Creamy Potato Leek Soup
Potato leek soup made the classic French way with slowly sweated leeks, Yukon Gold potatoes, and heavy cream, blended silky smooth in one pot.
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Potato leek soup is what to make when the fridge is nearly empty and dinner still has to happen, because it’s four cheap ingredients and a pot. Leeks sweat down slow in butter until they collapse, potatoes simmer in broth until they fall apart on a fork, and the whole thing gets blended silky with a cup of cream stirred in at the end.
The leeks carry all the flavor here, so how you cook them matters more than anything else. Keep the burner at medium and stir them often for a full 10 minutes, until they’re limp and sweet with no brown edges anywhere. Browned leeks turn sharp and a little bitter, and once that flavor is in the pot there’s no taking it back out.
One warning about the blender. Potatoes are full of starch, and starch turns gluey when you beat it. Short bursts with an immersion blender give you a smooth soup. A full minute at high speed in a countertop blender gives you wallpaper paste.
Why You’ll Love This Potato Leek Soup Recipe
- One pot, start to finish. Leeks, potatoes, broth, and cream all go into the same pot, so there’s exactly one thing to wash.
- Cheap food that tastes expensive. Two pounds of potatoes and four leeks feed six people, and it comes out tasting like a bistro starter.
- Silky with no thickener at all. Puréed potato does all the work, so there’s no roux to make and no cornstarch slurry to whisk in.
- Kids actually eat it. Smooth, mild, and pale clears most of the hurdles a picky eater puts up at the table.
Potato Leek Soup Ingredients
Yukon Golds blend into something smooth and almost buttery. Russets carry more starch and less water, so they go gluey faster under the blender and drink up more of the broth. If russets are what you have, they’ll work; just pulse in short bursts and stop the second it’s smooth.
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 large leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 7 cups chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp fresh chives, chopped, for serving
Recipe Variations
- Leave the cream out for the lighter French home version. The soup comes out thinner and more broth-forward, and it’s still good. A half cup of whole milk splits the difference if you want some richness without all of it.
- Cook 6 slices of chopped bacon in the pot first, lift them out, and sweat the leeks in 2 tablespoons of the drippings instead of the butter. Scatter the crisp bacon over the bowls at the end.
- Stir 2 cups of shredded cooked chicken into the blended soup for a heartier bowl, and simmer until the chicken reads 165°F on a thermometer.
How to Make Potato Leek Soup
- Clean the leeks: Trim off the dark green tops and the root ends. Halve each leek lengthwise, slice into 1/4-inch half moons, then drop them into a big bowl of cold water and swish with your hands. The grit sinks. Lift the leeks out of the water rather than pouring the bowl into a colander.
- Sweat the leeks: Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until they’re completely limp and sweet. Turn the heat down if you see any browning at the edges.
- Add the garlic: Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute, just until it smells good.
- Simmer the potatoes: Add the potatoes, chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover, drop the heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes, until a potato piece falls apart with no resistance when you press it against the side of the pot.
- Blend it smooth: Fish out the bay leaves and the thyme stems. Purée with an immersion blender in short bursts, moving it around the pot, until the soup is smooth. Stop as soon as it gets there.
- Stir in the cream: Pour in the heavy cream and simmer uncovered 3-4 minutes, until the soup is steaming and slightly thickened. Taste and add salt, because cream mutes it.
- Serve: Ladle into bowls and scatter the chopped chives over the top.
Recipe FAQs
How Do I Clean Leeks so My Potato Leek Soup Isn’t Gritty?
Halve them lengthwise, slice them, then drop the slices into a big bowl of cold water and swish them around with your hands. Sand sinks to the bottom. Lift the leeks out with your hands or a spider instead of pouring the bowl through a strainer, which just tips all that grit back onto them.
Can I Make This without the Heavy Cream?
Yes. Leave it out and you get a thinner, more broth-forward soup, which is closer to how it’s made in French homes. A half cup of whole milk gets you partway there if you want a little richness.
What Kind of Potato Works Best?
Yukon Gold. They blend smooth and hold enough moisture to stay creamy without help. Russets work but their extra starch goes gluey faster, so blend them in short bursts.
Can I Use the Dark Green Parts of the Leek?
Not in this soup. The tops are tough and fibrous and they never blend fully smooth, so you end up with strings. Bag them and stash them in the freezer for stock instead.
Why Did My Soup Turn out Gummy?
You blended too long. Potato starch goes stretchy and glue-like when it’s worked hard. Pulse with an immersion blender in short bursts and stop the moment it looks smooth.
Cooking Tips
- Sweat, don’t sauté. Keep the burner at medium and stir every couple of minutes. If you hear anything close to a sizzle, turn the heat down. Brown leeks make bitter soup.
- Cut the potatoes about the same size. Half-inch pieces cook through in 20 minutes, but one stray two-inch chunk will still be firm when you blend, and a single firm chunk makes the whole pot grainy.
- If you’re using a countertop blender instead of an immersion blender, fill it only half full, pull the center cap out of the lid, and cover the hole with a folded towel. Hot soup builds steam pressure and it will pop the lid off.
Storage and Freezing
To store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. It thickens overnight, so loosen it with a splash of broth when you reheat.
To freeze: Puréed potato and cream don’t freeze gracefully together. The potato turns grainy and the cream separates. If you want a freezer version, stop before the cream goes in, freeze the base up to 3 months, and stir the cream in after it’s thawed and reheated.
To reheat: Warm it over low heat, stirring, until it reaches 165°F. Keep it under a boil once the cream is in or it can break.
How to Serve Potato Leek Soup
Potato Leek Soup wants something crusty next to it, so a sourdough boule or a warm baguette does most of the work. A green salad with a sharp vinaigrette cuts the richness, and a grilled cheese turns it into a full dinner for the kids. Crisp bacon or fried shallots on top add crunch if the bowl feels too soft.
Loved This Recipe?
Potato Leek Soup takes about an hour and turns four humble ingredients into the smoothest bowl on the table.
Leave a star rating in the comments below, it helps other people find this recipe. Made it? Tag @allwellfed on Instagram, I love seeing this one in other people’s kitchens.
Creamy Potato Leek Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 large leeks white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 7 cups chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp fresh chives chopped, for serving
Instructions
- Clean the leeks: Trim off the dark green tops and the root ends. Halve each leek lengthwise, slice into 1/4-inch half moons, then drop them into a big bowl of cold water and swish with your hands. The grit sinks. Lift the leeks out of the water rather than pouring the bowl into a colander.
- Sweat the leeks: Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until they’re completely limp and sweet. Turn the heat down if you see any browning at the edges.
- Add the garlic: Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute, just until it smells good.
- Simmer the potatoes: Add the potatoes, chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover, drop the heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes, until a potato piece falls apart with no resistance when you press it against the side of the pot.
- Blend it smooth: Fish out the bay leaves and the thyme stems. Purée with an immersion blender in short bursts, moving it around the pot, until the soup is smooth. Stop as soon as it gets there.
- Stir in the cream: Pour in the heavy cream and simmer uncovered 3-4 minutes, until the soup is steaming and slightly thickened. Taste and add salt, because cream mutes it.
- Serve: Ladle into bowls and scatter the chopped chives over the top.
Notes
If you made this, leave a star rating down in the comments. It takes about ten seconds, and it’s how other cooks decide whether a recipe is worth trying.
