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As soon as the weather cools, you can be sure this Rosemary Potato Soup recipe is simmering on my stove top! This creamy (and relatively guilt-free) soup includes the rich flavors of potato, garlic and fresh rosemary herb. Additional toppings like bacon and green onions take this delicious soup over-the-top.

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Guilt-Free Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Potato Soup Recipe

I’ve been making this soup for years, much to the delight of my family. It’s a two-step process (roasting the potatoes, onions and garlic) then blending ingredients to prepare the soup. I like that I can prepare the potatoes ahead of time and then put together the soup quickly for dinner so it’s hot and ready. 

This soup is appropriately creamy and flavorful with a wholesome thickness. What makes it guilt free? While this cream soup does include half and half, it skips the heavy cream and butter. The creaminess and thickness of the soup comes from the mashed potatoes. I’ve also successfully subbed in milk instead of half and half in a pinch. You’ll lose a little bit of the thickness but it’s still soooo flavorful! Even my soup-hating kid loves this recipe because it tastes like a loaded baked potato! 

Directions for Rosemary Potato Soup Recipe

You’ll peel only half of the potatoes in this recipe, leaving the other half unpeeled and left in chunks inside the finished soup. Creamy but still has tender chunks of potato, all with the rich flavor of garlic and rosemary blended in. I’ve made this soup with both Yukon Gold and russets. Whatever potato you have on hand should be just fine.

Place the unpeeled potato cubes on one side of the casserole dish and the peeled on the other side. You’ll want to keep them separated. When preparing the soup, the peeled potatoes will be mashed to create the creamy base. The cubes of unpeeled potatoes are left as chunks in the soup, to create texture.

Rosemary and Garlic

I’m lucky to have several big rosemary bushes growing in my yard. Rosemary is fantastic for use in cooking and it’s so handy to have it just outside the door! Fresh herbs are pricey when store-bought. And if you have it growing in the yard, it’s one less thing to pick up at the grocery store, right? Super easy to grow as well. I used a total of four long springs in my recipe but if you’re buying the rosemary, it would probably be the entire package.

Pull the rosemary from the stem and mince. Sprinkle across the top of the potatoes and onions. Remove the dry outer papers from the outside of the garlic bulbs, without pulling the cloves apart. Nestle the bulbs in the middle of the potatoes, between the peeled and unpeeled.

The garlic bulbs should be sliced across the top to expose the bulbs inside. Drizzle olive oil on each clove and then across the potatoes. Cover the casserole dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for an hour. The potatoes and onions should be tender.

Preparing the Soup

Once the potatoes and garlic are done cooking, remove the garlic bulbs from the pan to cool slightly. Carefully squeeze the garlic paste from each clove into a large pot (I use a Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven). 

Scoop out only the peeled potatoes and the onions from that side of the casserole dish to add to the pot. Use a potato masher to mash and cream the cooked potatoes and garlic paste until almost smooth. Add in half the broth and all of the flour and pepper to the mashed potato mixture in the pot. Continue to use the potato masher until nearly smooth.

Over medium heat, add the remainder of the broth, the peeled potatoes and onions on the other half of the pan and all of the half & half to the pot. Cook and stir until bubbling and hot. Ladle into a bowl and add toppings (see next section for suggestions).

How to Serve Rosemary Potato Soup

This soup is wonderful served as a meal of its own. It’s warm and hearty by itself but we often serve it alongside these side dishes: 

• A fresh green salad
• Accompaniment to a sandwich
• Buttered bread or dinner rolls

Additional Add-ins to Rosemary Potato Soup

While this soup is delicious on its own, there are optional mix-ins you can add to this soup recipe. We served our soup with both bacon and green onions for a “loaded baked potato” flavor. You could go completely over-the-top and add shredded cheese too, wow!

• Diced green onions
• Chopped cooked ham
• Chopped cooked chicken breast
• Bits of cooked and crumbled bacon

Reheating this Rosemary Potato soup recipe

Warm the leftover soup back up in a pot on the stove over low heat. Drizzle a little milk as you stir to reheat. It will come out even more delicious than the first day!

For another hearty soup recipe, try this budget-friendly  Bean and Lentil Soup Recipe.

Freezing Leftover Soup

This recipe for rosemary potato soup will yield about 10-12 bowls of soup. If you aren’t feeding a large family, you can easily halve this recipe to make a smaller pot of soup. Or make the recipe as is, then cool the leftovers and pour them into a gallon-sized freezer bag. Lay the bag flat and freeze for up to 6 months. Place in the refrigerator to defrost overnight, then transfer to a pot for reheating.

Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Potato Soup Recipe

Yield: 10-12 bowls

Creamy and hearty soup with roasted garlic and potatoes with rosemary is rich and flavorful.

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Ingredients

• 12 small-medium sized Russets or Yukon gold potatoes
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 2 bulbs garlic
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 28 oz chicken broth = 2 cans of broth (or 2 bouillon cube & 4 cups of water)
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 cups half and half (or milk)
• 1 bundle of chopped green onion

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel and cube five potatoes.
3. Cube other five potatoes, leaving the skins on.
4. In a 9 x 9 pan, place peeled potatoes on one side with the unpeeled on the other side of the pan.
5. Sprinkle chopped onion and chopped rosemary on top of the potatoes.
6. Peel off dry outsides of garlic bulbs. Keeping the bulbs intact, cut across the top, exposing the cloves.
7. Place garlic bulbs upright on top of potatoes in the middle of the pan, then drizzle olive oil across potatoes and garlic bulbs.
8. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake, covered for 60 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and remove clove from pan to cool. Squeeze the garlic paste from each clove into a large pot.
10. To the pot, add cooked peeled potatoes and half cooked onion. Use a potato masher (or immersion blender) to mash the potatoes until almost smooth.
11. Add in half the broth and all of the flour and pepper. Continue to use the potato masher until nearly smooth.
12. Add in remainder of potatoes (cooked and unpeeled), the rest of the cooked onion, broth and all of the half and half.
13. Cook on medium-low until bubbling, stirring often.
14. Add optional mix-in (green onion, chopped cooked ham, cooked and crumbled bacon) just before serving.

Notes

This recipe can easily be halved. See original post for optional add-ins.

This post was originally published on Oct 25, 2016 and has been updated and republished.