Dairy Free Slow Cooker Potato Soup is so easy to make, cooks in the slow cooker while you are away and is dairy free but doesn't lack the flavor or thickness of typical potato soup.
I have been mostly dairy free for a while now and one of the foods I miss the most would be potato soup. There had been various recipes I had tried to replicate the flavor and thickness of classic potato soup, but I never could quite get it right. Until now. Now I have Dairy Free Slow Cooker Potato Soup and I couldn't be happier.
It scored well with the family as well. Even my husband who isn't a huge fan of potato soup said it was delicious.
So... What's the secret?
I had tried just using chicken broth, but it didn't taste, if you will, full enough. It needed the milk base for the true fullness of the classic potato soup. Could I? Could I really use almond milk? How would that taste and would the flavor be, well, odd?
Not only is the use of almond milk not odd, but it works wonderfully! The extra flavor adds well to the soup and it is delicious. I would not use sweetened almond milk because it won't end well. Stick with the unsweetened almond milk.
How do we put this together?
The first step is to peel and cut a lot of potatoes. About 7-8 medium sized potatoes to be exact. Hate peeling potatoes? Not my favorite either. A peeler with a good grip and is sharp makes a big difference.
After putting the potatoes in, pour in chicken broth and either dried onions or chopped onions. I used dried minced onions I got from a bulk store and love using them. So easy and delicious.
You can also add in either ham or bacon, if desired. I used ham as I had it leftover from a great Christmas sale. The soup doesn't need either, but it does add flavor. Then, cook in the crock pot. (I have this one and I like the large size and that it is a simple turn knob. What can I say, I like simplicity!)
How do we make the soup creamy without milk?
After you cook the soup, you need to make the soup creamy and it also needs to be thickened up. The best way to do this is to make a thickening agent, like with flour and margarine. The margarine will be melted, the flour added to it, then the milk. After that, the concoction will be poured into the soup.
The soup can be served after about 15 minutes or as long as 1 hour (while on low). The soup is dairy free, but if you can eat cheese (I can eat cheese), then you can garnish with cheese. Chopped green onions would be great on top as well.
Need more soup recipes?
Dairy Free Slow Cooker Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 8 medium potatoes peeled and diced
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoon dried onions
- 1½ cup diced ham you can use 6 strips cooked and crumbled bacon instead
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup margarine
- 1¼ cup almond milk unsweetened
Instructions
- Place potatoes, onions, chicken broth and ham in slow cooker and cook on low for 7 hours or high for 4 or until potatoes are soft
- After potatoes have cooked, in a medium saucepan melt the margarine, on medium heat, stirring often
- Add in the flour and whisk. It will look like flour mush. That is normal
- Slowly add in milk and whisk as you go. It will turn the flour mush into a thickened concoction. Let cook on the stove for 2-3 minutes while whisking
- Pour the mixture into the slow cooker and stir
- Let cook in crock pot for 15 minutes or up to an hour
- Serve with crackers, garnish with cheese and/or green onions
Leslie Osman
Oh... and I used ghee instead of butter or margarine :)
Leslie Osman
Just recently I decided to start making more soup... well, really, soup at all! I started with this recipe and it was easy AND delicious. And the next day... just as delicious! Thanks do much... The only thing that I'd like to add is that I don't like peeling potatoes either! I recently got a hand crank apple peeler from my mom and it worked pretty well. Had to clean up a few areas but it was fast!
Thanks for sharing this!
Kim
I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe! We love it here. I recently used leftover ham in place of bacon and we all thought it was great. Thanks for the comment!
Amy
I have made this recipe several times! It is a favorite! Recently I didn't have almond milk, so after the soup was ready, instead of doing the flour mixture, I used my immersion blender. It thickened the soup up beautifully! Didn't miss the milk at all. That's the way I make it now regularly!
Kim
That is a great idea! Thanks for sharing. This soup is so good... we enjoy it at our house!
Amy
I have made this recipe twice now, and it is DELICIOUS! My family loves it. I was wondering if you have ever frozen the leftovers?
Thanks
Kim
I am so glad you like it! I haven't frozen the leftovers and I am not sure it would work well. Potatoes sometimes have a mind of their own when it comes to freezing. They oftentimes get grainy. Just my thoughts on it without trying it.
Amy
This sounds amazing and I want to make it but I only have unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Do you recommend just plain unsweetened original almond milk? Or will the vanilla work?
Kim
I have used both in the past. The vanilla works and tastes great. You may notice a slight vanilla flavor in the soup, but we thought it tasted fabulous and I would use it again without hesitation.
Ellie
What if I don't have a slow cooker? How long would it take for cooking in a pot?
Kim
I was trying to think of how long it would take and to be honest, I have never tried to cook it on the stove. I don't want to give you a wrong time. I will make this on the stove sometime and update the post accordingly.
Ellie
Thank you!
Kristi Angert
I'd consider editing in your descriptions. You mention butter a lot, which is dairy. The ingredients list says margarine. I think that to make it clear that margarine and butter are not the same thing, only margarine should be mentioned.
Kim
Thanks for the tip! In my home, it's a habit to say butter (meaning margarine). I appreciate the thought on that and will adjust accordingly!