The Best Potato Leek Soup Recipe of Your Life

Published: Jan 28, 2022 · Modified: Jun 20, 2023 by Faith · This post may contain affiliate links · 29 Comments

This rich Potato Leek Soup recipe marries the flavor of leeks sautéed in butter with garlic, thyme, and potatoes. It's creamy without cream, cozy and warming, easy to make, and can be made gluten free!

I am always amazed at how good onion and garlic sautéing in a little butter smell. Not only is this the start to almost every incredible recipe, but its enticing aroma permeates the whole house and makes people wonder just what delicious magic you’re brewing up.

I can’t even remember how many times people have asked me what I'm making, saying it smells amazing, when I’m just sautéing onions and garlic! It’s so simple, it's almost embarrassing to say what it is, lol.

Leeks are a delicious way to make a recipe with onion stand out just a little bit. Their flavor is similar to onion, but a bit milder and sweeter. And leeks marry perfectly with potato and garlic!

This velvety, rich Potato Leek Soup recipe highlights simple flavors. Sweet, mildly onion-y sautéed leek, garlic, thyme, and creamy potato come together for a rich soup that's so much more delicious than anticipated. It’s a winter cure-all, really.

In This Article

Why You'll Love This Recipe

The aroma will hit you before anything else. I'm telling you, leeks sautéed in butter with garlic is completely captivating.
It's creamy without any cream. Being a fan of keto, I'm not afraid of a little heavy cream. But sometimes you just don't need it. This soup is rich and luscious with no cream!
Quick and easy with maximum payoff. It's surprising how such simple ingredients prepared using an easy cooking method can result in a soup that's truly incredible-tasting.

The Best Potato Leek Soup Recipe

Ingredients in Potato Leek Soup

Light olive oil
Unsalted butter
Leeks
Garlic
Thyme
Vegetable stock
Bay leaf
Salt
Black pepper
Starchy potatoes (such as Russet)
All-purpose flour
Milk

How to Make Potato Leek Soup

Step 1: Sauté the Aromatics

Add the oil and butter to a 5-quart pot over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the leeks and cook until softened and just starting to brown, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Step 2: Add the Potatoes and Liquid

Add the vegetable stock, bay leaf, salt, black pepper, cubed potato and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down so the soup simmers, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 6 to 8 minutes.

Step 3: Thicken it

Whisk together the flour and milk in a medium bowl. Add this mixture to the soup and turn the heat up so it comes up to a gentle boil, stirring frequently. Once boiling, cook 1 minute, whisking constantly, then turn off the heat.

Step 4: Make it Creamy

Use a potato masher or fork to mash a few of the potatoes in the soup to make it creamy; give it a stir.

Step 5: Season and Serve

Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as desired; serve.

How to Store Potato Leek Soup

Store Potato Leek Soup covered in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Tips for Making This Potato Leek Soup Recipe

If you don’t have leeks or can’t eat leeks, you can make this recipe with 2 medium onions instead.
For a completely smooth soup without any pieces of potato, puree the soup using a blender, food processor, or immersion blender.
Instead of using fresh thyme as a garnish, you can use fresh parsley or fresh chives.
To make this soup gluten free, omit the flour and use 1 ½ tablespoons of cornstarch instead. Alternatively, you can omit the flour and mash about half of the potatoes to thicken this soup.
The potatoes are done cooking when you insert a paring knife in one and it slides right out.
To make this soup as rich and flavorful as possible, use chicken stock (instead of vegetable stock) and whole milk (instead of reduced fat milk).
For even more depth of flavor, before you cook the leeks, crisp 2 slices of beef bacon in the pot. Remove and crumble it to sprinkle on top before serving. Make the soup in the same pot, and omit the oil.

Potato Leek Soup FAQs

Can I Use Onions Instead of Leeks?

Yes! To make this soup, you can use 2 medium onions instead of the leeks if you prefer.

How Do You Thicken Leek Potato Soup?

The starch from potato helps naturally thicken Potato Leek Soup. Mashing a few of the cooked potato chunks into the soup will thicken it quite a bit. And if you want this soup lusciously thick and creamy, you can puree it in a blender or using an immersion blender.

In this recipe, we also use a little all-purpose flour to help thicken the soup. However, if you prefer, you can omit the flour and use 1 ½ tablespoons of cornstarch instead. Alternatively, you can omit the flour for a slightly thinner soup.

What Can I Add to Bland Potato Soup?

I like to use chicken stock instead of vegetable stock for the richest flavor in this Potato Leek Soup recipe. However, if you need to use vegetable stock to keep this soup vegetarian it will still taste amazing! If you find that it needs more flavor, you could try adding a little more salt and black pepper to taste.

Additionally, you can add a variety of garnishes to bump up the flavor. Here are a few garnish ideas for Potato Leek Soup:

Crumbled crispy bacon
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sliced scallion or chives
A dollop of sour cream
Freshly cracked black pepper

More Creamy Soups to Cozy Up With

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This post was first published on An Edible Mosaic on January 27, 2012. It was updated with more information on January 28, 2022.

The Best Potato Leek Soup Recipe of Your Life

Why You'll Love This Recipe