A steaming bowl of potato leek soup is the best thing you can eat on a chilly, rainy day, while a bowl of ice cold vichyssoise is the most delicious and cooling thing you can eat on a hot, humid day.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 25 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 ½ pounds trimmed leeks, cleaned and thinly cut
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1 ¼ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into eighths
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth, or more as needed to adjust thickness
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup creme fraiche
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- Chopped fresh chives for garnish
Instructions
- Melt butter in soup pot over medium-high heat. Add leeks and salt; cook until leeks begin to wilt. Reduce heat to medium or medium-low and cook until soft and almost pastelike, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Place potatoes in the pot; add chicken broth. Adjust heat so mixture simmers slowly. Cook until potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes. Puree mixture with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender. Whisk in heavy cream and creme fraiche. Heat over medium heat. Add more salt, if needed, and cayenne pepper. Do not boil.
- Serve with a drizzle of creme fraiche and a sprinkle of chopped chives.
- You’ll need 1 1/2 pounds of leeks after they’ve been trimmed. Leave about an inch of the dark green.
- Here’s Chef John’s recipe for homemade
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Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 424 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 35 g |
| Cholesterol | 104 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 19 g |
| Sodium | 1171 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 31 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
An easier way to clean the leek is to cut it in half lengthwise and separate the leaves under running water and use your fingers to clean the dirt away.
Heavenly! Planning more leeks in my garden this year now.
Perfect. The taters were a bit mealy but I had no immersion blender. So I used an electric blender. Also didn’t have creme fraiche or cultured buttermilk. So, just sour cream. Still, it was outstanding and all the potatoes and leeks came from our garden. First try…a win. Thanks.
Outstanding, but that’s not a surprise. Chef John’s recipes are perfection. Thanks again for another winner!
When substituting creme fraiche with sour cream use 30% less sour cream than it calls for.
I made this exactly as written and cannot suggest a way to improve it. Directions are clear and easy to follow and the result is absolutely delicious. Another Chef John in my permanent file.
This is my favorite soup now. I’ve never had it before this and have made it several times since and it still turns out great every time!
I made this once ten years ago with the help of a client from Belgium. I made it for the second time today, this time with Chef John’s help, and it was as delicious as I remembered it. Thank you Chef for helping me achieve a great memory from a special client. N Brown
This recipe is fantastic. I followed exactly and had fully intended to make the creme fraise but just could not wait. It has marvelous flavor and was easier than I anticipated. This is a keeper.
Good hot or cold and easy to make
I have made this many times. I usually skip mixing in the crème fraiche, instead I let people add a dollop of that or sour cream to their individual bowls.
Great easy recipe! Perfect warm up on a cold winter night! I didn’t have creme fríache or whatever, but still good soup.
This recipe is very similar to one from The Joy of Cooking that I used to make. It’s just a simple, but good and very flavorful soup that really hits the spot after a day out in the snow/cold. And I agree with Chef John… this is not one you want to attempt to doctor or add a bunch of other items to. It’s best as-is.
I made this recipe and served it hot one day and cold the next. We liked it both ways, but I particularly liked it cold. I added some crispy fried onions (the ones used in green bean casserole) as little onion croutons. Yum.
Really good! Used lite sour cream instead of CF. Great as is or would be amazing with bacon, cheddar and chives
Delicious. A simple dish that got rave reviews from the family.
I followed the recipe except for substituting Mexican sour cream for the creme fraiche. It was easy to make and tasted great.
Great! My whole family loved it!
skipped cayenne, used pressure cooker, added a bit of ham and chorizo and a little onion, fantastic
Delicious! The boys up a Winterfeld would be quite satisfied with this rich, tasty soup. I have some decent 1/2 stale rye bread I paired with this and it was perfect. Kudos!
I made it and it was great. Since my chicken stock was going to be a source of salt, I reduced the initial salt addition to 1 1/2 teaspoons Instead of the 2 teaspoons suggested. Wished I had cut it back even further to Perhaps 1 teaspoon. Also, although I had heavy cream I decided to go with half-and-half instead and I feel it was plenty rich without the extra fat. Did not have to creme fraiche so I had to go with sour cream. Lastly I did not have fresh chives so I used dried. It’s definitely a keeper.