Simple Potato Leek Soup

When I was little, whenever I was sick, my grandmother would make me a creamy potato soup. I remember it was the only thing I wanted after getting my molars removed, of course after the obligatory shake. Once my oldest daughter started eating solids, she would eat anything in soup form, as long as it was ice cold. So I gave her this soup in a cup with a large straw and called it Vichyssoise, she is fancy!

This is a slightly different version than my grandmother's, she is old school Latin and loves some bouillon and copious amounts of sour cream. Now that I know dairy isn't as fond of me as I am of it, I leave the dairy out. And the bouillon, that ingredient list gave me the willies, so many chemicals I cannot even pronounce. This is totally Whole30 approved and you can swap out things for your food freedom in the toppings. You can easily adapt this recipe to vegetarians or vegans with the broth being vegetable and your toppings friendly to those diets. If you want a creamy bowl of comfort that takes no time at all, make this soup. 

Simple Potato Leek Soup

Inspired by The Kitchn

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 large leeks, white parts sliced and cleaned
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 4 medium russet potatoes, diced
• 5 cups chicken stock, (vegetable broth if vegetarian or vegan)
• 1 cup water, optional

Topping ideas

• chives
• sour cream
• dairy-free cream cheese
• cheese
• chorizo
• soyrizo
• bacon
• corn

- Slice the white parts of the leeks and place them into a colander, separate parts of the leek rings and rinse under water, there is dirt you need to clean out. Once it is all clean, dry with a paper towel.

- Heat the oil in a large pot on medium-high heat. Add the leeks, salt, and pepper and cook until softened and little browned. Add the potatoes and stir, let it hang out for a few minutes.

- Add the stock to the pot. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender.

- Use and immersion blender to blend the soup, add a cup of water if you want a thinner soup consistency.

- Top with your favorite toppings

Chopping and cleaning the leeks is definitely something you need to do. I have seen other ways to do this, but this is how I do it.

Chop those taters up

In a large pot, heat up the oil and throw in the dried leeks. Season with salt and pepper to help breaking them down.

You want them to have some of the bits browned, it adds some flavor.

Add the potatoes into the pot and stir around a couple times.

Add the stock, cover, and bring to a boil.

Check to see if the potatoes are done by stabbing one with a fork, if it falls apart, its ready to be blended.

If you had hesitations about purchasing an immersion blender, this will put all those fears to bed. It is so much easier than transferring to a blender.

Before I had one of these babies, I made this soup and tried to blend it up in a blender, it completely exploded and shattered the blender, we had no dinner and I think we ended up at Del Taco that night. I still remember trying to salvage the soup, picking out shards of glass.... *shudder*

Look at that beautiful soup! Now it is ready for toppings.

I really love crispy chorizo in my soup, the Kiolbasa brand is my favorite. It is local, a family business, pretty cheap, and those ingredients are on point! Just slice or dice and cook in a pan. Save those mouthwatering oils, it is pure flavor you can drizzle on top.