Few ingredients stretch a grocery budget quite like a bag of potatoes. Turn them into soup and you have a filling dinner, roast them for a super easy side dish, or add them to breakfast and everyone stays full a whole lot longer. This collection of easy potato recipes offers plenty of ideas for putting that humble bag to work, including soups, salads, casseroles, crispy sides, and breakfasts. If you also have sweet potatoes to use up, there is a separate sweet potato recipes roundup worth checking.
Potato Soup Recipes
There are not too many things better than a big, warm, cozy bowl of potato soup. Adding potatoes to any soup recipe instantly takes it to an entirely new level. Here are the top picks for the best potato soups.
1. Classic Potato Soup
This easy Classic Potato Soup recipe turns a handful of everyday ingredients into a thick, creamy, and deeply comforting meal in under an hour. It is thick and creamy, but there is no heavy cream or expensive add-ins in sight. The recipe makes six generous servings for around $0.90 each, making it serious budget comfort food.
2. Ham and Potato Soup
This ham and potato soup is creamy but not too heavy and loaded with fresh veggies and salty ham. It is perfect for the seasonal transition. Got leftover ham? Turn it into this cozy soup loaded with tender potatoes, carrots, celery, and salty ham for the easiest dinner soup ever. You can also use a ham steak if you do not have leftovers waiting in the fridge.
3. Zuppa Toscana
Zuppa Toscana is a creamy, filling, and flavorful soup with Italian sausage, potatoes, and kale. It is just like The Olive Garden’s, but made from scratch. This version is packed with Italian sausage, kale, creamy potatoes, and white beans in a rich and flavorful broth. It is hearty, veggie-packed, and exactly the sort of cozy soup that belongs on the menu once the weather starts to cool down.
4. Potato Leek Soup
This creamy Potato Leek Soup recipe is rich and cozy, made with buttery leeks, tender potatoes, and a few simple techniques for the best texture. It keeps things simple with tender potatoes and mild, buttery leeks in a flavorful broth. Some of the potatoes are mashed and blended while others are kept whole, leaving a really nice mix of silky soup and tender potato pieces.
5. Potato Corn Chowder
This creamy Potato Corn Chowder is the ultimate vegetarian comfort food. With tender potatoes, corn, and a rich, velvety broth, it is seriously delicious. Sweet corn and tender potatoes make this chowder extra hearty without sending the grocery bill through the roof. It makes eight servings for about $0.68 each.
6. Creamy Loaded Potato Soup
Loaded Potato Soup is like your favorite baked potato with all the fixins, including bacon, sour cream, green onion, and cheese, but in a bowl. It takes classic potato soup firmly into comfort-food territory with chunky potato pieces, a velvety creamy base, and plenty of room for all your favorite toppings. Add bacon, cheese, green onions, sour cream, or whatever you have on hand.
More Hearty Main Dishes Featuring Potatoes
Potatoes are not just for side dishes. They are also one of the favorite ways to bulk up a meal without spending a lot of extra money, and they really do fill you up for pennies.
7. Ham and Potato Casserole
This Ham and Potato Casserole is insanely delicious and absolutely perfect when you want something a little extra special for breakfast or brunch. It is loaded with tender potatoes, salty ham, sharp cheddar, and a creamy homemade sauce. Everything bakes together until hot, bubbly, and golden around the edges. It is hearty enough for dinner, but it also works really well for brunch, holidays, or anytime you need an easy meal that feeds a crowd.
8. Sheet Pan Kielbasa, Potatoes, and Green Beans
Sheet pan meals do not get any easier or more delicious than this Sheet Pan Kielbasa Potatoes and Green Beans dinner. You only need six ingredients, making it a great option for busy nights. The smoky kielbasa and steak seasoning give those potatoes so much flavor as they cook. You will not need much else here, as this is already a full meal on one pan.
9. Smoky Potato Chickpea Stew
This Smoky Potato Chickpea Stew is a hearty and filling plant-based dish that will keep you full and warm this winter. It is full of lots of veggies and simmered in a smoky, warm broth that is perfect year-round but especially during the winter season. It is a totally vegan soup that is great to stock the freezer with.
Potato Salad Recipes
Whether you like your potato salad creamy and classic, warm and tangy, or with a little Cajun kick, these easy potato salads are perfect for cookouts and potlucks. There is no need to wait for summer to come back around again to make them.
10. Classic Southern Potato Salad
This creamy Potato Salad uses both mustard and mayonnaise for a super flavorful dressing that is rich, tangy, and classic. It has a rich mayo-and-mustard dressing, tender potatoes, and plenty of crunch from celery and green onions. It is an easy, crowd-friendly side for cookouts, holidays, or pretty much any family gathering.
