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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This soup is so easy to make and so delicious!
Delicious!
Depending on potatoes, the simmering may take twice as long for them to be nice and soft. Enough to puree with immersion blender. A couple of bowls of this with nice French bread and you’re set for dinner.
BTW this website has great recipes!
Delicious! I would double the garlic next time. Fantastic recipe!
Easy to use veggie broth of any type instead of chicken. I used milk instead of cream, and a few dollops of creme fraiche, since that is what I had. I skipped the bay leaf because I ran out. Was very tasty!
Made this for husband and I tonight after a week of wanting – delayed by getting sick! Now I have the energy to cook and had the ingredients so I dove in. I usually approach recipes in a way Southern Cooks call “at.” As in, “I followed at the recipe” which I did with this wonderful starting point and enjoyed the seasonings and the technique along the way. Thyme was the winner in this potato-leek concoction.
Very nice, I am sorry they drown your page with adverts, one gets lost at times.
Regards Patti
Simple fix to rid the screen of ads when reading the recipe..click print recipe button! It won’t print out at that point and gets rid of the annoying ads. Sometimes I do this and screen shot so the recipe is on my photos. I HATE the ads.
Fabulous and easy to make! Highly recommended. My family indicated it tasted a bit like clam chowder without the clam flavor, but in reality I think they were tasting the potatoes. This will definitely go into my recipe box and is a winner for any dinner! Formal or casual.
trying to be faithful of my New Year’s resolution of “waste not, want not” and using leftover food in my fridge before it goes bad (not to mention reducing my grocery bill in these economic times …), I tweeked this recipe a bit and it was very forgiving and turned out luscious. First, i used salted butter that i had instead of buying unsalted butter. Second, my store sells leeks only in groups of three, so I supplemented the veggie content with 3 stalks of chopped celery I had on hand. I didn’t have quite enough leftover potatoes but I did have a turnip so I added that with the potatoes.. Since I had to buy a new packet of fresh thyme, I used 6 sprigs instead of 3 since it usually goes bad before I get back to it, plus, I love the herb. Due to the lack of that one leek (remember that?), I topped the bowl with a bit of chopped scallion ( cheaper than chives) and left over dried French Onions (from the holiday green bean casserole) for some texture, which I crisped up a bit in a dry skillet. Despite all these changes, everyone loved the soup! Thank you so much for the basic recipe !!
Delicious. I substituted the cream with a Silk Heavy Whipping Cream alternative in order to make it dairy-free. Can’t tell the difference.
I made this per the instructions on 12/31/22. Indeed, the leeks harbor lots of grit and I found it best to deconstruct them and carefully wash each layer separately after cutting the leeks in half per the instructions. I added about a 1/2 cup of Honey Baked Ham – I used lean meat from close to the bone without any of the glazing (would be too sweet and cloves would alter the subtlety of the soup). Any smoked ham would work. All other ingredients and instructions were follower to the letter. The Soup was absolutely delicious and perfect. I used an immersion blender which quickly pureed and mixed the soup. The soup appears to be an emulsion that is favored by use of the immersion blender. I warmed the heavy cream in the microwave for 45 seconds before adding it to the soup. This decreased the likelihood of “breaking” the emulsion as is possible with cold cream into hot soup. The recipe makes closer to 10 or 12 servings of soup. This soup is delicious hot or cold and will become part of my repertoire. This is an excellent recipe and I encourage others to try it.
Absolutely delicious! The best potato soup I’ve ever made. I actually started the soup in a slow cooker after sautéing the leeks and garlic. Added a handful of chopped fresh parsley, a 1/2 tsp of tarragon and rosemary, a tsp of thyme in with the other ingredients and broth. Let the broth cook on low for 4-5 hours. I then transferred to a Dutch oven pot, added the potatoes, simmered for 15-20 minutes and puréed. So good!