Snow Day Soup

Snow Day Soup is the ultimate cozy, hearty, and soul-warming comfort food that’ll have your family rushing to the kitchen! This creamy, loaded soup combines crispy bacon, tender potatoes, sweet corn, and rotisserie chicken in a rich, velvety broth that’s pure magic on a cold winter day.

Love More Soup Recipes? Try My Cheesy Beef and Potato Soup or this Bacon Cheddar Gnocchi Soup next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This Snow Day Soup is everything you want in comfort food – it’s creamy without being heavy, loaded with hearty ingredients that actually fill you up, and can be made in either your Instant Pot or slow cooker! What makes this recipe absolutely irresistible is how it transforms simple pantry staples into something that tastes like it’s been simmering all day. The bacon adds that smoky richness, the potatoes make it satisfying, and the corn brings just the right touch of sweetness.

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Ingredient List

Main Ingredients:

• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 tablespoon bacon grease (don’t you dare throw this away)
• ½ cup diced onion
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 20 ounces peeled and cubed russet potatoes (about 3-4 medium ones)
• 2 cups chopped, cooked rotisserie chicken
• 1 cup frozen sweet corn

Seasonings:

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• Pinch of red pepper flakes

For the Creamy Base:

• 3 cups milk (I use 2% because that’s what we drink)
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¼ cup cold water

Why These Ingredients Work

So here’s what I’ve figured out after making this soup way too many times. That bacon grease is absolutely essential – I made it with olive oil once when I forgot to save the grease and it was just bland. My kids immediately knew something was off and started complaining before they even tried it.

Russet potatoes are the only ones that work right. They get soft and kind of dissolve a little, which makes the whole thing thick without me having to do anything fancy. I used red potatoes one time because that’s what I had and the soup stayed watery no matter what I did. Had to use like twice as much cornstarch.

The rotisserie chicken is honestly just because I’m lazy. I buy two every weekend at Sam’s Club and use them for everything – sandwiches, salads, soup, whatever. And frozen corn is way better than canned for this. Canned corn gets all mushy and weird. My mom insists fresh corn is better but who has time to cut corn off the cob on a Tuesday?

Essential Tools and Equipment

• Instant Pot or slow cooker (whichever one is clean)
• Regular skillet for the onion
• Sharp knife (mine desperately needs sharpening)
• Cutting board that doesn’t slide around
• Small bowl for cornstarch mixing
• Ladle for serving
• Measuring cups (good luck finding a complete set)

How To Make Snow Day Soup

Instant Pot Instructions

Step 1: Sauté the Aromatics

Turn your Instant Pot to sauté and wait until it says HOT. Throw in that bacon grease and the chopped onion. Cook for about 3 minutes until the onion gets soft and translucent.

Step 2: Build the Base

Pour in the chicken broth and scrape up any brown crusty bits with a wooden spoon. Don’t skip this part – those bits taste good. Hit cancel to turn off the sauté function so nothing burns.

Step 3: Add the Hearty Ingredients

Add potatoes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, corn, and chicken. Stir it once or twice. It’s going to look crowded but everything fits, I promise.

Step 4: Pressure Cook to Perfection

Put the lid on, make sure the vent is set to sealing, and hit the soup button. It’ll cook for 4 minutes. When it beeps, let it sit for 5 minutes before you release the pressure manually. I learned this the hard way when I rushed it and got potato chunks all over my ceiling.

Step 5: Create the Creamy Magic

This next part is super important. You cannot just dump cold milk into hot soup or it’ll curdle and look disgusting. Trust me on this one. Take about a cup of the hot soup and pour it into your milk, stir it around, then pour that mixture back into the pot. This prevents the curdling thing.

Step 6: Thicken to Perfection

Mix cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl until it’s completely smooth – no lumps at all or you’ll get weird gloppy bits. Turn the Instant Pot back to sauté mode and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Keep stirring for 5-10 minutes until it gets thick and creamy like you want.

Step 7: Serve and Enjoy

Scoop into bowls, sprinkle bacon on top, and watch your family inhale it. My kids fight over who gets seconds.

