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Potato Leek Soup – plated and served
Soups & StewsVegetarianWinterLunchFrench

Potato Leek Soup

Velvety soup made from just a few ingredients, served with croutons and chives.

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Preparation
15 min
Cook/bake time
30 min
Total
45 min
Difficulty
Easy
Calories
537 kcal
Servings
4
Prep
15 min
Cooking & baking
30 min

Velvety soup made from just a few ingredients, served with croutons and chives. Potato soup must never go into a blender because the released starch instantly turns it into a sticky, gummy mass. With an immersion blender and a little restraint, however, it becomes wonderfully creamy.

Why this works

Potato starch is contained in granules that swell during cooking. The blades of a blender smash these granules and release long amylose chains that immediately bond with each other. The result is paste, and the process is irreversible. An immersion blender works more slowly and with less shear force. The starch granules remain mostly intact, and the soup becomes creamy instead of gummy.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Wash the leeks thoroughly

    Slit the leeks lengthwise and rinse them leaf by leaf under running water, as sand often sits between the layers. Then cut them into fine rings. Use only the white and light green parts, as the dark green remains tough and gives the soup an unappealing grayish-green color.

  2. Sweat the leeks

    Melt the butter in a pot and sweat the leek rings over low to medium heat for ten minutes until they are completely soft and sweet. They must not take on any color, because browned leeks taste significantly more bitter and would dominate the mild soup.

  3. Cook the potatoes

    Add the diced potatoes, pour in the vegetable broth, and drop in the bay leaves. Let everything simmer for eighteen to twenty minutes until the potatoes are completely soft and fall apart when pressed. Remove the bay leaves afterward.

  4. Blend carefully

    Purée the soup with the immersion blender only until it is creamy, for a maximum of thirty seconds. Under no circumstances should you use a regular blender, because the high speed whips up the starch and makes the soup tough and gluey. It is better to leave a little texture than to blend for too long.

  5. Season to taste

    Stir in the heavy cream and heat the soup again without letting it boil. Season generously with salt, white pepper, and freshly grated nutmeg, which is an essential part of this dish. Serve with crispy croutons, plenty of chives, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Our best tips

  • Never purée in a regular blender. The starch will otherwise turn the soup into a sticky mass.
  • Do not brown the leeks. Gentle sweating in butter is the foundation for the mild, sweet flavor.
  • Grate the nutmeg fresh instead of using pre-ground. With so few ingredients, every detail matters.

Tasty variations

Vichyssoise

Let the soup cool completely and serve it ice cold. This is the classic French summer variation.

With bacon

Render 100 g of diced bacon until crispy and sprinkle it on top instead of or in addition to the croutons.

Nutrition facts

Per serving (1 portion)
Calories537 kcal
Protein12 g
Carbohydrates52 g
– of which sugar8 g
Fat29 g
Fiber9 g

Where the 537 kcal come from

per serving
Calculated from the ingredients – how we do it

We add up reference values for every ingredient and divide by the number of servings. These assumptions are baked in:

  • Reference values per 100 g – for the raw ingredient, exactly as listed.
  • Tinned goods count at drained weight, bone-in meat at purchase weight: you eat about 70 per cent of a chicken thigh and leave the rest.
  • Water evaporates as you cook. The energy stays in the pot, the weight does not – so the figure is per serving, not per 100 g of finished dish.
  • Anything listed without a quantity – “salt and pepper” – is not counted.

A guide value, not a lab measurement: no two onions weigh the same, and fat content varies from pack to pack.

How we calculate nutrition →

Frequently asked questions

Why does my potato soup get sticky?

It was blended for too long or at too high a speed. The starch cells then burst and bind excessively. An immersion blender and working briefly is the solution.

Which potatoes are right?

Starchy ones, because they fall apart and thicken the soup on their own. Waxy potatoes remain chunky and result in a thinner soup.

Can I freeze the soup?

Yes, ideally without the cream. After thawing, it may seem slightly watery. A quick boil and a stir will fix that.

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