The Art of Soups & Stews is a monthly recipe column that explores the world of vegan soups and stews. Written by Best of Vegan contributor Devorah Bowen, this column is a treasure trove of satisfying, comforting, cost-effective, and low-waste vegan soup and stew recipes that are sure to delight your taste buds. In today’s article, Devorah shares her recipe for a delicious vegan potato leek soup that has all the flavors and elements of traditional potato leek soup, but is entirely dairy-free.
Table of Contents
Vegan Potato Leek Soup
There is a soup for every season and Potato Leek is Spring’s. Leeks are a classic Spring vegetable that have a sweet oniony flavor. It matches beautifully with the creaminess of the potatoes. The ingredients are simple and this creamy potato leek soup is not only delicious and satisfying, but easy to make. Perfect any day of the week for lunch or dinner. Pair it with a slice or two of crunchy grilled sourdough bread for dunking.
Ingredient List & Substitutions
- Gold Potatoes such as Yukon Gold Potatoes
- Celery
- Large Leeks (if you can only find small or medium-sized leeks, simply add 1/2 to 1 extra leek)
- Fresh Thyme
- Bay Leaves
- Vegan Butter or olive oil
- No Chicken Broth or Vegetable Broth
- Plant Milk such as coconut milk, unsweetened almond milk, oat milk, or soy milk.
- Salt & Black Pepper
- Chives and Pea Tendrils for garnish
How to Make this Vegan Potato Leek Soup
Step one: melt the vegan butter and sauté the leeks and celery
Melt the vegan butter in a large pot on medium heat. Add in the sliced or chopped leeks and celery and sauté for 3-5 minutes or until they have softened.
Step two: add the potatoes, thyme, bay leaves, seasonings, and broth, then cook & simmer
Add in the peeled, cubed potatoes, thyme, bay leaves and season with salt & pepper. Cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add in the broth and reduce the heat to medium-low heat. Cover and allow to simmer for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are soft (be sure to check after 15-20 minutes).
Step three: blend the soup
Remove the bay leaves and blend the soup to a creamy consistency. You can use an immersion blender for ease or blend in batches with a traditional blender.
Step four: add the plant milk, garnish & serve
Add the plant milk and stir well. Allow the soup to heat through. Garnish with fresh chives or tender greens such as pea tendrils. Serve with slices of grilled bread for dunking.
Tips & Tricks
- Sprinkle a little nutritional yeast on top for some extra flavor, protein, and B vitamins.
- You can use homemade vegetable stock to reduce food waste. Click here to learn how to make your own and get other useful tips.
- Feel free to add more ingredients to your liking, such as fresh garlic, yellow onion, green onions, additional fresh herbs (like fresh parsley), a squeeze of lemon juice, vegan sour cream, cashew cream, coconut cream, vegan heavy cream, or a drizzle of olive oil. All of these make a great addition to any creamy soup. You can enjoy the soup as is or play around with different ingredients to discover your favorite ways to enjoy this recipe.
- Make sure you clean your leeks thoroughly as they’re often covered in a bit of dirt. Simply chop off the root ends and then slice or chop the clean leeks.
- While this vegan potato soup recipe is great in the springtime, it can be enjoyed all year round and is the perfect comforting and easy soup for cold weather in the fall and winter time.
- This delicious soup is perfect as a main dish, but it can also be served in smaller bowls alongside a side salad (with some fresh tomatoes and other veggies for some added Vitamin C), some crusty bread, or a vegan grilled cheese. Either way, it’s the perfect comfort food for the whole family.
- This healthy potato leek soup is also great for meal prep. Simply let the soup cool down to room temperature, then transfer it to an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for the week ahead. Alternatively, you can freeze it in smaller containers and keep it for several months. TIP: a large ice cube tray is ideal as that will make reheating the creamy potato soup even quicker and easier.
- Just like a classic potato leek soup, this one is naturally gluten-free. You can keep it gluten-free by serving with with gluten-free bread or homemade gluten-free seed crackers.
- To add more plant protein to this soup, simply serve it with some white beans, chickpeas, or butter beans.
- When using a regular blender instead of an immersion blender, you might need to blend the soup in batches and be very careful since the soup will be extremely hot. TIP: for an extra smooth texture and creamy soup, a high speed blender works best.
- A large soup pot, stock pot, or dutch oven are ideal for this soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you thicken a potato leek soup?
The soup should already be thick enough thanks to the potatoes, but if you accidentally add too much liquid, you can add a tablespoon to cornstarch or tapioca flour before bending the soup.
Why don’t you use the top of leeks?
The green parts of leeks (the top) can be very bitter, which is why they’re often discarded and the white part is used instead. They’re rich in vitamin C and other nutrients though, so you can absolutely keep them for later use. Thinly slicing them and then sautéing them in some olive oil with a little umami sauce and serving them with fried rice or any other savory dish is a great way to enjoy them, for instance.
What is the best way to prepare leeks for soups?
This will depend on whether or not you’ll be blending your soup. Generally speaking, it’s always recommended to cut the ends off (the part with the root), thoroughly wash them and then either slice, chop or dice them. For this vegan potato leek soup, either slicing or chopping is recommended, as well as removing the dark green parts (see the previous question for more on this). If you’re not blending your soup, then very thinly slicing your leeks is best.
Vegan Potato Leek Soup – Recipe Card
Save and/or print this recipe via the recipe card below and be sure to read the article above for more information and notes.
The BEST Creamy & Comforting Vegan Potato Leek Soup
Ingredients
- 6 medium 800g Gold Potatoes
- 2 ribs Celery chopped
- 2 large Leeks sliced thin mostly white part, discard the tough green tops
- 2 tsp 10g fresh Thyme
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 2 Tbsp 30g Vegan Butter
- 4 cups 946ml No Chicken Broth or Vegetable Broth
- 1 cup 236ml Plant Milk
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Chopped Chives and Pea Tendrils for garnish
Instructions
- Melt the vegan butter in a large pot on medium heat. Add in the sliced leeks and celery and sauté for 3-5 minutes or until they have softened.
- Add in the peeled, cubed potatoes, thyme, bay leaves and season with salt & pepper. Cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add in the broth and reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and allow to simmer for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
- Remove the bay leaves and blend the soup to a creamy consistency. You can use an immersion blender for ease or blend in batches with a traditional blender.
- Add the plant milk and stir well. Allow the soup to heat through. Garnish with fresh chives or tender greens such as pea tendrils. Serve with slices of grilled bread for dunking.
Equipment
Notes
- Leek tend to hide dirt between their layers so make sure to wash them well. I like to slice them down the center and rinse the layers under running water.
Recipe, text, and photography by Devorah Bowen.
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More Delicious Vegan Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like this Leeks & Potato Gratin with Toasted Aromatics & Vegan Feta by Seiran Sinjari. Click here for the recipe.
Even more vegan recipes:
The Art of Vegan Soups & Stews
This creamy vegan potato leek soup is part of the monthly recipe column The Art of Soups & Stews where you’ll find plenty more vegan soup recipes. The secret to mastering the art of vegan soups and stews lies in finding the perfect ingredients that provide creaminess and the right texture so that you won’t ever miss dairy products. Here are a few more recipe from this column that you might enjoy.
- Mushroom Barley Soup
- Roasted Vegetable Tortilla Soup
- Loaded Vegan Potato Soup
- Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
- Vegan Italian Wedding Soup
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