Slow Cooker Instructions

Step 1: Start with the Aromatics

Cook the onion in bacon grease in a regular pan for 3 minutes. I usually do this while I’m making my morning coffee. Dump everything into the slow cooker.

Step 2: Layer the Goodness

Add broth, potatoes, all the seasonings, corn, and chicken. Give it one stir and walk away.

Step 3: Low and Slow Magic

Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours until potatoes are fork-tender. I start this around 2 if I want dinner at 6. The smell starts getting really good around hour 2.

Step 4: Add the Creaminess

Stir in the milk (tempered exactly like above) and cornstarch slurry. Cook uncovered on high for 15-20 minutes until thick.

Step 5: Bacon Finale

Top with bacon crumbles and serve.

You Must Know

The milk tempering thing is not optional. I ruined an entire batch by dumping cold milk straight in and it looked like chunky cottage cheese soup. Totally inedible. Also, make sure that cornstarch mixture is completely smooth – any little lumps turn into gross gel balls in the soup.

Personal Secret: I cook bacon in my air fryer at 400 for 8 minutes. Way less mess than the stovetop and it gets perfectly crispy. Plus I can save all the grease without dealing with a greasy pan.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

• Cut potatoes roughly the same size or some will be mush while others are still hard
• Don’t skip the 5-minute pressure release – I’ve learned this lesson multiple times
• Taste before serving and add salt if needed – some broths are saltier than others
• Stir in shredded cheese at the end if you want it richer
• I prep bacon and cut potatoes the night before when I actually plan ahead

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

• Add sour cream and extra cheese for loaded baked potato soup vibes
• Throw in a diced jalapeño with the onions if you like heat
• Fresh herbs from my pathetic windowsill garden make it fancy
• Diced carrots because my pediatrician says my kids need more vegetables
• Extra red pepper flakes because my husband thinks everything needs to be spicier

Make-Ahead Options

Make everything except the milk part and refrigerate for 2-3 days. When you want to eat it, reheat and add the milk and cornstarch. I also prep ingredients the night before sometimes – just keep cut potatoes in water or they’ll turn brown. Learned that from watching my mom cook growing up.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

If it’s too thick, add more milk. If it’s too thin, make more cornstarch slurry and stir it in while it’s hot. The soup keeps thickening as it cools, so don’t freak out if it seems thin when it’s hot. Russet potatoes really do work best – I’ve tried others and they just don’t give the same creamy texture.

Serving Suggestions

Perfect with crusty bread for dunking, or grilled cheese if you want the full comfort food experience. Sometimes I make a simple salad but honestly this soup is filling enough on its own. Cornbread is amazing with it too, especially the kind from a box because I’m not Martha Stewart.

How to Store Your Snow Day Soup

Leftovers go in the fridge for up to 4 days, though mine never lasts that long. It gets thicker when cold so add milk when reheating. I freeze individual portions in glass containers and they keep for months. Thaw overnight and reheat slowly – you’ll probably need to thin it with more milk.

Allergy Information

Contains dairy from the milk. Might contain gluten depending on your broth – check the label. Using cornstarch keeps it gluten-free if your broth is too. For dairy-free, I’ve tried oat milk and it works okay, just not as creamy. No nuts or eggs unless your broth has weird ingredients.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can I use different potatoes?

Sure, but russets really are best because they break down and thicken the soup naturally. I tried red potatoes once and had to use way more cornstarch. Yukon might work too but I haven’t tested it.

Help, my soup is too salty!

Been there. Cut up another potato and simmer it in the soup for 10 minutes, then fish it out. The potato absorbs salt. You can also add more milk to dilute it, or serve with lots of bread.

Can I make this on the stovetop?

Yeah, use a big Dutch oven. Sauté the onions, add everything else, bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 25 minutes until potatoes are tender. Add milk and cornstarch the same way.

My milk curdled, now what?

This happens when you add cold milk to super hot soup. Try whisking really hard or blending part of it to smooth it out. Next time, do the tempering step – it really matters.

💬 Made this soup? Tell me how it turned out! I love hearing about your snow day soup adventures and any changes you made. Share your stories below!