✔ Updated · new copycat recipe with step photos, a baked vs boiled potato comparison and Outback's own menu listing
This copycat Outback potato soup is the thick, creamy loaded baked potato soup from the steakhouse, with bacon, sharp cheddar and green onions piled on top. It's the bowl I make when the oven is on anyway and the potatoes can bake alongside dinner.
How Do You Make Outback Potato Soup at Home? (Quick Answer)
Bake 3 pounds of russet potatoes at 400°F until tender. Crisp 8 slices of bacon in a Dutch oven, then soften a diced onion and garlic in the fat with butter, stir in 1/3 cup of flour for a minute and whisk in 4 cups of chicken broth, 2 cups of milk and 1 cup of cream. Add the potatoes, half mashed and half cubed, simmer 10 minutes, then stir in sour cream and sharp cheddar off the boil. Top with cheese, bacon and green onions.
At a glance
The one tip that matters: Bake the potatoes, don't boil them. Baked russets taste roasty and nutty, and they soak up less water, so the soup stays thick instead of turning thin and pasty.
Why You'll Love This Potato Soup
- Tastes like a loaded baked potato in a bowl with bacon, cheddar, sour cream and green onions in every spoonful.
- Thick without being gluey because half the potatoes are mashed into the broth and half stay in soft chunks.
- Mostly hands-off the potatoes bake on their own while you crisp the bacon and build the base.
- Feeds eight and reheats well for lunches through the week.
- Built from what Outback serves a baked potato soup topped with cheese, bacon and green onions, no fancy ingredients.
What Is in Outback's Baked Potato Soup?
Outback's online menu lists the soup as Loaded Baked Potato Soup, sold by the cup or the crock, and shows the calories (about 250 for a cup, 450 for a crock). The restaurant doesn't publish an ingredient list, and the crock arrives topped with shredded cheese, crumbled bacon and sliced green onions.
So this copycat is built from what's in the bowl: a creamy, pale soup with soft chunks of baked russet, a hint of onion, plenty of cheddar and bacon through it, and those toppings piled on. The amounts are mine. It's inspired by the steakhouse version, not a recipe from the restaurant.
Ingredient Notes
Exact amounts are in the recipe card below.
- Russet potatoes: fluffy and starchy, so they thicken the soup on their own. Four large ones is about 3 pounds.
- Thick-cut bacon: you want big crumbles on top and the fat in the pot. Regular bacon works; use 10 slices.
- Butter and flour: a quick roux that keeps the soup smooth and stops the dairy splitting.
- Chicken broth: low-sodium, because the bacon and cheese bring plenty of salt.
- Whole milk and heavy cream: milk keeps it from being too heavy, cream gives it body. All milk works but the soup is thinner.
- Sour cream: the tang that makes it taste like a loaded baked potato. Full fat only; light sour cream can curdle.
- Sharp cheddar: shredded from a block. Colby Jack is a milder, meltier swap if your crowd prefers it.
- Green onions: sliced thin, added at the table so they stay bright and crunchy.
Step-by-Step Photos
Here's how it comes together. Exact amounts, times and temperatures are in the recipe card below.
Tips for Success
- Bake the potatoes ahead. I bake mine the night before, when the oven is already on for dinner, and keep them in the fridge. Cold baked potatoes cube cleanly and the soup comes together in 25 minutes the next day.
- Russets only. Yukon Golds make a lovely soup, but they're waxy and creamy, not fluffy. Russets fall apart into the broth and give you that thick, spoon-standing texture the steakhouse version has.
- Cook the flour for a full minute. My mum taught me to count it out loud, and I still do. Rushing it leaves a pasty, raw-flour taste in the finished soup.
- Shred your own cheddar. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in starch and melts into grainy little specks. A block of sharp cheddar on a box grater takes 2 minutes and melts like silk.
- Add the cheese off a boil. Once the dairy goes in, keep the pot at a bare simmer. Boiling cheddar and sour cream is how you get a broken, oily soup, and it happens fast.
- Keep some skins. I peel half the potatoes and leave the skins on the rest. The flecks of skin look like a real baked potato and add a little chew.
- Thin it on day two. This soup thickens a lot in the fridge. Reheat it gently with a splash of milk or broth, stirring, until it's back to a ladle-able consistency.
- Save the bacon fat. Those 2 tablespoons left in the pot carry more flavor than any seasoning you could add. If your bacon is lean, add an extra tablespoon of butter.
Copycat Outback Potato Soup (Loaded Baked Potato Soup)
8
servings15
minutes1
hour15
minutes430
kcal1
hour30
minutesA copycat-style version of the Loaded Baked Potato Soup at Outback Steakhouse: baked russet potatoes stirred into a creamy roux-thickened broth with bacon, sharp cheddar and sour cream, then topped with more cheese, bacon and green onions. Serves 8.
Ingredients
- For the Soup
3 pounds russet potatoes (about 4 large)
8 slices thick-cut bacon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, freshly shredded
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- For the Toppings
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup reserved crumbled bacon
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
Directions
- Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Scrub the potatoes, prick them a few times with a fork and bake them directly on the rack for 50 to 60 minutes, until a knife slides in with no resistance. Let them cool until you can handle them.
- While the potatoes bake, cook the bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Move it to a paper towel, crumble it, and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat.
