This Potato Leek Soup is creamy, comforting and perfect for a cold day in front of a fireplace. The base is bacon fat. YES! bacon. Everything tastes good with bacon and this Potato Leek Soup is no exception. This Potato Leek Soup is pretty simple and you can make it chunky or smooth, depends on your liking. In my humbled opinion, the hardest part is trying not to eat all the crispy bacon before the soup is done. ha ha
Let’s cook some food!
Other than potatoes, one of the key ingredients here is leeks. If you haven’t tried leek, it is in the onion family but milder. The challenge of cooking with leeks is that they are almost always dirty. When they are grown, soil is piled up around them, so there’s always soil hidden in between the leaves.
I have two leeks here in the picture below but this recipe needs three. I have one whole leek that I already cut and cleaned from when I made Mini Italian Frittata last week.
I cut off the dark green leafy part and the end, slice in half lengthwise.
Then, cut them into small pieces.
I found the best way to clean them is to chop them up and let them sit in a large bowl of water for a few minutes.
The soil will fall to the bottom of the bowl, then fish out the leeks and use a salad spinner to dry them.
Next, peel, clean and dice Yukon gold potatoes into about 1/2-inch pieces.
Cut bacon into small pieces, cook the bacon in a large pot until crispy, medium heat.
Take out the crispy bacon, save them to sprinkle on top of the soup later. You can have a few pieces now. I know what temptation is like. ha ha
Add the chopped leeks into the bacon fat, stir.
Cook until the leeks are softened.
Add diced potatoes.
Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and about 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.
Add chicken broth, 1 bay leaf and 3 sprigs of thyme.
Turn up the heat to medium high, bring it to a boil and then lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.
Remove and discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
Use an immersion blender
Here’s what the immersion blender
Keep blending until you get the consistency that you like. Sometimes, I like it chunky but today I want my soup to be more smooth.
Taste to see if it needs more salt or pepper.
Add about 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream.
Stir until combined.
Serve with crispy bacon on top. You can also garnish with some parsley leaves.
Turn on the fireplace and enjoy your Potato Leek Soup! I hope you give this recipe a try, the recipe card is below.
- 3 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
- 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, diced into ½-inch thick
- 3 large leeks, white and light green parts cut into small pieces
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme (or ½ teaspoon of dried)
- 4 cups (32 oz.) of low sodium chicken broth
- ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cook the bacon in a large pot until crispy, medium heat. Take out the crispy bacon, save them to sprinkle on top of the soup later.
- Add the chopped leeks into the bacon fat, stir. Cook until the leeks are softened.
- Add diced potatoes. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and about ½ teaspoon of pepper.
- Add chicken broth, bay leaf and thyme. Turn up the heat to medium high, bring it to a boil and then lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.
- Remove and discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Keep blending until you get the consistency that you like.
- Taste to see if it needs more salt or pepper. Add about ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream. Stir until combined. Serve with crispy bacon on top. Garnish with some parsley leaves (optional).
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