Potato Leek Soup
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Cozy up with this comforting potato leek soup, a classic French dish that’s easy to make and endlessly customizable.
Potato leek soup, or potage parmentier, is a French classic. It’s one of the first dishes I learned to make in culinary school, right after a proper omelette and basic vinaigrette, because it’s an essential base soup in French cuisine. You can add watercress to make potage au cresson, serve it chilled as Vichyssoise, or top it with bacon, fried leeks, fresh herbs, or diced vegetables. There are endless variations—just use your imagination (or whatever you have in the kitchen) to make it your own. This potato leek soup recipe is simple to whip up and can be served as an appetizer, paired with a Reuben sandwich or wedge salad, or enjoyed as a satisfying lunch on its own.
What You’ll Need To Make Potato Leek Soup
Step-by-Step Instructions
Potato leek soup is simple to make, but first you have to deal with the leeks. They’re notoriously sandy and dirty, and very good at hiding it, so be sure to wash them well. Start by cutting off and discarding the root ends and thick dark green parts. Cut the leeks in half lengthwise and rinse each half under cold water, pulling apart the layers to remove any grit that’s tucked inside.
Once the leeks are clean, roughly chop them — you should get about five cups of chopped leeks from four large leeks.
To make the soup, melt the butter in a Dutch oven or large soup pot, then add the chopped leeks and garlic.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and wilted.
Next, add the potatoes, chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil.
Then cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
Fish out the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
Purée the soup with a hand-held immersion blender (or in a regular blender) until smooth. (If using a standard blender, be sure not to fill the jar more than halfway; leave the hole in the lid open and cover loosely with a dishtowel to allow the heat to escape.)
Finally, add the heavy cream. You can reduce the amount if you’d like but I wouldn’t leave it out entirely. Cream makes the soup deliciously silky, rich, and smooth—just add it little by little until the soup tastes good to you.
Bring to a simmer, then taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve hot, garnished with fresh thyme, chives, or anything you like.
Video Tutorial
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Potato Leek Soup
Cozy up with this comforting potato leek soup, a classic French dish that’s easy to make and endlessly customizable.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 large leeks, white and light green parts only, roughly chopped (about 5 cups)
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into ½-inch pieces
- 7 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Chives, finely chopped, for serving
Instructions
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the leeks and garlic and cook, stirring regularly, until soft and wilted, about 10 minutes. Adjust the heat as necessary so as not to brown.
- Add the potatoes, broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper to pot and bring to a boil. Cover and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are very soft.
- Fish out the thyme sprig and bay leaves, then purée the soup with a hand-held immersion blender until smooth. (Alternatively, use a standard blender to purée the soup in batches; see note.) Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. If soup is too thin, simmer until thickened. If it's too thick, add water or stock to thin it out. Garnish with fresh herbs if desired.
- Note: If using a standard blender to purée the soup: be sure not to fill the jar more than halfway; leave the hole in the lid open and cover loosely with a dishtowel to allow the heat to escape; and pour blended soup into a clean pot.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The soup can be frozen, without the cream, for up to 3 months. Defrost the soup in the refrigerator for 12 hours and then reheat it on the stovetop over medium heat until hot. Once heated through, add the cream and bring to a simmer before serving.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Serving size: about 1-1/2 cups
- Calories: 454
- Fat: 24 g
- Saturated fat: 14 g
- Carbohydrates: 49 g
- Sugar: 10 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 12 g
- Sodium: 828 mg
- Cholesterol: 78 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Tastes great! I have to restrict my sodium intake and am trying to eat fewer meat products, so I made this with salt-free vegetable stock and only added 1/4 tsp. salt. Also used only 2/3 cup of cream – it was perfect with that amount. Hubby really liked it (with additional salt).
What adjustments would you do to turn this into a casserole or gratin?
Hi Sara, I think you need to make too many adjustments to the recipe. I have an au gratin potato recipe if you’d like to give it a try.
Absolutely delicious. One question though – I use 2% milk instead of cream for health reasons. Would it be ok to freeze it with the milk already added?
It may be okay, but just to be safe, I’d probably add it when you thaw/reheat. And glad you like it!
If you do freeze it with dairy already in it, adding some additional milk/cream when reheating (gently), helps to reconstitute it well.
Just great and easy. Yummy for the family. Simply delicious!!!
Delicious and super easy to make.
My daughter is vegetarian and I am always looking for new recipes to try. I have never cooked with leeks before and was unsure as to the taste. This soup is delicious and so easy to make! My daughter loves it. Will definitely make this again!
I made it, we loved it. And hooray for recipes that are super forgiving! My wife reminded me that I had said this soup is such a good base to add in literally anything else, like some leftover frozen mixed vegetables. We accidentally added them too soon, before blending. And the peas in the mixed vegetables tinged the soup green. Lesson learned! And the soup was still wonderful and filling. Thank you for the recipe!
Looks delish! Can I freeze any leftovers after the cream has been added. That’s if there are leftovers!!!
Hi Elaine, Cream soups can separate or become grainy when frozen and then thawed, but you can probably get away with it. When reheating, thaw in the fridge overnight and gently reheat on the stove, stirring continuously to prevent separation or curdling. Adding a touch of fresh cream while reheating can help improve the soup’s texture. Hope that helps!
I have made the Potato Leek soup several times & we Love.Love. Love it!! Have shared the recipe with friends & they love it also. Enjoy all your recipes; I have both of your cookbooks, too💕
Oh my goodness! This is the BEST soup ever! I’m having oral surgery tomorrow to extract 4 teeth that were broken in a fall, so thought I’d make it tonight in order to have something filling that didn’t need chewing for the next couple of days, but… I made the mistake of ‘tasting’ it & raved so much about it that one after another of my family ‘tasted’ it too & well, it’s GONE! The only change I made was dried thyme for the fresh twigs & bay leaves because I forgot to buy them, but it still turned out amazing! Can’t wait to make this again SOON!! We all absolutely LOVED it!
Hi Kelly! I’m also going in for tooth extraction soon (December)
and am making this recipe. I hope your procedures went / will go well!!
I just made this soup it was delicious! All I can say Jenn is that I am a fan. Thank you for all the great recipes.
Easy and so tasty! Next time, I might set aside some potatoes to crisp up in an air fryer to add additional texture.