Potato Leek Soup Recipe
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What I Love About My Potato Leek Soup
We love potato soups at my house, and my potato leek soup has been in my regular rotation for over 10 years. Here’s why:
- It’s simple. A handful of simple ingredients found in most grocery stores and one pot are all it takes for a restaurant-quality soup.
- It’s a classic with a bonus. This soup is also known as potage parmentier, and the same soup served chilled becomes vichyssoise, so it’s really two soups in one recipe.
- It’s naturally gluten free. No flour or thickener needed. Blending the potatoes is what gives this soup its creamy body.
- It reheats beautifully. I always make a full batch because it holds up so well as leftovers.
Table of Contents
Key Ingredient Notes
- Yukon Gold Potatoes: these are the best potatoes for potato leek soup. They have a natural sweetness and a soft, creamy texture once cooked, which gives the soup its smooth body. They are not overly starchy and not overly waxy. I’m a fan, and always get extra to make my oven roasted potatoes.
- Leeks: these have a milder, sweeter flavor than onions, and only the white and light green parts go into this soup. The dark green tops are tough, but you can save them for homemade stock. Look for firm, crisp stalks and avoid any with yellow or wilted tops.
- Chicken Stock: I love sneaking in my own homemade chicken stock whenever I can. I know exactly what’s in it, it has no preservatives, and the flavor turns out tastier and more balanced. Use vegetable stock to keep this soup vegetarian. If you need to use store-bought, I recommend using no-salt added or low sodium.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: this is what makes the soup rich and creamy. If you don’t have any on hand, a couple tablespoons of sour cream plus half and half or whole milk works well. For a dairy-free version, use a plant-based milk and a little plant-based sour cream.
How to Make Potato Leek Soup: Step by Step and Tips
To clean and cut the leek:
- Lay the leeks down on a cutting board and cut off the dark green leaves and the very bottom by the roots. Discard the dark green leaves or save it for making homemade vegetable stock.
- Cut the white stalks in half, length-wise. Rinse off each half under some cold running water. Make sure to get in between the layers because dirt likes to hide there! Shake the water off very well and start slicing.
Make The Soup:
- Prepare the ingredients: Slice each leek half into thinly, width-wise. Wash and slice celery ribs as well. Peel or wash potatoes and cut them into cubes.
- Sauté the celery and leeks: Preheat the pot over medium heat and melt butter. Sauté leeks in butter until soft. Add celery and sauté it until leeks start to get some sear.
- Potatoes and stock: Add potatoes and sauté for a couple more minutes. Add bay leaf and thyme sprigs to the pot and pour in chicken stock. Pour in enough chicken stock just to cover the potatoes. Too much stock will make the soup too thin.
- Cook: Season with salt and pepper, stir well, bring to boil and lower the heat to medium low. Cook over gentle simmer until potatoes are tender.
- Make it creamy: Take out the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Stir in heavy whipping cream until completely incorporated.
- Blend until smooth: You can transfer the soup into a blender or use an immersion blender to blend the soup. Blend it just until smooth. Don’t blend too much!
PRO TIP: Blending the soup too much will lead to a gummy texture. Break up as much of the potatoes as you can with a wooden spoon before adding them to the blender. Just pulse a few times until blended.
Recipe Variations
- Add garlic. Stir in a clove or two of minced garlic with the leeks for extra depth. Or, for deeper and stronger garlic flavor, add a few roasted garlic cloves.
- Top it off. Crumbled bacon, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, croutons, or extra chives all make great toppings, based on what several readers have added to their own bowls.
- Leave it chunky. If you like more texture, hold back a portion of the cooked potatoes before blending, then stir them back in once the rest of the soup is smooth.
- Serve it cold as vichyssoise. Potato leek soup is traditionally served warm, but the same soup chilled completely and served cold is a classic French dish in its own right called vichyssoise. Chill it in the refrigerator after blending, and stir the cream in right before you plan to serve it.
Ways to Serve This Soup
- Serve with a warm loaf of crusty bread or a baguette for dipping.
- Pair it with my Italian garlic bread grilled cheese for a cozy, simple meal.
- Add a salad on the side, like my Greek salad or kale salad, to round out lunch or a light dinner.
- Round out the meal with a side like haricots verts or my garlic butter Parmesan herb biscuits.
- Finish each bowl with a sprinkle of fresh chives, a crack of black pepper, or a light drizzle of cream.
Storing Freezing and Reheating Potato Leek Soup
- Store: in an airtight container in the refrigerator once the soup has cooled to room temperature. It keeps for 3 to 4 days.
- Freeze: without the cream. Prepare the soup through the blending step, skip the cream, and cool it to room temperature before freezing. Use one large container, a freezer bag, or individual portions in smaller zip-top bags, leaving room at the top for expansion. Label and freeze for up to 2 months.
- Reheat: thaw frozen soup in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat over medium-low heat on the stovetop and stir in the cream. For refrigerated portions, microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each one so it doesn’t overheat.
PRO TIP: Cool the soup as quickly as you can before freezing it. After blending, set the pot into a larger container filled with ice and stir occasionally as it cools.
