With a smooth, creamy texture and a rich, earthy flavor, this Potato Leek Soup is a comforting, cozy dish that comes together in just over 30 minutes. Drizzle with leek oil before serving for an impressive starter.
Creamy Potato Leek Soup Recipe
Leeks may not be a super common ingredient for us North Americans but this potato leek soup is actually a popular French dish, known as potage parmentier. While may sound super fancy, this potato leek soup is truly just a simple twist on classic potato soup.
Leeks and potatoes are simmered in broth with a few spices and herbs, then blended until smooth and creamy. Sour cream adds a bit of tang to balance that rich creaminess and makes the texture even creamier.
You can serve it just like that or, while the soup is simmering, you can make a super simple leek oil to drizzle on top. The directions are below but all you need to do is boil leek greens and blend them with olive oil. The bright green oil adds a pop of color to the potato and leek soup when serving.
Why You’ll Love This Leek and Potato Soup
Here are a few reasons why this potato leek soup makes a frequent appearance on our dinner table.
- Smooth, creamy texture. The blended texture of this soup is so rich, luscious, and creamy. So good!
- Quick and easy. From start to finish, this potato and leek soup takes just over 30 minutes. It’s not a soup that needs hours to simmer, making it perfect for busy weeknights.
- Versatile. Serve this potato leek soup as a starter to a nice dinner with friends, paired with a sandwich or salad for a casual weeknight dinner, or just enjoy a bowl for a light lunch.
Recipe Ingredients
Besides potatoes and leeks, you’ll need just a handful of other ingredients to make this soup. Scroll down to the recipe card below for measurements.
- Leeks – Sliced to 1/4 inch thickness.
- Olive oil – For cooking the leeks.
- Salted butter – Adds a richness.
- Garlic
- Thyme – You can use fresh thyme or the stems.
- Potatoes – Use a potato with a thin skin. I used yellow yukon gold potatoes.
- Chicken broth – You can use vegetable broth for a vegetarian option.
- Salt & pepper
- Sour cream – Adds a slightly tangy flavor and creaminess to the broth.
- Leek oil – I like to drizzle leek oil over the soup when serving. See below for instructions on how to make it.
How to Make Potato Leek Soup
Here’s an overview of how to make leek and potato soup. See the recipe card below for more detailed instructions.
- Slice the leeks and potatoes. Set the green tops of the leeks aside. Thinly slice the white part to 1/4 inch wide then thinly slice the potatoes. Rinse the leeks under cold water to remove dirt.
- Saute the leeks. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven. Saute the leeks, garlic, and thyme until tender.
- Boil. Add the potatoes, stock, butter, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.
- Blend. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup.
- Add the sour cream. Add the sour cream and whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
How To Make Leek Oil
If you’d like to make the leek oil to serve on top of your leek and potato soup, here’s how to do that:
- Boil the leek. Thinly slice the green tops of a leek. Add to salted, boiling water for 1 1/2 minutes.
- Add to ice water. Drain and immediately add to ice water to cool. Drain and dry with paper towels.
- Blend. Blend with a cup of olive oil until smooth. Let sit then when ready to use, drain the bright green oil off the top and drizzle on the soup.
Tips for Success
Here are a few tips for making this leek and potato soup recipe.
- Properly clean the leeks. To prepare the leeks, trim off the green tops and any root ends. rinse the leeks under water to remove any dirt and dry with paper towels before slicing.
- Do I need to peel the potatoes? Because I used yellow potatoes which have a very thin skin and the potatoes are sliced into thin pieces, I did not peel my potatoes. You can if you want but for me it was just an unnecessary step.
- Remove from heat before adding the sour cream. The sour cream should only be stirred in once the soup is almost ready to serve and removed from heat.
Serving Suggestions
Potato leek soup can be served as an appetizer, as the main course, or paired with a soup or salad.
Some of my favorite pairings for this soup include Reuben sliders and a wedge salad. If I’m serving it as the entree, I always add a slice or two of crusty bread to go along with it as well.
Feel free to top the leek soup with the leek oil as mentioned above and/or some fresh herbs, like thyme or parsley.
Proper Storage
- Fridge. Potato leek soup will last for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Freezer. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months in freezer bags or containers. Thaw in the fridge before reheating.
- Reheat. Reheat the soup gently on the stovetop, bringing it to a gentle simmer (but not a boil). Individual portions can be reheated in the microwave as well.
More Cozy Soup Recipes To Try
- Green Chicken Enchilada Soup
- French Onion Soup
- Crockpot Tomato Soup
- Ham and Bean Soup
- Chicken Barley Soup
Potato Leek Soup
Ingredients
- 4-5 cups leeks sliced ¼ inch thin
- 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Salted Butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoon fresh Thyme or 2 stems
- 2 pounds thin skin potatoes sliced ¼ inch thin (yellow potatoes were used here)
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon of salt or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup sour cream
- Fresh Thyme Leaves Fresh chopped parsley leaves, or chopped chives for serving garnish.
- Drizzle with fresh cream or optional leek oil.
- Optional: Make a batch of Leek oil using the green tops to add a colorful and flavorful drizzle as a garnish.
Instructions
- Slice the green tops off the leeks and set aside.
- Using a sharp knife or mandolin, thinly slice the white portion of the leek to approximately ¼ inch wide.
- Using the same method as above, thinly slice the cleaned potatoes. Set aside.
- Add the leek slices to a strainer and rinse thoroughly under cold water to remove dirt.
- Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or medium heat.
- Add the sliced leeks, minced garlic, and Thyme, and saute until everything is tender and golden in color.
- Add the sliced potatoes, chicken stock, butter, salt, and pepper.
- Bring everything to a boil, then cover, and turn the heat to low or medium/low to maintain a simmer for approximately 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Once everything is cooked through and tender, use an immersion blender to puree the soup until it reaches the texture you desire.
- Add the sour cream and whisk until combined.
- Add salt and pepper until you reach the flavor you desire.
Last Step:
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- Thinly slice the green tops of one leek.
- Add to salted, boiling water.
- Cook for 1 and ½ minutes.
- Drain and immediately put into a bowl of ice water until cool.
- Drain the water and dry as well as you can with paper towels.
- Add the leeks and 1 cup of olive oil to a blender, blend until fairly smooth, and allow it to sit.
- When ready to use, drain the bright green oil off the top and drizzle on the soup.
Nutrition
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1 thought on “Potato Leek Soup”
Absolutely love this soup .I can add fat free quark instead of sour cream and I hate wasting the bottom ends of asparagus spears so I add these too when I have them and they blend in perfectly.
This was one of the first things I learnt to cook at school 54 years ago