- Add the butter and onion to the bacon fat and cook over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds, then sprinkle over the flour and stir for a full minute so it loses the raw taste.
- Whisk in the chicken broth a cup at a time, scraping the bottom, then the milk and cream. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring often, and cook for 5 minutes until it thickens enough to coat a spoon.
- Peel about half the potatoes and cube the rest with the skins on, in rough 3/4-inch pieces. Mash the peeled half with a fork and stir both into the pot. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring now and then so nothing catches.
- Turn the heat to low. Stir in the sour cream, 1 1/2 cups of cheddar, half the bacon, the salt and pepper, and keep stirring until the cheese melts smoothly. Do not let it boil again. Taste and add salt if it needs it.
- Ladle into bowls and top each one with shredded cheddar, the remaining bacon, green onions and a spoonful of sour cream if you like. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.
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Baked vs Boiled Potatoes for Soup
Most potato soups start by boiling cubed potatoes in the broth. This one bakes them whole first, and it changes the bowl more than you'd think. Here's the honest comparison.
| Baked potatoes (this recipe) | Boiled potatoes | |
|---|---|---|
| Flavor | Roasty, nutty, tastes like a baked potato | Clean and mild |
| Texture | Thick and fluffy; chunks hold their shape | Thinner; chunks can go mushy |
| Time | 50 to 60 min in the oven, mostly hands-off | 15 to 20 min in the pot |
| Best for | A loaded baked potato soup copycat | A quick weeknight potato soup |
| Make-ahead | Bake potatoes up to 2 days ahead | Cook start to finish in one go |
Variations
Once you've made it the steakhouse way, it's an easy soup to play with.
- Extra loaded: stir 1 cup of the cheddar and all the bacon into the pot, then top with more of both and a few jalapeño slices.
- Lighter: use all whole milk, swap the sour cream for plain Greek yogurt stirred in off the heat, and halve the topping cheese.
- Broccoli cheddar potato: add 2 cups of small broccoli florets with the potatoes and simmer until tender.
- Smoky: use smoked cheddar for half the cheese and add 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika with the salt.
- Ham and potato: swap the bacon for 1 1/2 cups of diced leftover ham, added with the potatoes, and cook the onion in butter alone.
What to Serve With It
A crock of this is dinner on its own with something crunchy alongside. At home I go for a simple salad with my copycat Outback honey mustard dressing, or warm steakhouse-style rolls for dunking. For a game-day spread, put it next to a tray of loaded potato skins and let everyone double up on bacon and cheese.
Storage and Make-Ahead
Fridge: cool within 2 hours and keep covered for 3 to 4 days. It thickens a lot overnight, so reheat gently with a splash of milk or broth and stir until smooth and steaming hot, 165°F.
Freezer: I don't love freezing the finished soup, because the cream and cheese can go grainy. Freeze the base before the dairy goes in, up to 3 months, then finish it fresh.
Make-ahead: bake the potatoes and cook the bacon up to 2 days ahead. On the day, the soup takes about 25 minutes on the stove.
More Copycat Soup Recipes
If you like a restaurant soup at home, my copycat zuppa toscana has sausage, kale and potatoes in a creamy broth, and the chicken gnocchi soup is the other one my family asks for. For the plain, no-bacon, no-cheese version, my old-fashioned potato soup is the quicker weeknight pot, boiled on the stove in 40 minutes. You'll find every restaurant favorite I've recreated in our copycat recipes collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in Outback's potato soup?
Outback's menu lists it as Loaded Baked Potato Soup and serves it topped with shredded cheese, bacon and green onions. The restaurant does not publish a full ingredient list, so this copycat builds the same flavors from baked russets, a butter and flour roux, chicken broth, milk, cream, sour cream and sharp cheddar.
Does Outback make its potato soup with baked potatoes?
The name says baked potato soup, and that is how I make it: whole russets baked at 400°F until tender, then mashed and cubed into the creamy base. Baking gives a roasty flavor and a thicker texture than boiling, which waters the potatoes down.
How many calories are in Outback's baked potato soup?
Outback's own menu lists the Loaded Baked Potato Soup at about 250 calories for a cup and 450 calories for a crock, which varies a little by location. This homemade version works out at about 430 calories per generous serving, including the toppings.
Can I make Outback potato soup in a slow cooker?
Yes. Cook the bacon, onion, garlic and flour on the stove first, whisk in the broth, then move everything except the dairy and cheese to the slow cooker with the cubed baked potatoes. Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours, then stir in the milk, cream, sour cream and cheddar during the last 20 minutes.
How do I thicken potato soup without flour?
Mash more of the potatoes right in the pot, or blend 2 cups of the soup and stir it back in. For a gluten-free version, skip the flour and whisk 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into 1/4 cup of cold milk, then stir it into the simmering soup until it thickens.
Can you freeze loaded baked potato soup?
You can, but the texture suffers. Dairy-based potato soups can separate and turn grainy after thawing. If you want to freeze it, stop before adding the cream, sour cream and cheese, freeze the base for up to 3 months, then add the dairy when you reheat it.
How long does Outback potato soup last in the fridge?
Cool it within 2 hours and store it in a covered container for 3 to 4 days. Reheat gently on the stove or in the microwave until steaming hot, 165°F, adding a splash of milk to loosen it, since it sets up thick when cold.
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