|

Potato Chowder In The Instant Pot

Share all the things you love!

Making potato chowder in the Instant Pot is quick and easy. This delicious potato chowder with bacon is ready to eat in about 30 minutes!

A pin with the title at the top and the bacon potato soup recipe shown finished at the bottom.

If you are looking for quick and easy dinner recipes this is a must try. Most Instant Pot soup recipes are easy but this one is also packed with flavor and perfectly suited for even the pickiest of eaters.

Potato chowder has pretty simple ingredients that all come together to make this easy soup recipe a family favorite. Even picky eaters love it because they can add their own cheese, bacon, and other toppings.

A side view of a bowl full of Instant Pot potato chowder ready to serve.

Instant Pot Potato Chowder

It doesn’t hurt that this is a potato chowder the whole family can enjoy. It’s made with lighter ingredients so you can even eat this Instant Pot soup on Weight Watchers! I’ll include the counts below so you can see how it counts for your plan be it blue, green, or purple.

Another pin for these delicious looking potato chowders in dishes ready to be eaten.

What you’ll need to make Instant Pot potato chowder at home:

  • non-stick oil spray
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 cups of coarsely chopped cauliflower florets (this is about ½ a medium-size head of cauliflower)
  • 1 cup or 1 medium Yukon gold potato, peeled and diced
  • 2 ribs of celery, sliced thinly (for extra flavor use the celery leaves too, optional)
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or if using fresh use 1 Tablespoon)
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ tsp ground black pepper, or adjust to taste
  • 1.5 cups low-sodium canned chicken broth
  • 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 2 cups of 2% reduced fat milk
  • ¾ cups shredded 50% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese (it’s about 3 ounces of cheese)
  • 2 Tablespoons Hormel Bacon bits
A top down view of a single bowl of the finished Instant pot soup recipes for potato chowder

How to make potato soup in the Instant Pot:

  1. Select Saute on your pressure cooker and set to 10 minutes. Then, when hot, spray the pot with some nonstick spray and add onion to saute until softened, this should take about 5 minutes. Next add the cauliflower, potato, celery, thyme and the salt and black pepper. Mix until well combined and cook the vegetables stirring now and then.
  2. While you wait for the veggies to soften a bit, whisk the flour with ½ cup of the chicken brown until it’s lump free and well combined. Carefully pour over the vegetables. Then pour in the remaining 1 cup of chicken broth and the milk into the pot, stir until well combined. Select the cancel button then carefully place the lid on the pot and set the valve to Sealing. Next select the Pressure Cook button and set to Low Pressure with a time of 4 minutes.
  3. Once the cooking time has completed, select cancel to turn off the machine. Allow to sit and naturally release pressure for about 8 to 10 minutes. If you try to release sooner you’ll end up with a big mess because the soup broth will come spurting out, so it’s best to allow some of the pressure to naturally release. Next use a spoon to carefully turn valve to Venting to release any remaining pressure. Open the lid facing away from your face. Stir in ½ cup of the cheese then allow the soup to cool for another 5 minutes before blending.
  4. Use an immersion or stick blender to puree the soup – please start slow and be careful as you don’t want the hot soup liquid to splash up and burn you. Blend until you have a smooth bisque. Serve in small bowls you can also top with a little bit of cheese and bacon bits. You may also sprinkle them and black pepper over each soup bowl if desired. 
A top down view of two dishes full of the delicious instant pot soup recipes.

Does this recipe use the Instant Pot soup setting?

This particular recipe does not make use of the soup setting on the Instant Pot. The Instant Pot soup setting is basically just a preset that puts the time in for you. It’s the same process if you put the pressure cook button and then adjust the time yourself, the only difference is in how many times you have to push buttons!

A top down view of the finished potato chowder in a bowl ready to be enjoyed.

What are the Weight Watchers points for this potato chowder with bacon?

This recipe makes 6 servings of 3 WW points each.

