(The Best) Potato Leek Soup
This five ingredient soup is simple, fairly quick, and oh-so-good. It calls for a good amount of butter and cream. Use it. It is worth it, even if it means having a smaller serving size. We usually serve this soup for dinner with a small panini or hearty salad on the side, but it works amazing as a holiday appetizer. Simply place the prepared soup in a slow cooker on warm or low, set a ladle and some small bowls or mugs nearby, and guests can serve themselves as you’re putting the finishing touches on the main course.
Yield: 10-12 (1 cup) servings
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As for special equipment for this recipe, we highly recommend the use of an immersion blender. You still need to be careful when pureeing hot liquids, but it is much easier to use an immersion blender as opposed to transferring the hot ingredients into a standard blender. We recommend a Cuisinart or KitchenAid immersion blender with a metal blending attachment. The KitchenAid immersion blender linked here offers more blending speeds and some extra useful attachments.
Ingredients
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, divided in half
4 large leeks, white and pale green parts only, halved lengthwise, sliced into 1/2” pieces, and cleaned (about 5 1/2 cups)*
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2” pieces (you’re going for 20 oz. peeled, diced potato - aim to buy about 1 1/2 lbs. potatoes, it will add up to about 1 1/4 lbs once peeled)
5 cups vegetable stock (such as Kitchen Basics Unsalted Vegetable Stock)
1/2 cup heavy cream
Kosher Salt
Fresh ground pepper
Fresh chives (optional, for garnish)
Dutch oven with lid
Immersion blender (recommended) or blender
Instructions
Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a heavy dutch oven over medium heat, until it starts to lightly bubble. Add the leeks and stir to coat with butter. Season with a small pinch of salt. Cover and cook until the leeks are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently.
While the leeks are cooking, peel and dice the potato. When the leeks are tender, add the potato and stir to combine. Season again with a small bit of salt. Cover and cook until the potatoes begin to soften (but not brown), about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. As shown in the photo below, the leeks should appear to be very tender by this point and almost falling apart.
Cooked leeks and potato, before adding stock.
Add the stock to the dutch oven and increase the heat to bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook until the vegetables are very tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the pot from heat.
Puree the soup using an immersion blender (or in batches using a standard blender and return to the dutch oven) until very smooth. Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons butter into pieces and add to the dutch oven. Stir until melted. Add 1/2 cup heavy cream and stir to combine. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste. If you’re not serving right away, you can place the dutch oven back over very low heat, stirring frequently until ready to serve.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh chopped chives.
Make ahead: The soup can be made up to 2 days in advance. Stash it in the fridge after adding the butter, cream, and adjusting seasoning. Reheat in a dutch oven over medium-low heat, stirring frequently.
Really make ahead: If you’d like to make it ahead beyond a few days in advance, puree the soup and then freeze before adding the butter and cream. To heat and finish, thaw the soup in the fridge overnight and transfer to a heavy pot. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to low and add the butter and cream. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Notes
*For tips on cleaning sliced leeks, check out this tip.
Potato Leek Soup
