Leek and Potato Soup

I know it is quite late in the season for a soup recipe, but I made this Leek and Potato Soup recently and just had to share it. This is a fairly traditional Irish Leek and Potato Soup, but the simplicity means you can really make it your own with some tweaks if you wanted.

Leeks are in season late winter to early summer, so this soup is great for those slightly cooler days, or when you’re looking for something simple to make that is ultimate comfort food.

This recipe uses under 10 ingredients and can be made in under 30 minutes!

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3-4 leeks (depending on their size), sliced
• 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
• 3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper, to taste
• fresh chives, for garnish

Begin by preparing your vegetables. Chop your onion and slice your leeks. Leeks tend to get a lot of grit in them, so it’s important to wash them thoroughly as well. Cut off the end of each leek as well as the dark green parts. Take the light green and white parts of the leeks and halve them lengthwise, then slice. Add the sliced leeks to a large bowl and cover with water. Swish the leeks around so that the dirt sinks to the bottom. Use a slotted spoon to remove the leeks to the colander, then rinse one more time in the colander.

Also peel and cut your potatoes.

Add the salted butter to a large pot over medium heat.

When melted, add in your onion and leeks.

Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients are soft and fragrant.

Add in the potatoes.

Follow with the vegetable stock.

Toss in a bay leaf and bring the mixture to a boil.

When boiling, cover, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.

Remove from heat, removing the bay leaves and discarding them. Blend the mixture using an immersion blender (paid link). You can use a traditional blender or food processor, just be very careful because the mixture is hot! Blend until creamy.

Stir in the heavy cream.

Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.

Ladle into bowls and serve topped with chives. I like to add a little bit more pepper before digging in.

I love how easy this recipe is!

You can absolutely leave out the cream if you’d prefer, the potatoes deliver a nice creaminess to the soup already — I just like how luxurious the soup feels with the cream as well.

To make this recipe even more hearty, you could top the soup with crumbled bacon too. Yum!