WW Courtesy Point Calculation

  • Be sure to calculate the points value of the foods and recipes you eat in the app.
  • Always add ingredients and serving sizes and don’t rely on the nutrition facts in the recipe.
  • Accuracy will come from the information you input on the app.
Image shows the finished potato chowder with cheese and bacon on top.

Please know that if you make changes or substitutions you need to recalculate the points and nutritional information for yourself. It’s also a good idea to do that anyway in case your particular brand of something is different from what I use, we all have to do what is best for us at the end of the day!

The recipe makes about 6 servings. If you divide it up into more than that you’ll be able to reduce the points a bit.  You can also reduce the points a bit by using skim milk or even 1% milk since the majority of the points for this recipe are coming from the milk!

These points do not count any toppings you might want to add to the soup. Be sure to count those as extra points if you add cheese or bacon to the top of your soup!

Do you have any other Instant Pot soup recipes?

I have a few great Instant Pot soup recipes here that are healthy, delicious, and perfect for cooler weather. There’s just something about cold weather that makes me crave a good soup or chili recipe, hopefully these will be ones you love as much as my family and I do.

Potato Chowder With Bacon Printable Recipe

Pin showing the finished potato chowder with cheese and bacon on top.
Featured image showing the finished Instant Pot potato chowder recipe.

Potato Chowder In The Instant Pot

Yield: 6 Servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • non-stick oil spray
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 cups of coarsely chopped cauliflower florets (this is about ½ a medium-size head of cauliflower)
  • 1 cup or 1 medium Yukon gold potato, peeled and diced
  • 2 ribs of celery, sliced thinly (for extra flavor use the celery leaves too, optional)
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or if using fresh use 1 Tablespoon)
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ tsp ground black pepper, or adjust to taste
  • 1.5 cups low-sodium canned chicken broth
  • 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 2 cups of 2% reduced fat milk
  • ¾ cups shredded 50% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese (it’s about 3 ounces of cheese)
  • 2 Tablespoons Hormel Bacon bits

Instructions

1. Select Saute on your pressure cooker and set to 10minutes. Then when hot spray the pot with some nonstick spray then add onion and saute until softened, this should take about 5 minutes. Next add the cauliflower, potato, celery, thyme and the salt and black pepper. Mix until well combined and cook the vegetables stirring now and then.

2. While you wait for the veggies to soften a bit, whisk the flour with ½ cup of the chicken brown until it’s lump free and well combined. Carefully pour over the vegetables. Then pour in the remaining 1 cup of chicken broth and the milk into the pot, stir until well combined. Select the Cancel button then carefully place the lid on the pot and set the valve to Sealing. Next select the Pressure Cook button and set to Low Pressure and time to 4 minutes.

3. Once the cooking time has completed, select Cancel to turn off the machine. Allow to sit and naturally release pressure for about 8 to 10 minutes. If you try to release sooner you’ll end up with a big mess because the soup broth will come spurting out, so it’s best to allow some of the pressure to naturally release. Next use a spoon to carefully turn valve to Venting to release any remaining pressure. Open the lid facing away from your face. Stir in ½ cup of the cheese then allow the soup to cool for another 5 minutes or so.

4. Use an immersion or stick blender to puree the soup – please start slow and be careful as you don’t want the hot soup liquid to splash up and burn you. Blend until you have a smooth bisque. Serve into small bowls topping with a little bit of cheese and bacon bits. You may also sprinkle them and black pepper over each soup bowl if desired.

Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 438Total Fat 26gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 12gCholesterol 83mgSodium 921mgCarbohydrates 20gNet Carbohydrates 0gFiber 3gSugar 7gSugar Alcohols 0gProtein 31g

As with any of our recipes, carb counts, calorie counts, WW points and nutritional information varies greatly. As a result, your nutritional content depends on which products you choose to use when cooking this dish. The auto-calculation is just an automated estimate and should NOT be used for specific dietary needs.

Share all the things you love!

Similar Posts

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *