Potato Leek Soup
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A French classic, this creamy potato leek soup is quick, easy, and comforting.
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. Add watercress to make potage au cresson, serve it chilled to make Vichyssoise, or top it with oven-fried 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. Potato leek soup is simple to make and can be served as an appetizer, a side dish alongside a Reuben sandwich or wedge salad, or as a stand-alone lunch.
What You’ll Need To Make Potato Leek Soup
How To Make Potato Leek Soup
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.
Then 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 completely. 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
A French classic, this creamy potato leek soup is quick, easy, and comforting.
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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I just finished making this and my goodness is it delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and it came out really well. I put two bowls without cream in the freezer. The rest made about 6 bowls. So 8 bowls in total. It was smooth and creamy. 100% recommend!
We loved this soup for dinner this evening. So easy and yummy.
I made this today. Great recipe, Jenn! My wife loves vichyssoise, and this soup turned out great! Thanks!
I’ve made this twice now and we love it! Thanks so much. I like it better without the cream, but either way it’s yummy. My daughter is vegan, so I leave the bacon crumbles for adding to each bowl. Great flavor and easy to make. Thanks again.
This was super easy to whip up for lunch today. My husband and I really loved it. Will definitely add this to my soup rotation.
I made this today….delicious and easy. Great recipe
Excellent. To make it heartier, I browned 1lb of sweet Italian sausage, casing removed and set aside to the very end before adding it. I then used the same pan to sauté the leeks.
This is AMAZING. So absolutely delicious and like no other potato and leek soup I’ve made before! Thank you so much!
And I love the ‘text ingredients’ option too! 😉
Love this soup . Good vegetarian option made with vegetable broth
So delicious!
10/10: this recipe is delicious.
This recipe turned out perfect. We were inspired by large fresh leeks at the local farmer’s market, organic carrots, and petite white gourmet potatoes. We did substitute shallots for the onion. The soup turned out delicious, and much better than recipes we’d used before.
What onion?
I think she was referring to the leeks. Hope you enjoy the soup if you make it!
Can you make this the day before and keep it in the fridge overnight?
Sure – enjoy!
made it today. came out amazing
I made this soup it was absolutely delicious. Everyone in the family said it’s a keeper. Looking forward to making it again. I like that the recipe includes how to freeze it.
I just made this soup exactly as the recipe was stated until I used the immersion blender. I did a taste test and it was perfect and so creamy that I did not feel it needed the cream. I did however add some but it really did not need the amount recommended. The chopped chives was great and my husband and I loved it! I will definitely make this again, Thanks so much! This will be put in my winter rotation!
Absolutely delicious. Made as written using Trader Joe trimmed leeks making it a breeze. I will be serving this at Thanksgiving this year. Thank you!
So simple yet delicious!!
Absolutely delicious! Made it tonight for dinner. Topped it with shredded spinach and curls of parmesan cheese. I grilled some sourdough bread with olive oil to enjoy along with the soup.
It was fast and easy….but fancy, to quote my daughter!
This was the first time I have ever made potato leek soup. This recipe was easy, fail proof and tastes amazing. This is a keeper and I will be making it again !
I make this regularly. Its delicious.
This was quite delicious. I followed nearly to the letter but halved the cream and added some onions at the start. Great and simple recipe!
Wow. So velvety and delicious.
Great soup! I followed the recipe exactly, except I only had dried thyme, which was great, too. I am going to serve this with BLTs 😛
This was very good, first time following a written recipe. I think I may have puréed it too much and next time I may leave it with a little more coarse. Add heavy cream as needed, you can always add but it’s hard to remove! Lol. So simple to make. Just an FYI, when using leeks make sure you rinse them REALLY good or you’re going to get a little crunch from the sand.
EXCELLENT SOUP….Delicious!
Butter to Vegan butter
Chicken broth to Vegetable broth
Cream to Unsweetened coconut cream (not milk, cream)
This was delicious. I’ve always enjoyed potato leek soup, but never made it. As someone mentioned, the hardest part was washing the leeks and peeling/cutting the potatoes. I stopped blending while there were still a few potato pieces, which I enjoyed. My husband isn’t a fan of cream soups, so I added cream to mine separately. I thought the soup was delicious both with and without the cream. I will add that it was even better the next day (and even cold). I was going to freeze half, but it didn’t stay around long enough.
