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.
I love the recipe and will have to try it. BUT, I have to say that people who plan menus for a whole week, like people who plan their wardrobe for the week, are a little admirable and a little strange...a bit anal retentive. No wonder you're obsessed with the word rectum!
Bonnie - Well, yeah I'm the first to admit I have a bit of OCD. Not anal retentive though. That's an entirely different disorder. However, I don't think planning a menu falls into the OCD or anal retentive category. It falls into the "it's a great way to save money" and "it's way faster to do it in advance than stand at the fridge every night thinking what the hell". And there you have it. ~ karen
Okay, first of all, great recipe. I've made this soup before and it's amazing. But more importantly, the uvula/vulva comment. This makes me think of a time when I was teaching the reproduction unit to my middle schoolers (which by the way, I should win some award for doing this and surviving all the giggles and questions)and I said something about what a vulva is and a student yelled out, "Oh gross! My mom DRIVES a vulva!!!" After calming everyone down I told him that I was quite sure his mom probably drove a VOLVO and everything is going to be okay. :)
You DO deserve an award for that, Cindy! Middle schoolers are the stuff of nightmares--I have one in my house, so I know this stuff. Funny story, though!
Have to share my mixed up words story. When my brother had surgery on his uvula ( hangy down thing in the back of your throat) to stop the snoring, my dad told everyone that he had his son had surgery on his vulva. Yup... told EVERYBODY
PS great soup!
Heather - LOL ... I *knew* where that was going as soon as I saw uvula ... because I read it as vulva in my head! Love it. ~ karen
For some reason I always eye-ball when I cook, and measure obsessively when I bake. Baking feels more sciencey to me, plus you can't really taste the dry ingredients in order to tell if you've added enough baking powder.
I don't remember tasting a leek...I'll have to give it a try...thanks!
I got side tracked by Grebels that I forgot to tell you to beware of a man who will not share his blender. On the surface a small thing but there is a deep deep resentment, probably a remnant of the band aid fiasco. I reccomend couples therapy if I'm correct that you are not married. Men, can't get along with them and you can't get along without them. Well, actually you can but thaat bit of knowledge usually comes to you rather late in life as it did me.
Well, guess what's for dinner tonight! My ancestry is Germans from Russian so we do potato soup well. Do you know about Grebels? Roll bread dough out thin, cut in 6 inch squares. Cut 2 or 3 slits in each being careful not to cut through the ends or you have skinny grebles. Let rise and fry in hot oil. You end up with this great fried bread with nice big bubbles that fill up when you dip them into the soup. There are a lot of recipes online and they are all very similar. Some people pull the dough up thru a slit but that's a no/no in our family. I have been known to make them from frozen bread dough but if you tell anyone I said that I'll deny it. LOL We do not puree our soup but lightly mash the potatoes just before serving so it is kind of chunky. That's probably so it fills up the holes in the Grebels and stays there. Yummy stuff, rGebels!
rectum, it just about killed him
Good one Valerie!
I have been having a crazy love affair with soups this winter..can't get enough of them..I am one of those cooks that rarely uses a recipe..Very frustrating when trying to teach my son how to make his favorites but I kinda like being that way..This soup looks creamy and yummy..I think I will have me a nice bowl of soup for lunch..Thanks Karen..
My friend always confuses that word with retina. When coming back from the eye doctor she told us the doctor looked in her eyes and could see a torn rectum. We were amazed that the doctor could see all that way down and questioned her but she stuck to her guns saying yes the doctor could see very far inside using his special machine - she never realized what she had said or how funny it was nor knew why we kept asking her to tell it again. Thanks for reminding me of that funny memory.
....Mary....that was seriously funny about your friend with the TORN RECTUM. I have tears in my eyes from laughing...and from cutting leeks for the soup. Thanks KAREN!!...my house smells ahhhmazing right now. Can't wait to eat the soup. I will have to remember to NOT put it on my porch to cool this time. My dog Oliver is a bad bad dog. Ok, he is huge and adorable but not adorable when he eats our dinner. Just sayin'.
Lynne xx
Hah! ~ k
Your my first LOL every morning! My husband always yells from the other room "what"? "what"???
I just made Leek and Potato soup last week....I do love the addition of saffron....and I agree, I love it when you don't need a recipe.
I see you used your CROCK POT that you got for Christmas! errr umm let me rectum that... I mean COCK pot! ha ha ha ha ha....
Gosh, tho this soup sounds great, I hope I don't have to rectum mine! Going out to get some leeks today. Thanks Karen!
I especially like the possibility to "rectum" if necessary. Do you prefer a pig's or chicken's ?.
(I know, darn corrector!) :)
Hi Karen, your soup looks delicious! Is that some red pepper in there? I also love your salt and pepper thingies. For some reason when I make stock, it never has that beautiful golden colour. Time to try again, maybe scare the cold bugs away...I've never tried leeks either, but they look pretty tasty, and now that I know how to clean them, I have no excuse. :)
Karen this soup sounds so delish for this wintry weather!! The most important part...easy!!
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
are you sure you didn't share this recipe? I feel like I saw your leeks on a cutting board sometime last year......
I'm going to try this tonight! Every attempt I have ever made ended with grey, gluey soup. But yours is so pale and lovely looking, mmmm, I want.
I had a very similar soup just last night. 3 large potatoes, 1 leek, vegetable broth, saffron and a touch of truffle. Awesome :)
(After you, I started planning & publishing my weekly menus, too. You are such an inspiration Karen!)
I wish all of my mistakes were easy to rectum.
hahahaha
I love potato-leek soup! The saffron is a nice touch!
I rarely use the measurements in recipes, except when I think the ratios are important. I think of recipes as general guidelines, or inspiration.