Leek and Potato Soup for a Chilly Day

Andalucía doesn't really do cold. But occasionally, in the depths of January or February, the Sierra del Sur decides otherwise — and on one such morning, with a rare grey sky overhead and two leeks winking at me from the fridge, leek and potato soup makes itself.

This is one of those soups that doesn't demand much of you. A little patience while the leeks soften, a hand blender, and a decent swirl of cream or crème fraîche. That's it.

Leek & Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 2 medium leeks, trimmed and sliced
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed and chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 litre hot vegetable stock
• Olive oil and a generous knob of butter
• White pepper and sea salt to taste
• 2–3 tablespoons of double cream or crème fraîche

Method

1. Warm a generous glug of olive oil and a good knob of butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the leeks and onion and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften — around 8–10 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and bay leaf. Stir and cook for a further minute.
3. Add the potato chunks. Stir to coat, then continue cooking for 2–3 minutes.
4. Pour in the hot vegetable stock. Stir, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Check the potatoes are tender, then remove the bay leaf and set the pan aside to cool.
6. Once cool enough to handle, blitz with a hand blender until smooth.
7. Season with white pepper and a pinch of sea salt. Add the cream or crème fraîche and stir through.
8. Return the pan to a gentle heat and warm through. Serve with chunks of sourdough.

The choice between cream and crème fraîche is yours — cream gives a richer, rounder finish; crème fraîche adds a very slight tang that works well against the sweetness of the leeks.

Serves 2.

A Few Notes

Leek and potato soup blends best with a floury potato. A variety like Maris Piper in the UK, or a white-fleshed patata blanca here in Andalucía, breaks down during simmering and gives you a silkier finish. Waxy potatoes hold their shape too stubbornly and tend to leave a slightly gluey texture. Not a disaster, but not what you're after.

Consistency is easy to adjust. If the soup blends up thicker than you'd like, stir in a little hot stock and blend again. Too thin — though this recipe tends towards the generous side — simmer uncovered for a few minutes before you blitz.

On stock: vegetable keeps this fully vegetarian, and that's how I usually make it. A good chicken stock gives more depth if you have it. Both work.

And if you'd rather skip the cream entirely, a tablespoon of decent olive oil stirred in at the end does something very similar — especially useful if you're eating leek and potato soup as part of a gut health routine.

Leek and Potato Soup and Your Gut

Leeks contain inulin, a soluble fibre that feeds the beneficial bacteria in your gut — making them one of the better prebiotic vegetables around. The onion and garlic work in the same direction. Together they give this soup a quiet nutritional purpose beyond the obvious.

The potatoes add something less well known. Cooked and cooled potatoes develop resistant starch — a form of carbohydrate that bypasses digestion in the small intestine and feeds your gut microbiome further down the line. In practical terms, leek and potato soup is marginally more gut-friendly if you make it the day before and reheat it. A useful excuse for getting ahead.

Served with sourdough, you've got a decent gut health lunch without really trying.

Storing and Freezing Leek and Potato Soup

Leek and potato soup keeps for 3–4 days in the fridge in a sealed container. Reheat it gently on the hob — it can thicken as it sits, so add a splash of hot stock or water if needed and stir as it warms through.

It freezes well, for up to three months. The one rule: freeze it before you add the cream or crème fraîche. Dairy doesn't hold in the freezer and tends to split when reheated. Let the soup cool completely, portion into airtight containers or freezer bags, and label with the date. Add the cream fresh when you reheat.

This leek and potato soup recipe is part of both the Soup Recipes hub and the Potato Recipes hub — complete collections of soups and potato recipes from The Flexible Chef.

It also features in my Gut Health Recipes collection — real food from a rural Andalucían kitchen, built around fermented foods, high-fibre pulses, wholegrains and prebiotic-rich ingredients.

Find more recipes and food adventures here.
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