This creamy potato leek soup recipe is comforting and delicious! Easy to make with simple ingredients, it's one of our favorite fall and winter meals.
Let’s make potato leek soup! Now that it’s fall, I’ve been bringing home tall, lush leeks from the farmers market nearly every week. This potato leek soup recipe is my favorite way to use them.
It’s creamy, rich, and flavorful, filled with the delicate, oniony leeks, buttery yellow potatoes, garlic, and thyme. Easy to make with simple ingredients, it’s exactly the kind of warming, veggie-forward fare I crave throughout the fall and winter.
You can make this potato leek soup recipe in two ways. First, you have the option to make a quick broth using the dark green tops of the leeks. Lightly sweet and aromatic, it adds amazing depth to the soup. If you’re short on time, don’t worry—regular vegetable broth also works here.
I love to pair this soup with slice of crusty bread, a grilled cheese sandwich, or a simple green salad for a comforting meal. I hope you enjoy it too!
Potato Leek Soup Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this classic potato leek soup recipe:
- Potatoes, of course! Yellow potatoes, such as Yukon Gold potatoes, are best in this recipe. They have a butterier, richer flavor than russet potatoes, and they give the soup a lovely creamy texture.
- Leeks – You’ll just need the white and light green parts for making the soup. You could discard the dark green tops, but instead, I recommend using them to make a quick leek top broth (recipe below). It adds wonderful depth of flavor to this soup!
- Butter – For sautéing the leeks. Vegan butter works here too.
- Garlic – For savory depth of flavor.
- Fresh thyme – Its earthy, citrusy, woodsy flavor adds freshness to the soup.
- Milk or cream – For richness. Heavy cream is traditional in potato leek soup, but we’ve had great results with 2% and whole milk too. A non-dairy option like oat milk could even work!
- Fresh lemon juice – Optional, but delicious! I love the bright, tangy finish it gives to the soup.
- And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Potato Leek Soup
The first step in this potato leek soup recipe is prepping the leeks. Leeks have a dirty secret: even if they look clean on the outside, their inner layers can hold a LOT of grit and sand. You don’t want it all to go into your soup!
- To wash the leeks, cut off the dark green tops.
- Then, cut the dark tops and the light root ends in half lengthwise.
- If you’re making the leek top broth, rinse both parts under cool running water, gently separating the layers as you rinse to remove any dirt. If you’re skipping the broth, feel free to discard the tops.
While you’re at it, chop the potatoes (no need to peel!), grate the garlic, and bundle the thyme. You’re ready to cook!
Next, make the broth, if you’re using it. It comes together in a quick 30-minute simmer on the stovetop. You can find the complete recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post.
Then, get going on the potato leek soup. Sauté the leeks in the butter until tender, turning down the heat if they start to brown. Add the potatoes, garlic, broth, and thyme and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
Puree the soup in an upright blender (you may need to work in batches), or use an immersion blender to blend it directly in the pot. Stir in the milk or cream and lemon juice, if using.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with a drizzle of olive oil, freshly ground black pepper, and fresh chives on top. Enjoy!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Storage
Leftover potato leek soup keeps well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It will thicken slightly in the fridge, so you may need to stir in a little water to loosen it when you reheat it. It reheats nicely in the microwave or on the stove.
Can you freeze potato leek soup?
In general, I don’t recommend freezing potato soups because they can separate and become gummy when thawed.
However, if you’d like to freeze this one, you can freeze it for up to 3 months without the cream.
Let frozen soup thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat it gently on the stove, stirring often to bring it back together if separated. Stir the milk or cream into the soup when hot.
More Soup Recipes to Try
If you love this leek and potato soup, try one of these homemade soup recipes next:
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Tomato Soup
- Cabbage Soup
- Cauliflower Soup
- Or any of these 35 Best Soup Recipes!
Potato Leek Soup
Ingredients
For the soup
- 4 large leeks, about 2½ pounds, white and light green parts only
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes or yellow potatoes, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 6 cups Leek Top Broth (below) or vegetable broth
- 3 fresh thyme sprigs, bundled
- 1 cup milk or heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, optional
- Chopped fresh chives, for garnish
Optional Leek Top Broth
- 4 large leeks, about 2½ pounds, dark green tops only
- 12 cups water
- 8 fresh thyme sprigs
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
Instructions
- Optional: Make the leek top broth. Cut the dark green tops off the leeks. Wash well and add to a large pot with the water, thyme, garlic, salt, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain and measure 6 cups broth for the soup. Freeze the remaining broth or store it in the refrigerator for another use.