11. German Potato Salad
This Southern German-style potato salad is made with tender potatoes, crispy bacon, onions, and a tangy mustard-vinegar dressing instead of mayo. If you want a break from the usual creamy potato salad, this version offers a completely different flavor and texture from the classic.
12. Cajun Potato Salad
Cajun Potato Salad is creamy, spicy, smoky, and absolutely packed with flavor. It is the perfect side dish for any summer gathering. It has a little bit of a kick thanks to the Cajun seasoning and a dash of hot sauce, but it still maintains that creamy, delicious flavor and texture.
Classic Side Dishes
Mashed, baked, roasted, smothered in cheese: potatoes really can do it all. These classic sides are cozy, budget-friendly, easy, and always welcome at the dinner table.
13. Mashed Potatoes
Follow these easy steps to make the smoothest, fluffiest, cloud-like mashed potatoes you have ever had, plus ideas for more flavor add-ins. A big bowl of buttery mashed potatoes is pretty hard to beat when you are craving comfort but trying to stay within budget. This classic version is fluffy, creamy, genuinely easy to make, and versatile enough to serve with everything, from stews and casseroles to meatloaf and roasted veggies.
14. Classic Baked Potatoes
Learn how to make the best baked potatoes with flavorful, crispy skin and fluffy insides in three easy steps. Baked potato topping ideas are included. A classic baked potato is one of those budget-friendly sides that is inexpensive, filling, and that crispy skin and fluffy center is the perfect blank canvas for whatever toppings you have on hand.
15. Twice Baked Potatoes
Twice baked potatoes are the ultimate comfort food featuring fluffy mashed potatoes, bacon, cheddar cheese, and more delicious toppings. They are loaded with bacon, cheese, sour cream, and butter, then baked until golden on top with crisp potato skins. They are a little more indulgent than a regular baked potato, but still easy and budget-friendly.
16. Scalloped Potatoes
These rich and creamy scalloped potatoes are the perfect comfort food side dish to pair with your holiday meal or any weeknight dinner. They prove that a few budget-friendly ingredients can still make a side dish feel extra special. Thinly sliced potatoes are layered with a rich, velvety milk-based sauce, then baked until tender and creamy.
17. Potatoes Au Gratin
Thinly sliced potatoes baked in a creamy, cheesy sauce make this Potatoes Au Gratin recipe pure potato casserole heaven. When only cheesy potatoes will do, make potatoes au gratin. It has layers of tender potatoes and plenty of cheddar, all baked together until bubbly and golden on top.
18. Oven Roasted Potatoes
These Oven Roasted Potatoes are an easy side made with russet potatoes, a quick parboil, and simple seasonings for deeply golden edges and fluffy centers. Roasted potatoes are a favorite low-fuss side because they can go in the oven while you work on the rest of dinner. The quick par-boil roughs up the surface and helps create extra crispy, deeply golden edges in the oven, while the centers stay wonderfully soft and creamy.
Breakfast Recipes
Potatoes for breakfast? Absolutely. They are an inexpensive way to make breakfast a whole lot more filling, whether you crisp them in a skillet, roast them in the oven, or pair them with eggs and ham. These recipes are perfect for weekend breakfasts, brunch, and meal prep.
19. Ham and Potato Frittata
Potatoes, eggs, and ham come together in this ham and potato frittata for a seriously filling breakfast on a budget. The thinly sliced potatoes bulk out the frittata without adding much cost, and it reheats well, so you can cook once and have breakfast ready for the next few days.
20. Skillet Breakfast Potatoes
These Skillet Breakfast Potatoes have a buttery, tender inside and crispy golden brown outside. They are so good, super easy, and always a favorite. They are buttery and tender in the middle with crisp, golden edges, and they cook right on the stovetop. Serve them with eggs and toast for an easy, filling breakfast.
21. Smoky Roasted Breakfast Potatoes
These Smoky Roasted Breakfast Potatoes cook in the oven, leaving your hands and pans free to cook your eggs and enjoy a stress-free breakfast. Add them to your next weekend breakfast or brunch when you want an easy, mostly hands-off side. A generous sprinkle of smoked paprika gives them tons of flavor, and because they cook in the oven, you can get on with the eggs, bacon, or whatever else you are serving alongside them.
22. Country Breakfast Bowls
Country breakfast bowls combine roasted potatoes, scrambled eggs, salsa, and cheese for an easy freezer-friendly make ahead breakfast meal prep. If mornings are hectic, these bowls are a great one to meal prep ahead of time. Seasoned roasted potatoes are topped with scrambled eggs, salsa, and cheddar for a filling breakfast you can stash in the fridge or freezer. Then all you need to do in the morning is heat one up and dig in.
