Leek and Potato Soup (No Cream)
This Leek and Potato Soup is a fantastic soup recipe for any time of the year! It’s so creamy and delicious, but wait, there’s NO cream!? That’s right folks! No cream! It gets its silkiness from a secret ingredient…cauliflower.
It’s delicious hot, but you can also enjoy it in the summer months by serving it chilled too. For a heartier soup that serves as a meal try my Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup or my Chicken Tortellini Soup. For a potato soup with a little more protein try my Potato Cheddar Bacon Soup Recipe
Recipe Pairing Ideas:
- Serve this soup with my Garlic Knots with Pizza Dough Recipe or my Parmesan Tuiles Recipe.
- Serve as a starter to my White Wine Chicken or Seared Salmon with Buerre Blanc sauce.
- For dessert try my Pear Spiced Cake or French Apple Tart
Leek and Potato Soup Video Demo
An Easy Weeknight Soup Recipe
- The best way to make this simple soup is to use the freshest ingredients possible, nothing frozen because you’ll get the best flavor that way.
- In a large pot, you’ll sauté the leeks, celery, onions and garlic in olive oil.
- It’s the combination of theses four ingredients that will give your soup great flavor and prevent it from becoming bland.
- If you have ever experienced bland potato soup, chances are it was missing the celery and the garlic! These two vegetables can make any bland soup more flavorful.
- Then add the potatoes, cauliflower, and chicken broth, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
- Then you’ll blend and season and that’s it!
- If your soup is too thick, thin it out with some more chicken broth.
- This soup also reheats beautifully, so you can make a big batch of it on Sunday to last throughout the week!
How To Make a Creamy Soup without Cream?
- The secret ingredient to a fantastic creamy soup without cream, is cauliflower. I’m convinced it is a “wonder vegetable”.
- There’s just so much you can do with it! It’s fantastic in the air fryer too. Try my Air Fryer Cauliflower Recipe as a side dish. Or as a soup on its own, try my Roasted Cauliflower and Curry Soup Recipe.
- And one of my favorite things to do with it is put it in soups as a replacement for cream. It’s the most genius little trick.
- It’s a trick I also use in my Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup and Creamy Corn Soup to make them extra creamy, without dairy and it works wonders!
Cauliflower Provides the Creamy Texture
- Cauliflower has the most incredible texture once cooked, which is why I like to use it.
- There isn’t much flavor, which is OK because the leeks, celery, onions, and garlic take care of that.
- The cauliflower’s real purpose is to deliver the texture.
- Cauliflower is also the secret ingredient in my Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup.
Easiest Way to Cut Leeks For Soup?
- For this soup, I like to cut the leeks into little wheels and not get any fussier than that.
- Especially since we are going to blend this soup so it really doesn’t matter all that much.
- Just be sure to rinse them well, to remove the dirt at the roots and sometimes in between the layers as well.
- I only use the white parts for this soup, but you can save the green parts in a Ziploc bag in the freezer, for chicken stock.
- If you have leftover leeks put them to good use in my Mini Leek and Cheese Quiche Recipe!
Prepping the Potatoes to Cook Faster
- The best potatoes to use are russet potatoes, because they are a starchy potato.
- If you use a waxy potato like a Yukon Gold, or Red New Potato, your soup will become too gluey.
- Your potatoes will cook quicker if you dice them into cubes first.
- It also makes them easier to blend and will produce a creamier, silkier soup too.
- It takes a bit more prep time to do it this way, but what you’ll save on cook time and the creamy texture you’ll get, makes it work it.
Chicken vs. Vegetable Broth?
- I like to use chicken broth for this soup because I think it creates a richer flavor, but to make a vegan leek and potato soup you can use vegetable broth.
- If I’m out of both, I’ve also made this soup with water too! You may just have to add a bit more salt if using water.
- Once the vegetables are tender transfer the soup to a blender. Puree the soup in batches until smooth and creamy.
- At this stage, if your soup is too thick you can add some more chicken or vegetable stock. After your soup is blended transfer the soup into a cleaned-out stockpot.
Seasoning and Garnishing
- Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste and then ladle it into your soup bowls.
- I like to garnish this soup with freshly snipped chives and garlic croutons.
- Some freshly cracked black pepper, or a little white pepper is also great too!
Can you freeze this soup?
- Yes! This soup freezes beautifully. It will last for at least 2 months in the freezer. It’s best to freeze individual portions and then microwave to reheat.
- This soup is a fantastic first course for a dinner party but also makes a terrific weeknight meal or lunch too.
You May Also Enjoy These Soup Recipes:
- Tomato Eggplant Soup
- Cream of Mushroom Soup with Crispy Leeks
- Cream of Celery Soup
- Yellow Tomato Gazpacho Shooters
Please let me know if you make this recipe
by leaving a rating and review below
Leek and Potato Soup (No Cream)
A Leek and Potato Soup (no cream). This decadent soup gets its creaminess from cauliflower!
Ingredients
for soup
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 4 leeks, white parts only
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- ½ cup (75 g) of cauliflower
- 4 cups (950 ml) of chicken broth
- 1 tsp (6 g) salt
- ¼ tsp (1.5 g) pepper
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) chives, minced
for croutons:
- 1 small baguette, sliced and chopped (about 2 cups)
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large stock pot sauté the onion, celery, leeks, and garlic until soft and fragrant. Add potatoes, cauliflower and chicken broth. Simmer until fork tender about 10 mins.
- Puree soup in batches until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with fresh chives and croutons.
- For the croutons:
- Slice baguette in round slices and then slice in bite sized chunks. Toss with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Bake at 375F (190 C) for 5-10 mins until golden brown.
- Top soup with freshly snipped chives and croutons.
Notes
This soup freezes beautifully too! Just separate out into single serving freezer-safe containers and store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Anytime you have left over baguettes or rustic bread. Cut them into cubes and place in a resealable plastic bag and store in your freezer. That way you'll always have bread for croutons "at-the-ready"!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 258Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 769mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 8g
Sprinkled this with bacon rather than croutons for 4 veggie-adverse grandkids and one of my adult kids who also hates any veg. Called it french fry bacon soup and the bowls were literally licked clean! I do need to find a broth with a deeper color as it otherwise is 100% white ingredients! One of the best cream soups I’ve ever eaten and I plan on serving it for a spring luncheon. (In fact, 90% of the menu comes from your site!)
Made this tasty and light potato leek soup for lunch! DELICIOUS!
Thanks for sharing! It’s a keeper!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! One of our favorites too! 🙂
Thank you soooo much for posting this. It is the best potato and leek soup I’ve ever had . I love that it’s not full of fatty cream/creme fraiche that reduces storage too.
I’ve made it 3 times so far, and shared the recipe by popular demand.
I also add some dried basil, oregano amd thyme
I just made this recipe and I can’t believe how delicious and creamy the cauliflower makes it. Thanks for the idea. I love it!
I know right?! It’s amazing that vegetable gets so creamy when cooked! Ha! So glad you enjoyed it!
This soup recipe reminded me of one my Grand mother did and I loved!!!! The one spice she used was Nutmeg….. I will try it with it! 🙂 thank you Beth for all your great recipes!!!
Aww that sounds lovely! Love the idea of the nutmeg! So glad you enjoy the recipes! 🙂
How long does it keep in fridge ?
I usually keep it in the fridge for 3 days and then freeze it in glass individual portions after that and then microwave as needed. It freezes and reheats really well! Thin with broth if needed after reheating 🙂