Leeks and potatoes are staples in Irish and French cuisines. This Leek & Potato Soup or Vichyssoise (a French term for traditionally serving this soup chilled but can still be served hot) is simple, creamy and delicious. Leeks and potatoes blended together create a nice and smooth starch-based soup. It’s a great blend of flavors for a savory comfort soup. It’s really delicious.
Being in online culinary school you have the opportunity to do a lot of recipe development practice. Cooking this soup was one of the best recipe development experiences. I loved it so much I wanted to adapt a version of this delicious Irish and French staple.
Mise en Place
The foundation for this classic Leek and Potato Soup are one diced onion, minced garlic, and five large leeks. These ingredients were sweated at the beginning in seven tablespoons of butter and 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt.
Leeks Tip: After you chop the leeks, put the leeks in a bowl full of water and move it around. It’s an easy way to remove the dirt from the tough spots where it gets trapped.
Potatoes Tip: After you cut your potatoes, put them in a bowl of water to help prevent them from turning brown (aka oxidizing).
Sweating the Leeks & Recipe Development
First, sweat the leeks with the potatoes to help extract the flavor. After sweating the potatoes and leeks, use two russet potatoes and cut them into quarter pieces. Add the potatoes and three cups of hot chicken stock (vegetable stock works too). Cover the potatoes with the stock. After the potatoes are covered, let it simmer for about 10 minutes over medium-low until tender.
After ten minutes, working in batches, pour about two spoonfuls of soup into a blender and puréed for about 1-2 minutes to create a nice creamy texture. The mixture was poured back into the sauce pot. Then, serve in a few warm bowls. Garnish with a freeze-dried chive (for fresh green chives) and ground pepper.
Finishing the Soup
After blending this soup, the texture was smooth and consistent, much like apple sauce. The starch of the potatoes create the creamy and thick texture. The flavor tasted like sour cream and onions.
This is a good go-to soup for weeknight and weekend dinners. Top with sour cream, if desired.
Other Irish Recipes 🍀
Looking for some other delicious Irish recipes? Visit this page for a round up of amazing dishes your whole family is going to love. Check them out!
5 St. Patrick’s Day Recipe Ideas
Leek & Potato Soup
Ingredients
For Soup:
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 large leeks, sliced
- 7 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 large russet potatoes, cut into quarter pieces
- 3-4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- kosher salt and ground pepper, to taste
For Garnish:
- dried or fresh chives, for garnish
- sour cream, for garnish, if desired
Instructions
For Soup:
- Prepare and wash all produce. Chop produce. To prepare leeks, cut off root end and dark green leaves. For white and light green parts, cut in half lengthwise and then into small strips. Rinse leeks really well to remove the dirt. Peel and quarter the potatoes. Then put them in a bowl of water to prevent potatoes from oxidizing (aka turning brown). Set aside.
- In a medium stockpot, heat butter over medium heat. After butter has melted, add onions. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, cook for additional 2 minutes. Then add the leeks, kosher salt and stir. Cover with lid and it cook for 8 minutes.
- Once leeks and onions have softened. Add potatoes to the stockpot. Stir to combine with ingredients. Then, add chicken stock. Bring soup to a simmer. Cover and let cook over medium-low for about 10 minutes.
- Once potatoes and leeks are tender, remove soup from heat. Carefully, puree the soup in a blender using only two ladles at a time. Puree for at least 1 minute per batch.
For Garnish:
- Return pureed soup to sauce pan. Serve immediately. Garnish with chives and sour cream, if desired.
