Creamy Leek And Potato Soup

Leek and potato soup is a French classic, and for good reason. It’s one of the heartiest soups around, it’s delicious AND you don’t need many ingredients. Follow me…

Leek Potato Soup

You’ll begin by frying the leeks in butter, because many good things in life start with doing so. I also like to add in some celery to bulk out the soup and some garlic to enhance the leeky flavour. From there, you’ll want to boil the potatoes in with the leeks and stock. That way they can soak in all that gorgeous flavour as they cook!

What kind of potatoes should I use?

You’ll want to use a starchy/floury variety of potatoes like a Maris Piper or Russet. They’ll break down more easily and will blend into the soup more efficiently, in comparison to waxy varieties of potato. Process shots: melt butter (photo 1), add celery (photo 2), fry (photo 3), fry leek and garlic (photo 4), add stock, potatoes and seasoning (photo 5), stir (photo 6).

Creamy Leek and Potato Soup

One of the key parts of this recipe is saving the dark green/firm part of the leeks. They are too firm to dice, fry and blitz into the soup, but you don’t want to waste them. In such case, I recommend checking for dirt the adding them into the pot so they can infuse the stock/potatoes with added leeky goodness. In terms of this soup being creamy, of course it mainly comes from cream, but once you blitz the soup it’ll turn a little creamy from the potato too.

Don’t over-blend the soup!

Only puree until the soup is just about smooth, otherwise the starch from the potato can cause the texture to become gluey. A few lumps and bumps are fine 😊 Process shots: add leek ends (photo 1), simmer (photo 2), remove leek (photo 3), blend then stir in cream (photo 4).

Serving Leek and Potato Soup

When it comes to serving the soup, I do love a topping or two. Here’s what I go for:

Cream – just a drizzle to finish. Pancetta – fried until crisp. Or you could use bacon! Croutons – store-bought or homemade (more on this in the recipe card below). Chives – enhance the flavours of the leek. Black Pepper – just a pinch!

These are all optional but recommended. Just measure them with love! For another delicious soup recipe check out my Loaded Baked Potato Soup and for more soup recipes check out my Incredible Soups! Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for the leek and potato soup shall we?!