- Make the soup: Chop the white and light green parts of the leeks. Wash well.
- Heat the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leeks, salt, and several grinds of pepper and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the leeks are soft. If the leeks start browning before they soften, reduce the heat.
- Add the potatoes, garlic, broth, and thyme and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are very soft. Remove the thyme, then use an immersion blender or transfer the soup to an upright blender to blend until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and stir in the milk. Season to taste, adding the lemon juice, if desired.
- Garnish with chives and serve.
I used Chobani extra creamy oat milk instead of milk/cream. Otherwise followed the recipe as written (made a 1/2 batch for my small family) and it was delicious!!!
Very tasty! We had this last night for dinner and I thought it was great! I would recommend adding a bay leaf and one chopped up carrot with the potatoes. And I only used ¼ c. half and half instead of all that heavy cream. The lemon juice is a must!
I made this soup and it was so smooth and tasty. It was fairly easy, too.
I made the soup for my in-laws it was really tasty and they enjoyed it. It was my first time making /tasting leek potato soup and it was very tasty.
Didn’t this recipe used to have white beans as one of the ingredients? Rating it 5 stars because I have made it a couple times before, and it was delicious. Just a little confused because I swear it used to have white beans!
Didn’t this recipe used yo have white beans as one of the ingredients? Rating it 5 stars because I have made it a couple times before, and it was delicious. Just a little confused because I swear it used to have white beans!
My family loved this soup, absolutely delicious to the last serving! Even made the leek too broth, perfection. This will be in my winter rotation. Thank you!!!
I’m so glad it was such a hit!
All of your recipes are amazing! I’ve tried them all, but this one’s a total bestseller at my café—it sells out every time I make it!
I’m so glad it’s been a hit!
I tried my hand at this with some substituting. I’d actually consider omitting the heavy cream, since it was delish without it! Used chicken Better than Bouillon. Added some scallions I had. Didn’t have thyme, so added seasoning salt, onion powder, Ms. Dash Garlic Herb, and a little red pepper flakes… yum!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Christine!
This was fantastic! I only had russets and dried thyme on hand, it didnt matter. (I did make the leek broth.)
I added a spicy sausage link because my husband is a total carnivore. He went back for seconds.
I love how much bang for your buck you get with this one as well!
Also, I have cooked several of your recipes at this point and they never disappoint.
I just ordered all 3 of your cookbooks to say thanks for all the noms!! 🙂
Me, too! The leek soup was fantastic!
This may not be what you had in mind, but it was so delicious, I had to post. When I got to the immersion blender part, it was so thick that I went to put more broth in it to loosen it up, and stopped. I’ve been watching restaurant meal videos, and so many are serving some kind of puree, usually a root vegetable, as a side, so I put it in a casserole dish, and made it that night with roast chicken with artichoke hearts, and it was fantastic! Also, I made this with plant butter, good quality, because I have a lactose intolerance, was going to use coconut milk if I got that far, but even wonder if that would have been necessary, we’ll see next time.
Texture was perfect, but the soup is overall very bland and lacking punch, notwithstanding having made the broth from the leek greens as recommended. What can I do to liven it up?
Bacon!
Hi Peter, this may sound strange, but next time, try it with a better broth, it’s a sort of fiction that a homemade broth is always better, there are a lot of reasons for this, but too much to go into here, and in my experience, a broth made from leek tops and fresh thyme is more like what you clean out of the blades of a lawn mower when the grass was too wet to cut. I would try a good veg or chicken broth, homemade or store bought, and dried thyme, unless you grow herbs yourself, the fresh really do lose their flavor fast, and you have to use a lot, so I’d say try dried thyme. Hope this helped!
I also found the vegetable broth to be lacking in flavor and ended up adding a heaping tablespoon of roasted chicken base. Much more to my liking! I also like adding some sliced german sausage. Loved the texture and mild onion flavor of the leeks and adore Yukon gold potatoes! The next time I made it, I just used a good low sodium chicken broth, cooking some of the leek tops in it first. 4 stars with just vegetable broth, 5 stars with chicken broth!
Extra garlic! I always use more than a recipe calls for and this time it was well worth it! I also used chicken broth (because I underestimated my cupboard with veg. broth).
My husband just made this and it was so delicious.
Now he did add a shallot, added some carrots that we had and some dill. He doesn’t like 100% puréed soup so he purred 1/2 the potatoes. It was phenomenal and everyone raved about it. We’ll have this on repeat!
Everytime I make leek soup I include the green part in as well , thinly chopping it like the white part, and I’ve enjoyed it
Love this creamy full of flavour leak potato soup
So glad you enjoyed it!