Potato Leek Soup Recipe FAQs
When potatoes are blended too much or overly mashed they release more starches. These starches mix with the broth and create a gummy texture.
To avoid that, simply rinse the potatoes a couple of times with cold water after you peel and cut them. This will wash off some starches.
Also, searing potatoes before boiling them helps reduce the gummy texture. And of course, don’t blend too much! Break up as much of the potatoes as you can with a wooden spoon before adding them to the blender. Just pulse a few times until blended.
Not quite, though they’re closely related. The clearest difference is temperature: potato leek soup is traditionally served warm, while vichyssoise is the same soup served chilled, usually with a sprinkle of chives on top.
There’s also a texture difference: vichyssoise is blended until completely smooth and silky, often strained for an ultra-velvety finish, while traditional potato leek soup can be smooth too, but it’s sometimes left slightly chunky or rustic.
Both start from the same base of leeks, potatoes, stock, and cream, so if you’d like to try the chilled version, see the variations above.
Start with more salt, since that’s usually what’s missing. A finishing touch like fresh cracked pepper, chives, crumbled bacon, or a sprinkle of cheese also helps bring out more flavor in each bowl.
Leeks are an excellent source of vitamin K and a good source of folate, iron, and vitamins B6 and C (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics), and potatoes add potassium and fiber of their own. This version is made rich with potatoes, butter and cream, so it IS a comforting dish rather than a diet food.
More Recipes To Try
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Creamy Potato Leek Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 leeks
- 3 celery ribs
- 2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 4 cups chicken stock
- salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Cleaning Leek:
- Cut off the dark green leaves and the very bottoms by the roots. (Discard the dark green leaves or save it for making homemade stock.)
- Cut the white stalks in half, length-wise. Rinse off each half under some cold running water. Make sure to get in between the layers because dirt likes to hide there. Shake the water off very well and the halves are not ready to slice.
Potato Leek Soup:
- Slice each leek half into thinly, width-wise. Wash and slice celery ribs as well. Peel or wash potatoes and cut them into cubes.
- Preheat the pot over medium heat and melt butter. Sear the leeks in butter until soft and starts to become golden brown. Add celery and sauté it until leeks start to get some sear.
- Add potatoes and saute for a couple more minutes.
- Add bay leaf and thyme sprigs to the pot and pour in chicken stock. Pour in enough chicken stock just to cover the potatoes. (Too much stock will result in a thin soup.)
- Season with salt and pepper, stir well, bring the soup to boil and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until potatoes are tender, make sure to stir from time to time.
- Take out the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
- Stir in heavy whipping cream until completely incorporated.
- You can transfer the soup into a blender or use an immersion blender to blend the soup. Pulse a few times just until smooth. Note: Blending the soup too much will lead to a gummy texture. Break up as much of the potatoes as you can with a wooden spoon before adding them to the blender. Just pulse a few times until blended.
Video
Notes
- Store: refrigerate in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
- Freeze: without the cream, up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then reheat and stir in the cream.
- Heavy Whipping Cream swap: sour cream plus half and half or whole milk in a pinch; use plant-based milk and sour cream to keep it dairy free.
- Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in October 2019.
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Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
This looks so delicious. I’ve made this soup before a long time ago. It’s a French soup called Vichyssoise. So good and healthy. I think I would puree the soup before adding in the cream. Pureeing potatoes and cream together will give you an extra thick soup as both causes the thickness. If you like it that thick, it’s a personal choice. I think I’d like it a little more thinner. Thank you for the recipe!
I made this for the first time last week ( not a cooked celery fan so I left it out) This was delicious. My husband said it was the best soup he’d ever had. This week I made some more to take to a friend who was under the weather. Their family loved it too. I just emailed them your recipe 🙂
Thank you.
I am so glad you liked it, Norma!
This soup was amazing and so easy to make. Because I bragged about now everyone wants the recipe. For the topping I added shredded cheddar cheese , sour dough croutons. Just one tip: after cutting up potatoes rinse under cold water and put on bowl of the chicken stock while sautéing the leek and celery. I used a Dutch oven and kept it on med-low and it was perfect.
I am so glad you liked the recipe. Sour dough croutons sound amazing with it!
Can this be made without adding the heavy cream? Milk products cause problems for someone in my family. We can use the butter. It looks delicious. Thanks
Hi Karen,
There are a few options they can try. If it’s lactose, there is lactose-free half and half you can use. You can check their store for brands of dairy free half and half or Heavy whipping cream options, I know Silk makes dairy free Heavy whipping cream, country crock makes one too and horizon organic. I don’t recommend milk substitutes like almond milk because it has an odd flavor when heated you may not like and oat milk is sweet.
Found your recipe and made it today- EXCELLENT! Love it!
So happy you love it, Hank! Thanks for stopping by to let me know! 🙂
This looks wonderful. Do you have any recipes that use celery stock besides a celery soup? I have been making my own stocks and have a bunch of celery pieces I thought maybe would make some good stock. Thank you