An easy potato leek soup recipe you can serve two ways; rustic, full of squares of diced potatoes or blended until it's smooth and creamy.
I've been making one version or another of potato soup for my entire adult life (unless you count being 18 years old an adult, which you shouldn't because 18 year olds think Glee is a really good television show.) That fact right there demonstrates better than anything how underdeveloped an 18 year old brain is.
I started out around 20 years ago making potato soup with some sort of recipe but that morphed into what I do today.
I normally make potato leek soup without a recipe.
There's something very liberating about not using recipes. About having the confidence to just grab your ingredients and start cooking. All of us have those recipes. The ones we just know by heart or can just eyeball and taste test until they're perfect.
This potato soup can become one of those recipes for you, but I've also included ingredients and measurements for those of you who are just starting to learn to cook or who always like to have exact recipes.
It's made up of three main ingredients:
Potatoes. Leeks. Chicken broth.
Say that over and over a few times and then we'll continue. O.K. Now that you know your basic ingredients ... we're ready to begin.
The first thing you're going to do is prep your leeks and wash, peel and dice your potatoes.
Table of Contents
What kind of potatoes are best for soup?
For soup you want to use floury potatoes. A potato that's dry and fluffy like baking potatoes. Russet potatoes and Kennebecs are good choices.
You can also get away with a Yukon Gold which is an "in between" potato. Not too dry and not too waxy.
A bundle of leeks and some garlic get cooked and reduced. What first looks like a massive amount of leeks will reduce themselves to a less shocking amount.
Before sautéing, leeks need to be prepped. There are a couple of ways to prep leeks. I use the first method in the video because frankly - I don't feel like the second method works very well but I threw it in there for an option.
Throw in your diced potatoes and chicken (or vegetable) broth and you've got the start of a basic potato soup.
Once the leeks are soft, that's when you add your drained cut up potatoes ( the smaller you cut them the better because they cook faster and have less of a chance to get gluey) and enough broth to cover the potatoes.
Cook until the potatoes are soft. Don't overcook them. Overcooking can make potatoes (even floury ones) gluey.
This is where things start to get controversial.
Yeah. Soup controversy.
If you like a pureed soup the one and only way to get a perfectly smooth, blended, velvety potato soup is to press the potatoes through a food mill and then as though you were a French chef trying to get his 3rd Michelin star.
Pureeing potatoes any other way than with a food mill and/or chinois, you risk creating gluey potatoes. (a chinois is a cone shaped sieve you can press things like soups and sauces through to make them perfectly smooth)
That means if you are going to serve this soup in your French restaurant as you wait for your 3rd Michelin star you cannot use a potato masher, stick blender or regular blender to puree your soup.
The rest of us? We're going to use a masher or blender. But we're going to use them carefully.
RUSTIC
If you want your soup to be rustic then halfheartedly use a potato masher to squish about half of the pot of soup. This will turn the clear broth into a thick potatoey broth. And you'll still have whole pieces of potato and leeks.
SMOOTH PUREE
Throw everything into a blender and starting at the lowest speed, blend. Increase the speed if things aren't as smooth as you would like and blend for only a few more seconds.
If you blast the potatoes in the blender on high you'll end up with glue soup. So go low and slow.
A potato ricer can also work for either the rustic soup (in place of the masher) and the pureed soup (in place of the blender)
Once the soup is blended, you can add the saffron including the liquid you steeped it in and stir.
Leek & Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 3 leeks sliced thin
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1.5 lbs potatoes russet
- 3 cups broth chicken or vegetable
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon thyme just a pinch if using dried thyme
- pepper
- 8 threads saffron or pinch of powdered
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Wash and prep leeks. Peel and dice potatoes.
- Add 2 tbsps butter to a pot at medium low. Add leeks and garlic to the pot and saute until soft.
- Add diced potatoes, broth, salt and thyme to the pot and simmer until potatoes are tender but not overcooked.
- Meanwhile, add 2 tablespoons of very hot water (I boil it and then let it cool for a couple of minutes) to the saffron in a heatproof bowl and allow it to steep for 15 minutes.
- Once potatoes are cooked either puree the entire soup in a blender or mash/puree only half for a more rustic soup. If you are using a blender use it on the lowest speed possible to get a puree and for as short amount a time as possible. Blenders make potatoes gluey!
- Stir steeped saffron (including the liquid) into the pot of prepared soup and serve with garlic croutons.