This is simply the best leek and potato soup I have ever had. Absolutely delicious! I used my home grown leeks and potatoes and home made chicken stock.
A simple yet elegant recipe indeed! The hardest part was washing the leeks and peeling the potatoes😉. I subbed 18% cream for the heavy cream as that was all I could find. I followed the cooking instructions, then blended it in my Vitamix; 45 seconds twice at Speed 5 et voila, a delicious, velvety smooth soup. Can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
So flavourful! I added fresh sharp cheddar for garnish and crusty bread. Delicious! I will definitely make it again.
Delicious!
Personally, I couldn’t stand the thyme and bay leaf flavors in the soup. I couldn’t eat it. I think it would’ve been delicious without those added.
Did you take them out before blending it?
Great recipe. Made it several times now and anyone who tries it loves it!
I disliked leeks growing up, so I never bother to cook with them. However, this year we receive leeks from our CSA share, so I decided to try your recipe. Thank you for an amazingly easy, and so very tasty soup! I will make this soup again.
I have made this leek and potato soup several times now. It has become one of my favourite soup recipes. It’s rich, creamy and very easy to make. Thank you.
I’ve never made potato leek soup before, so I followed your recipe (up until the business end of my immersion blender fell off – about half pureed). It was phenomenal. My family ALL had seconds, even my anti-soup husband (seriously… who can be anti-soup?!). I think the smooth creaminess with some surprise bits of leeks and potatoes was magical. I served with oyster crackers, so the soup looked really pretty and tasted divine. Thank you for sharing this recipe 🙂
I’m not sure where to begin…prep is super easy, as are the directions for cooking. The end result is nothing short of phenomenal. I went with the recipe as is. Used a Ninja blender to smooth it out. This is comfort food at its finest!
This soup is absolutely delicious. Silky smooth and sublime. I didn’t add the cream and it was still rich and wonderful.
I loved this soup! Very easy and quick to make. I made it as listed, but used half & half instead of cream (because that’s what I had) and it was super delicious. I’ll absolutely make this again.
Excellent recipe. I did add pancetta when cooking the garlic and leeks. I also used red bliss potatoes (unpeeled). The immersion blender did a good job getting everything puréed but I did get some small chunks with the potato skin and pancetta (vs totally smooth) which was fine with me and my family.
I made this soup because we love potato leek soup. This recipe is almost the same as the way I always made it. It’s very good and passed the grandchild test. Thank you
Hello ! If I make a big batch to have some to freeze, is it best to add the cream after thawing and reheating ?
Yes, I’d wait till you’re reheating to add it. 🙂
This is wonderful! I now make it every fall with leeks from our farmers’ market. I do not blend it, just mash up a few of the potatoes. (I am too lazy) I also add bacon 😉
Hi! Is this ok to make without blending? I don’t have one and hoping it will still be OK. Just mashed instead?
Sure!
Oh, I love the addition of bacon. I’ll have to try that!
Just made this and can’t believe how quick and easy it was. And it’s absolutely delicious!! Definitely will be making this again !
I love the recipe so glad I came across it while googling. however modify to work with what I had in hand and preferred taste, as follow: sautés the leeks & garlic with a little pork fat (from a previous pork belly), sprinkled red pepper flakes, a little half & half. Mashed the potatoes with a spoon for a less smooth soup. YUM. Thank you!
Excellent flavour from a classic simple recipe doesn’t get any better than this
Thanks for this delicious, easy to follow recipe!! I successfully used half/half instead of heavy cream to lighten it.
It turned out delicious! I did it in instantpot (high pressure 8 minutes), and added just a little bit of heavy cream, it’s sooo good.
INCREDIBLE! And so easy ….Will make this again and again.
Love this soup, perfect on a hot winter day ♥️ The weather is starting to turn and I’ve cooked this and it is delicious and very easy, I replaced the thyme sprigs with dry thyme as I did not have any ( turned out awesome just the same). Thanks Jenn!
Great soup. Very easy to make. I left out the cream and still tastes fantastic
Fantastic recipe!
We used oregano in place of thyme, and added chopped crispy bacon to the left overs on day two. This was the best homemade potato and leek soup I’ve ever had
This is the second time I have made this recipe. I have had nothing but great raves about this recipe. I always thought potato leek soup was difficult but you make it simple and delicious. Thank you!!!