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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How long is the prep to finish time?
Hi Sherri, I’ve just updated the recipe with that info – it should take about an hour start to finish.
So simple to make yet so delicious! The entire family loved it!
I made this tonight for dinner. It is the best Potato Leek soup I’ve ever tasted. As usual with all your recipes, it was easy to follow and turned out perfect! I adore every one of your recipes that I have made. Thank you for making me feel like a chef!
Made this delicious, rich soup on an early November afternoon.
Followed the recipe and love the results!
Hi Jenn,
Cooler weather here on Long Island and it was time to make another pot of this delicious soup! We had some leeks from our CSA which was perfect. I do add a few teaspoons of salt which does the trick for us! Thanks again for another great recipe that I make again and again!
This was FUN to make. My immersion blender (Cuisinart) was not up to the task, however. I poured batches into my food processor, and that did the trick. It was not “perfectly” smooth because bits of leek and potato remained, but very small bits. It is astonishingly DELICIOUS! Can’t wait to serve it at dinner. Wondering how to store the remaining soup. Freezer? (We’re having the spinach salad with warm bacon dressing along with the soup, for dinner.)
Sounds like a delicious dinner! You can refrigerate leftovers for a few days. For longer storage, you can freeze it. It’s best to freeze the soup without the cream, but if you already have the cream in it, it may separate a little when you reheat it. Just give it a few stirs to recombine.
This soup recipe has quickly become a standby. Easy and so delicious. I had the girls over for lunch and paired it with the suggested salad recipe of roasted beets, goat cheese and walnuts. Both amazing. A keeper.
Love this. I added an extra bay leaf and extra thyme. Drizzled with fresh lemon as others suggested… totally made the soup.
So bad!
I’m new to cooking and this page. Any suggestions on making this dish without an immersion blender/ standard blender?
Hi Michelle, Unfortunately, you real need one or the other to purée the soup. Sorry!
You can try and mash the potatoes to smooth out the consistency. Growing up we always had it with some chunks of potatoes and leeks for texture
Midway through the recipe, I realized I had packed my blender and my food processor (we are about to start a kitchen renovation and have to pack the whole kitchen before demo.) I used a hand potato masher in the soup and it came out great!
you could try a potato masher?
I made this last night and my family loved it! I live overseas where potatoes don’t have names and whatever I used were absolutely fine. Thank you for this recipe!
I made this soup tonight according to the recipe and it was fantastic. My husband & I both had two bowls. This recipe is definitely a keeper. The soup was just perfect on after a brisk walk on a chilly day
I made this today and it turned out perfectly. I only made two changes – and that was for the salt and pepper. I had to add 2 more teaspoons of salt (maybe that was because I used unsalted chicken stock. ) And I decided to use white pepper instead of black. Incredibly delicious, served with French bread and everyone had seconds! Thank you!