Do you love Marie Callender’s Potato Cheese Soup? Now you can make it at home in the slow cooker!
Hi all! I don’t know if I mentioned before that I worked at Marie Callender’s for about 5 years as a hostess, and pie server, but mostly I waitressed. I was even the bookkeeper too! Marie Callender’s Potato Cheese Soup was the most popular soup. When I ran into people around town and they found out I worked at Marie Callender’s, they would always say I love the potato cheese soup and cornbread there! Sadly our local Marie Callender’s has closed, so I had to figure out how to make this soup at home.
Over the years working at Marie Callender’s I learned what most of the ingredients were to this soup. Often customers would ask which soups of the day were vegetarian. I would have to go into the back and ask the Jimmy the cook. The potato cheese soup was not vegetarian, it has a chicken base he would tell me. Then Jimmy would go on how the soup has processed cheese in it, and a bit of regular cheese too. That’s all I remembered about the ingredients of this soup. I did some research by asking an old friend who worked at Marie Callender’s (for longer than I am alive!) if she remembered if the soup had celery. It does! She also reminded me that there was onions in the soup as well.
Working at Marie Callender’s has so many fond memories for me. I met my husband there, the very first week I started! I was the hostess with the mostess, he always jokes. And where else can you work and have pie for breakfast?
The beginnings of this soup is just broth, potatoes, onions and celery.
After the base of the soup cooks for 7-8 hours in the slow cooker, I add velveeta cheese, and sharp cheddar. You will notice in the recipe that I did not add salt. There is plenty of salt in the velveeta and chicken broth.
The soup turns out thick and creamy! Some of the potatoes get crushed when the cheese is stirred in, but that is a good thing. The crushed potatoes help thicken the soup.
I made Krusteaz Southern Style cornbread, and honey butter to go with this. I haven’t seen Marie Callender’s cornbread for a while at the store, it may because I always grab the Krusteaz lately and don’t notice any others.
You will love this soup! I wasn’t sure if I would like the soup with velveeta in it, but I think this is what most restaurants use because it really makes for a creamy cheesy soup. Have a great week!
Copycat Marie Callender’s Potato Cheese Soup {Slow Cooker}
Equipment Needed:
Ingredients:
- 32 oz. chicken broth
- 7 cups potatoes (6-7 cups), peeled and 1/4 inch sliced
- 1/2 cup white onion diced
- 1 1/2 cups celery diced
Add this add the end!
- 16 oz. velveeta cheese (this is the smaller box)
- 8 oz. sharp cheese grated (do not buy pre-shredded or it won't melt well)
Optional Serving Ideas
- cornbread
- honey butter
Instructions:
- Add the chicken broth, potatoes, onion, and celery to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours.
- Cut the velveeta into small cubes, add that and the shredded sharp cheddar to the slow cooker, stir gently until the cheese melts. (Some potatoes will break apart, this is ok because it will help thicken the soup.)
- Serve with cornbread and honey butter, enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
I love Marie Callender potato cheese soup so I was looking forward to trying this recipe. I followed it exactly and the soup was OK, it just didn’t taste like Marie’s. I thought that maybe the next day it would taste better. It didn’t, so I added a little 1/2 & 1/2 and a tablespoon of butter. That made it richer tasting but not like Marie’s recipe.
I’ve made the recipe in the crockpot and on the range top.
I’ve made it to the precise ingredients and with one difference – sautéed the onion in butter, then added chicken stock and celery followed by potatoes, etc.
I will say that 2 tbs of butter made a huge difference as far as smoothness was concerned for me (personal preference).
Tastes just the way I remembered it.
So great to hear! I will try the butter, thanks for the tip.
I make it every 2 months or so. My wife and I just love it. Thanks very much mmmm
This was soooooo good, been looking for a recipe like this for a long time. So glad I found this as our Marie Calendars closed. So now I still get my soup. Yay. Thanks for sharing
I’m so happy to hear that! We have a Marie Callender’s about 4 hours away. We never get over there.
I’m glad I found this recipe. I’m making it tonight. I love this recipe. Taste just like Marie Callender’s potato cheese soup. All I need is my messy burger from Marie Callender’s and it’s like being at the restaurant. Thanks again for the wonderful recipe.
My husband and I own a deli. I make our soups daily.
This recipe is very tasty, but do NOT use velveeta cheese. And don’t use vegetable or chicken “broth”.
Restaurants use soup base, but at home choices are Cooking Stock (right next to the broth in grocery stores) or a concentrate – Better Than Bouillon is one.
Velveeta and CheezWhiz have very distinct flavors. And although they are processed, you need American Cheese – either packaged (singles) or a block. It is also available as White American.
Most grocery service delis have it by the pound, but prepackaged is usually a bit cheaper.
Also, a golden potato, like Yukon, will hold its shape a bit better than a russet. Cube potatoes for a crockpot recipe but slice if you are hurrying the recipe on the stove top.
Great recipe. Thank you for sharing!