies with exact portions and brands.
About Bacon Potato Chowder
Bacon potato chowder is a thick, creamy American soup built on the New England chowder template, where rendered pork fat, potatoes, and dairy do the heavy lifting. What sets it apart from a thin broth is the roux: flour is toasted in the bacon fat before the liquid goes in, so the finished bowl carries body and a velvety cling rather than sitting watery. Chicken stock, milk, and a hit of heavy cream form the base, while bay leaves and softened onion and garlic quietly deepen the background flavor as the potatoes simmer to tenderness.
The eating experience is all comfort: smoky, salty bacon threaded through soft potato cubes and an oniony cream that coats the spoon. It leans rich without being heavy-handed, and the crisped bacon reserved from the start gives each bite a savory, crackly counterpoint to the soft potato. This is cold-weather food, a lunch or dinner that wants little more than crusty bread and maybe a scatter of chives or extra bacon on top. It comes together in about forty minutes in a single pot, which makes it a practical weeknight answer to a craving for something warming.
Bacon Potato Chowder: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Bacon Potato Chowder?
One serving of Bacon Potato Chowder has about 470 calories, with 17g of protein, 40g of carbs, 29g of fat and 5g of fiber. These are estimates based on the ingredient amounts in this recipe and will vary with your exact portions and brands.
Is Bacon Potato Chowder gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains All-purpose flour. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
Is Bacon Potato Chowder dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Milk, Heavy cream, Butter. Swapping those for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Bacon Potato Chowder take to make?
About 40 minutes start to finish, but only around 26 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Bacon Potato Chowder?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out bay leaves — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Bacon Potato Chowder make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.