Are you looking for the Best Leek and Potato Soup? This recipe requires few ingredients and is ready in a snap! It is simple, tasty, and takes very little effort. This is easily altered for a vegetarian or vegan diet as well!
Warm and Hearty-
On a cold evening, there is nothing I want more than a bowl of soup. It is stick to your ribs goodness that warms from the inside out. This recipe is especially nice, because it uses Yukon Gold Potatoes which have a nice buttery flavor to them. There’s a bonus: you don’t have to peel these potatoes which saves you time! I also like the earthiness the skins add to the soup.
Leek and Potato Soup Ingredients
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Why Yukon Gold Potatoes? They have a great flavor all their own, and you don’t need to peel them! In this recipe, I leave the skins on because I like the earthiness it brings to the soup, along with some extra texture. Another reason for leaving them on is it saves time. I am all about saving time in a busy day where I can! If you don’t want the skins you can of course peel the potatoes.
Leeks
Most recipes using leeks have you only use the white part. In this soup, the whole leek except the root end and the top inch or two of the green part go in the pot. Why? For one thing, the tops do have flavor! I am also not a big fan of kitchen waste so if I can use most or all of something, I am going to do it. Why buy leeks that you are going to throw away two thirds of when they can go in the soup? The green parts give it some color too!
Chicken Stock
If you want this to be a vegetarian soup, simply use vegetable stock in place of the chicken. This is not a recipe where I would recommend using water in place of the stock. Using chicken or vegetable stock really does add to the overall flavor profile.
Fresh Thyme
Don’t skip it! If you don’t want to pick tiny leaves off of stems, you can simply throw your bunches of fresh thyme into the pot and let them cook in the soup, and remove the stems at the end. The thyme leaves may or may not fall off the stems during the cooking process. Even if they don’t fall off into the soup, they still provide nice flavor. Try to use fresh instead of dried if you can, the flavor is so much better!
Heavy Cream
I like the richness this adds, but you are definitely free to make your leek and potato soup without cream if you prefer. If you want to make it vegan, you could try almond milk if you want to add a little body instead of the cream. I would stay away from coconut milk here, as it could add an unwelcome coconut flavor to the soup.
How to Make Leek and Potato Soup
This is such an easy recipe! I like to use a stick blender at the end to puree the soup just a little bit. I don’t do it too much because I like it a bit chunky myself.
If you don’t have a stick blender, you could put some of the soup in a blender and pulse it a few times. As an alternative, you can cut the leeks up a bit smaller instead of simply slicing them, and use a potato masher to break up the potatoes before adding the cream (if using). Even if you don’t have many kitchen gadgets you can still make this soup!
Be sure not to skip soaking the leeks in some cold water after chopping them. Leeks have very tight layers, and dirt, sand, and grit are easily trapped inside. By soaking them and rinsing them well, you ensure none of that makes it into your soup.
I like to chop the potatoes into larger chunks, about an inch and a half or so square. It helps with the chunkiness of the finished product and it takes a little less time to cut them into large pieces rather than small. The potatoes don’t need to be perfectly chopped, but the pieces should be roughly the same size to ensure they all cook at the same rate.
Serving Suggestions
I love this with a nice salad. My Arugula Salad with Parmesan, Pear, and Pecans would be a great side dish, as well as my Salad with Fried Goat Cheese. This soup is rather hearty, and stands well on its own as a main dish. Salad and bread are really all it needs to make a great meal.
If you tried this recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out! Just leave a rating or comment below, or take a picture and tag me @thecoppertable on Instagram, or share with your friends on social media! If you have not signed up for my newsletter, you can do that below. I have all sorts of exclusive content just for newsletter subscribers, and I’d love for you to join. Happy Cooking!
Yield: 6 Servings
The Best Leek and Potato Soup
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 2-3 Large Leeks (about two cups sliced)
- 2 Pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes
- 2 Tbsp Avocado or Sunflower Seed Oil
- 3 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 5 large sprigs Fresh Thyme
- 4 cups Chicken Stock (homemade or store bought)
- 1/3 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
Instructions
- Slice the leeks into 1/2 inch thick slices and use your fingers to separate the layers of leeks. Slice all the way up to about the last two inches from the very top, and discard the top part. Place them in a bowl of cold water to remove the grit and dirt.
- While the leeks soak, place the 2 Tbsp of oil in a large stock pot on medium heat.
- While the oil heats, cut the yukon gold potatoes into 1 to 1 1/2 inch cubes.
- Add the chopped potatoes to the pot, and while they start to cook drain the leeks by pouring them into a colander to drain the water, being sure to rinse so you get any remaining dirt off the leeks.
- Pat the leeks with paper towels to absorb any remaining water, and add them to the pot.
- Add the 3 1/2 tsp salt and 1 1/2 tsp pepper to the pot along with the springs of fresh thyme.
- Stir well, and cook for about 5-7 minutes, until the white part of the leeks are translucent and the potatoes begin to soften.
- Add the chicken stock and turn the heat up to bring to a boil.
- Once the soup is boiling, turn the heat to medium low and partially cover the pot, leaving a vent for air to escape.
- Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until you can easily pierce the potatoes with a fork. Remove the thyme springs from the soup (they are pretty easy to fish out with a wooden spoon).
- Using a stick blender, puree the soup just a bit, being sure to leave some chunks for a bit of texture. If you don't have a stick blender, you can use a potato masher.
- Add the 1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream and stir well to combine.
- Enjoy your soup!
Notes
This soup is great with some bacon! Simply chop about six pieces of bacon and cook in a non stick skillet. You can add the cooked bacon right to the soup after pureeing, or sprinkle on top before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 291Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 1611mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 9g
All information presented and written within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist or registered dietitian and any nutritional information should only be used as a general guideline. Statements within this site have not been evaluated or approved by the Food and Drug Administration.Nutritional information is provided for recipes contained on this site. This information comes from online calculators. Although The Copper Table attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
