Are you looking for a vegan soup recipe that is as healthy as it is delicious? Then you should check out this recipe for vegan potato and leek soup! This recipe is both healthy and flavorful because it is packed with fresh vegetables and herbs.
This potato and leek soup is also suitable for people with a wide variety of dietary restrictions. It is gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, dairy free, egg free, and paleo friendly.
What part of the leek do you eat?
If you have not cooked with leeks before you might not know which part of the leek to use. There is some confusion surrounding leeks that can be attributed to the resemblance between leeks and green onions. Leeks look a lot like green onions – but do not let that fool you! When you cook with leeks you use a different part of the vegetable than when you cook with green onions.
So which part of the leek do you cook with? For most recipes, you only use the light green and white stalk at the base of the leek. You generally do not cook with the dark green leafy portion of the leek.
How do you prepare leeks for soup
Preparing leeks is a little more laborious than preparing similar vegetables. This is because leeks are notorious for their ability to pack away gritty dirt and sand. You have to go through an extra step or two to make sure that your leeks are clean and free of gritty sand before you cook with them. Here is how to prepare leeks for soup.
- Cut off the leafy green ends. The first thing you should do to prepare your leeks for cooking is cut off the leafy green ends and the stringy roots. What remains should be a stalk that ranges from white to light green in color. This is the part of the leek you want to use for your potato and leek soup.
- Slice the leeks. You should thinly slice the stalk of the leek to make small thin disks. Leek stems are thick and fibrous so you should use a high quality chef’s knife (this is the one we use).
- Soak the leeks. After you slice up the leeks, you need to clean the leek slices. You should take your thin leek slices and soak them in a large bowl filled with cool water. The leek slices might break apart to form small rings when you put them in the water. This is totally fine. You should swirl the leek slices around in the water a few times to make sure you remove any remaining grit. This way you will be sure no gritty sand ends up in your potato and leek soup.
How to make vegan potato and leek soup
How do you make vegan potato and leek soup? Here is how to make this vegan & paleo friendly potato and leek soup.
- Prepare the leeks. The first step for making vegan potato and leek soup is to prepare the leeks. You should chop off the leafy green ends, slice the leeks, and soak the leeks in cool water.
- Chop the veggies. After you have prepared the leeks, it is time to chop the vegetables. This is where most of the hard work comes into play. There are a lot of vegetables to chop before you can make this potato and leek soup and many of them are firm so you should make sure to use a sharp, high quality chef’s knife (this is the one we use). Using a sharp knife that can slice through potatoes and carrots like butter will save you a lot of time.
- Cook the veggies. Next it is time to cook the veggies. There are a lot of vegetables used to make this potato and leek soup so you should cook the veggies in a large stockpot or dutch oven (this is what we use – check it out in our photos) that has a lot of surface area.
- Simmer the soup. After you have browned the veggies, it is time to simmer the soup. Add the vegetable broth and thyme to the soup then let it simmer over low heat with the lid on.
- Blend the soup. The final step for making this potato and leek soup is to blend the soup. You should blend at least 1/3 of the soup to thicken the rest of the soup. We recommend using an immersion blender so that you can blend the soup in the same pot that you cooked it in.
Reheating vegan potato and leek soup
This vegan potato and milk soup reheats well in the microwave. You should microwave each serving of soup on full power for about 60-90 seconds. If you are reheating multiple servings of soup, it might be easier to just reheat the soup on the stove. You should cook the soup in a pot over medium low heat for 10-15 minutes.
Can you freeze vegan potato and leek soup?
In general, cream based soups such as potato and leek soup do not freeze as well as soups that do not have a cream base. The fats in the cream tend to separate from the liquids when cream is frozen. The good news is that vegan soups that are made with coconut milk, such as this vegan potato and leek soup, freeze better than soups that are made with dairy products. This is because the consistency of coconut milk is not affected as much when the fats separate.
If you do want to make some vegan potato and leek soup and freeze the leftovers there are a few things you can do to ensure the soup freezes well.
- Blend the potatoes into the soup base. If you are going to freeze this vegan potato and leek soup, you should thoroughly blend the potatoes into the soup base. If you leave entire chunks of potatoes in your soup, the potato chunk might break down and become mushy.
- Add the coconut milk later. If you are going to freeze this vegan potato and leek soup you should consider leaving the coconut milk out of the soup and adding the coconut milk in after you reheat the soup. This way you will not have to worry about the fats of the coconut milk separating.
Vegan potato and leek soup
Ingredients
- 2 stalks celery
- 2 large carrots
- 2 leeks
- 1 shallot
- 4 white potatoes
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 3 cups vegan broth
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Prepare the leeks. Chop off the green leafy part of the leeks and the roots. Slice the stems of the leeks thinly and soak the leek slices in a large bowl filled with cool water for about 10 minute. Stir the bowl of water periodically to dislodge any debris caught in the leeks.
- Clean and chop the shallots, celery, carrots, and potatoes. The potatoes should be chopped into large cubes that are 1/2 inch - 1 inch in length. The rest of the vegetables should be diced into small pieces.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leeks, carrots, shallots, and celery then sprinkle 1/4 tsp of salt over them. Cook the vegetables for 10 - 15 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Add the broth, whole thyme sprigs, mustard, black pepper, and nutmeg to the pot and reduce the heat to low or medium low. Simmer the soup for 25 minutes. Try to keep the thyme sprigs at the top of the soup because they will be removed later.
- Add the coconut milk and remove the thyme sprig.
- Blend at least 1/3 of the soup to thicken it. It is easiest to use an immersion blender if you have one. If you do not, you can wait for the soup to cool then pour some of it into a standard blender.
Notes
Substitutions for vegan potato and leek soup
- Shallots. If you do not have any shallots at home, you can replace the shallot with a white onion. The white onion will be larger than the shallot but I recommend using one whole onion because the flavor of the onion is more mild.
- Fresh thyme. If you do not have any fresh thyme you can replace the thyme sprigs in this vegan potato and leek soup with 1 tsp of dried thyme.
- Coconut milk. If you do not eat dairy free and you do not have any coconut milk around, you can replace the coconut milk with dairy milk or cream. You can replace the coconut milk with 1 cup of whole milk or half and half or 1/2 cup heavy cream.
Other gluten free soup recipes
Are you looking for another tasty gluten free soup recipe that is loaded with fresh vegetables? Check out this recipe for tomato feta soup! This vegetarian soup recipe is made with fresh tomatoes, onions, celery, garlic, and basil.
