Garden-Fresh Potato Leek Soup Recipe

Written by Kevin Espiritu Last updated: June 20, 2023 | 2 min read

I went out to the garden on a rainy day (rare in San Diego) and noticed something…

My leeks were finally ready to harvest!

I knew it was time to make one of my all-time favorite soups: potato leek soup.

There are a few things I love about soups:

They’re dead-simple to make
They’re super nutritionally-dense
They’re easy to make with ingredients from the garden!

So I ventured out into the garden to harvest my leeks (see the full growing guide here). With a quick tug, they were out of the ground…but they were filthy:

Harvesting Leeks — Grip the leek firmly at the base and gently tug it from the soil to avoid damaging the stalk.

After a thorough wash and peel, they were ready for the kitchen. On to harvesting the fresh thyme sprigs:

Harvesting Thyme — You can be aggressive with harvesting thyme…it grows RIGHT back.

I didn’t have any potatoes or garlic ready to harvest, so I bought them from a local farmer in my area and headed inside to chop everything up.

First, the leeks. Remove the root base as well as the stalk as soon as it stops feeling firm to the touch, then roughly dice them. You don’t need to be perfect here:

Dicing leeks — A rough chop is all you need.

Next, the potatoes. Some people like to peel their potatoes for soups, but I don’t see the point. Why not leave all of that nutrition in the soup! It doesn’t affect the flavor. In fact, I find it gives it a heartier taste:

Dicing potatoes — Leave the skin on and dice to 1/2″ cubes.

Finally, mince up the thyme and garlic. Most recipes call for leaving the thyme on the stem, but I’d rather incorporate it into the soup and get more flavor in there

After you’re done slicing and dicing, add a liberal hunk of unsalted butter to your pan (I like a cast iron):

Adding butter — I love the “plop and sizzle” of a good dollop of butter hitting the pan.

Next, add your leeks and garlic. All you need to do is stir them around on medium heat for around 10 minutes or so, just until they become slightly translucent and wilt. If they start to brown, turn the heat down and stir more often:

Wilting leeks — How delicious does this look already!?

Now we add our chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper:

Adding spices — At this point you can taste the broth and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

Now, add the “meat” of the recipe…your diced Yukon Gold potatoes. Bring the pot to a boil after you add them, then immediately turn to low and monitor for 20 minutes. You want the potatoes cooked through and soft so they’re ready to blend!

Adding potatoes — Make sure they’re soft enough to blend well.

After your potatoes are cooked through, either blend with an immersion blender in the pot or transfer to a standard blender (do in two batches if using standard blender). Blend until extremely smooth and creamy…we want all of those flavors incorporated!

Blending potato leek soup — Don’t be afraid to blend well…the creamier, the better.

One more step before you can enjoy your soup. Add the secret ingredient: one cup of organic heavy cream. This gives your soup an absolutely insane creaminess and brings out all of the garden-fresh flavors we’re working with:

Adding cream — Make sure to incorporate well.

Now your soup is ready for garnish. I personally love a mixture of garlic chives, green onions, and fresh basil, but it’s completely up to you! You could add bacon bits or other crunchy goodies to really spice up the flavor.

This is quickly becoming my go-to soup from the garden, and I’m excited to modify it based on what’s ready to harvest in the yard. I truly hope you enjoy it, and if you have any modifications that you like, leave them in the comments below. I’d love to try them!

[tasty-recipe id=”13201″]