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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Comments
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I was wondering if there is a big difference if you used russet potatoes instead of yukon gold. I have a bag of russets & want to use.
Hi Rebecca, you can use russets here; the soup will just be a bit less creamy.
Thanks for ur quick reply. Yes just finished making. I see what u mean. Still tasted great.
I wish I saw other reviews as I would of use more leeks!
Omg this receipe is so good. I added extra garlic because I love it. Extra leeks because I didn’t want to waste them. This is probably one of the easiest soup receipes to make.
Yummy soup! I already added the cream, Can I still freeze some? I saw in other reviews to wait to add cream if you want to freeze, but that was after I added it.
Hi Danielle, Glad you liked it! Yes, you can still freeze it; the cream may separate from the soup a little when it thaws, but just stir it well to recombine.
This soup was so easy to prepare. It came out so smooth and was packed with flavour. Will make over & over again!
Loved this soup. Added a little extra garlic and fresh thyme then threw in some extra potatoes(leftover insides from potato skins) when it was time to blend. Came out perfect.
My leeks are enormous…got 4 cps from less than two…Is that enough or should I keep on slicing?
You could use up to 6 cups, Carol. A little extra won’t hurt :).
I used six cups and a little extra butter. The thyme that I know that I threw in my shopping cart never made it home with me, so I added 1/4 tsp dried thyme. Was that an appropriate substitution. Simmered it a little longer to thicken to my liking. How can anything so easy taste so good. Jenn, would love to share my minestrone recipe with you. Everyone says it is the best they have ever eaten. How can I go about doing that?
So glad you enjoyed it, Carol — and I’d love to try your minestrone! You can email it to me directly at jennifer@onceuponachef.com. Look forward to receiving it!
May I also have your minestrone soup recipe?
Marciamonsiegneur@gmail.com
Really, really good. Recipe is simple and ingredients are affordable. I will definitely share this with others!
Amazing recipe! My family loved it! Best leek soup recipe so far! Thank you!
Thank you for your wonderful recipes! I didn’t think of writing you I have ordered the book.
Can’t wait til April!
Thank you, Josseline! xo
Do you have a ballpark idea how the 4 cups of leeks would translate into pounds. The leeks I found are huge and I have no idea how many normal sized leeks each one corresponds to.
Hi Steve, I’m guessing 4 cups of chopped leeks would be 3/4 to 1 lb.