Notes
Nutrition
No Measure Leek & Potato Soup
To graduate to making this without a recipe, just know that you use equal weights of potatoes and leeks. So, 1.5 lbs of leeks and 1.5 lbs of potatoes. Then you need as much broth as it takes to just cover the ingredients and that's it.
Notice that this soup is only about 100 calories a bowl. So feel FREE to load it up with toppings like garlic croutons, sour cream, bacon or cheddar cheese.
Whatever it takes to make you gleeful.
Delicious.
I'm glad you liked it Michael. :) ~ karen!
I usually add a bit of cream or half-and-half at the very end. That takes care of any gluey-ness that might have developed.
When to add the bay leaf is missing from the recipe.
Ive been on a soup kick the past couple weeks and finally made this yesterday, stick to your bones winter yumminess without feeling heavy! So when I decided to put the printed recipe in my rotation of soups the last ingredient on the list stuck out like a sore thumb - 1 bay leaf. 1 bay leaf? OMG I left out the bay leaf! I read through the recipe twice to see where I missed adding the bay leaf but it’s not there! So I will say it’s good without but I’m sure it should be added and simmered with the stock and potatoes...next time :)
I like potato and this is a food related to it so i really like it too, the way is very simple i also tried it already
I never used leeks before - looking for the video you reference as to how to prep them.
I guess I'll search the web but would like your instructions.
really good. I need to refresh my thyme and saffron. My neighbor added dill - she's a great cook. Learned how to clean leeks online.
Hi Nan. The video on how to prep them is right in this post. Just about in the middle. If you aren't seeing the video you probably have ads blocked, in which case you won't see any of my videos. ~ karen!
A ha haha ha ha! I have BOTH a chinois and a ricer. Finally I get to use them
I made this delicious soup this morning. Dirtied too many dishes by using my chinois first. That left all the goodness in the cone! So I brought out the food processor and slowly puréed the cone contents. Now it’s a hearty potato soup. I don’t have saffron in stock. Should I add it later or ignore it?
Hi Donna. Just ignore it. :) You can grab it at the store and use it the next time you make potato soup. ~ karen!
I have one of those cone shaped sieves. It was my momma's. she used it for jams and such. I use it for apple sauce. She called it a prayer (not sure if that was the spelling, I only heard her say it). I love having kitchen utensils that were my moms, and my gramma's, that I still use.
I make this all the time and it's always a hit. For the leeks, I always use Method #2--it cleans the best with the least amount of fuss. Since I'm not cooking for sophisticated palates, I skip the food mill or chinois and just mash away. (They like some potato chunks.) This is a great recipe and always "hits the spot" in cold weather.
Thanks for the recipe. I made this yesterday - it was very good. I used the boat motor instead of a blender though - very quick and thorough job and less cleanup.
The boat motor might be a better idea when making a bouillabaisse. ~ karen!
Never mind, I looked at the other pictures more closely and can see now it's a Staub. I want one!
Thanks Kim. It's my most favourite pot. I can't say it does any better job of cooking, but I love it! ~ karen
Thanks for the recipe, it looks very tasty. I covet your blender, and also the pot that you are cooking your soup in. I tried to make out the words on the handle but was not able to. What kind of pot is it?
I think it's Wowie Maui. Could be Acapulco Gold.
I bought myself a vitamix at Christmas (To:Me, Love:Me) and couldn't be happier with my investment. I have made this soup a few times since you posted it and it gets better every time. I would love to hear about any other things you use it for.
Erica - Every single day ... smoothies. :) Also pulverizing parmesan cheese hunks on a regular basis and bread crumbs, and ... maybe I'll do a post. :) ~ karen
Mine turned out gluey. I know I didn't overcook the potations, but I may have blended them too much. I over-blended 'em. I (wait for it)...rectum.
After 7 years of marriage my husband revealed that he hates potato soups, to the point where he is nauseou!?!!?!?!!!! I'll have to make a mini version for myself.
By the way, where do you buy your saffron? I can't find it anywhere locally.
Paulina J! - I either buy it at my grocery store (ask a clerk for where it is) or at The Bulk Barn where they usually have it at the cash in a little plastic container. ~ karen
Love the vitamix! I have a white one. It's the BEST blender ever! xoxo
Angel - I'm making fresh bread crumbs in it this very moment! ~ karen
Since everyone is using that word. Might as well. Couldn't pass up the opportunity. This soup will be kind to your...well...uhh...rectum, I reckon.