Potato and leek soup to me is such a classic, it is up there with a creamy tomato soup. It is a great soup for all year round and fantastic if you are on a budget. It uses very simple ingredients that are usually readily available all year round.
As a child I loved this soup because of its simple plain flavour making it a great soup for the whole family. Serve it with a hearty bacon sandwich or just sprinkle the crispy bacon over the top adding a lovely crunchy saltiness to the potato and leek soup.
Ingredients for the potato and leek soup
- Leeks. I think leeks are such an under rated vegetable they have an amazing flavour and texture. Go check out my creamy leeks recipe its a favourite.
- Potatoes. For this recipe you will need a floury potato that is good for mashing so something like a russet or yellow fleshed potato will work well.
- Onion and celery. Needed for most good soup bases.
- Chicken broth/stock. You can also use vegetable stock and keep it vegetarian. But, I find that the chicken stock has a lot more flavour which this soup does benefit from.
- Whipping cream.
- Streaky bacon rashers. Smoked bacon if you can get it.
How to make potato and leek soup
In a heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven melt a large knob of butter.
Prep
Roughly chop the onion and celery and place them into the pot with the melted butter. Cook over a medium heat we don’t want the onion and celery to burn we just want it to soften. Cook for around 5 minutes until they begin to look translucent and shiny.
While the onions are cooking wash the leeks thoroughly they tend to have dirt between the leaves. Peel the potatoes and cut both the potatoes and leeks into small chunks.
Cook
Add the leeks and potatoes to the softened onions and mix them in well. Let them soften for another 5 minutes.
Add the chicken stock and bring it to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, place a lid on the pot and leave to cook for 30 minutes.
While the soup is cooking lets cook the bacon. Do this is whichever method you prefer whether its on the stovetop or broiler. If you own an air fryer then I highly suggest using it to cook the bacon, they make the best crispy bacon.
When the bacon is cooked place to the side to cool. Once cooled cut up the bacon into small bits.
Once the potatoes are nice and soft remove the pot from the heat.
We now want to blend the soup using either a countertop blender or an immersion blender which is my preferred method. I find it a lot easier and less messy.
Blend the soup until it is nice and smooth.
Place the pot back onto the heating element at a medium low heat. Add in the whipping and bring up to a light simmer we don’t want it to boil.
Serve
Spoon the soup into bowls and sprinkle over some of the crispy bacon bits.
Serve the potato and leek soup with either a bacon sandwich or warm crusty bread.
Potato and leek soup with bacon bits
A beautiful simple classic soup recipe. With the added bonus of some crispy salty bacon.
Ingredients
- 3 Large leeks
- 4 Russet or yellow fleshed potatoes
- 6 Cups Chicken Broth/stock
- 1 Cup Whipping cream
- 3-4 rashers of smoky streaky bacon rashers
Instructions
- In a heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven melt a large knob of butter.
- Roughly chop the onion and celery and place them into the pot with the melted butter. Cook over a medium heat we don't want the onion and celery to burn we just want it to soften. Cook for around 5 minutes until they begin to look translucent and shiny.
- While the onions are cooking wash the leeks thoroughly they tend to have dirt between the leaves. Peel the potatoes and cut both the potatoes and leeks into small chunks.
- Add the leeks and potatoes to the softened onions and mix them in well. Let them soften for another 5 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock and bring it to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, place a lid on the pot and leave to cook for 30 minutes.
- While the soup is cooking lets cook the bacon. Do this is whichever method you prefer whether its on the stovetop, broiler or air fryer.
- When the bacon is cooked place to the side to cool. Once cooled cut up the bacon into small bits.
- Once the potatoes are nice and soft remove the pot from the heat.
- We now want to blend the soup using either a countertop blender or an immersion blender.
- Blend the soup until it is nice and smooth.
- Place the pot back onto the heating element at a medium low heat. Add in the whipping and bring up to a light simmer we don't want it to boil.
- Spoon the soup into bowls and sprinkle over some of the crispy bacon bits.
Serve the potato and leek soup with either a bacon sandwich or warm crusty bread.
Notes
You can use vegetable stock if you would prefer to make it a vegetarian soup,
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