For a beautiful creamy-white (not khaki) color, don’t let the leeks and celery take on any color when sautéing.
Recipe information
Yield
6 Servings
Ingredients
3
4
2
2
¼
3
1
5
½
1
¼
2
1
¼
Preparation
Step 1
Trim dark green leaves from leeks; discard all but 2. Tuck thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves inside leek leaves; tie closed with kitchen twine. Thinly slice light and pale-green parts of leeks.
Step 2
Heat butter in a large heavy pot over medium-high. Add celery and sliced leeks and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until leeks begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, add herb bundle, cover pot, and cook, checking and stirring occasionally, until leeks and celery are very soft, 25–30 minutes (this long, slow cooking draws maximum flavor out of the vegetables). Increase heat to medium-high, add potato and 5 cups broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until potato is very tender, 10–15 minutes. Let cool slightly. Discard herb bundle and any herbs that may have fallen out while cooking.
Step 3
Working in batches, purée leek mixture in a blender until very smooth (make sure lid is slightly ajar to let steam escape; cover with a towel). Transfer to a large bowl or pitcher.
Step 4
Pour soup back into pot and add cream. Thin with broth, if needed. Taste and season with salt and pepper; keep warm.
Step 5
Heat oil in a small skillet over medium. Add almonds, sunflower seeds, and coriander seeds and sprinkle sugar over; cook, stirring, until nuts and seeds are golden, about 4 minutes. Transfer nuts to paper towels to drain; season with salt and pepper.
Step 6
Serve soup topped with crème fraîche and nut mixture.
Step 7
Do ahead: Soup and nut mixture can be made 4 days ahead. Let soup cool; cover and chill. Store nut mixture airtight at room temperature.
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Reviews (52)
Back to TopThe soup is actually pretty easy to make and has a really good base. A couple points- 1- tie your herbs in cheese cloth instead of the leek leaves which will help when removing after. 2- the soup is actually a little bland though - definitely needs salt at the end and then we added penzay’s spice mix- tsar dust at the end- it added a little needed spice and nuttiness that was needed. Overall though we liked it
Amanda rez
Virginia
12/25/2022
This soup is, straight up, delicious! ... I'm not sure why it doesn't have at least 4 stars. Yes, it can use more potatoes but that's a simple fix...just add more potatoes. I always double it as it freezes perfectly and it is such a treat to have after a long day. I love this soup, and every time I make it, my partner always raves and says "you could sell that" when finished. Thank you bon appetit, your recipes never fail to be a crowd pleaser!
Nancy W
Waterloo Ontario
3/27/2022
This was lovely! I added fried sage on top, and left out the cream, and only used half the butter to make it healthier. I used 1 large potato to 2 leeks, and in my nut mix had cashews, almonds and Pepitas. It was delicate (as potato leek soups should be), smooth, creamy.
Sarah
Kansas City
11/21/2021
A pot of potato soup with one potato? I don't understand. Some of the adaptations look tasty, but no one adds potatoes. I'm going to use this as a jumping off place but with a lot more potatoes and maybe some shredded carrot for color. I'm planning this as a main dish for four adults. It will require tweaking. :)
Parker
Dallas TX
1/15/2021
I made this for Christmas dinner. After reading all of the reviews, I was a little nervous. I actually used four leeks and left the two herb bundles in for a full 35 minutes. I used. 1.5 russet potatoes. I used Better then Bouillon stock for the broth. I used an immersion blender to puree in the pot. I did not add heavy cream and used sour cream instead of creme fraiche. The soup had a very pretty pale green color. I served piping hot into warm bowls and topped with toasted pepitas and crushed lightly salted, roasted almonds. My family asked me to triple the recipe and can it for future “pull off the shelf” convenience.
M Mulcahey
Atlanta Georgia
12/28/2020
This recipe was much more tasty than it's 2.7 star rating! I adjusted it slightly based on what I had - used 1 cup of whole milk instead of cream, used toasted pumpkin seeds (instead of almonds) and sunflower seeds, used tarragon to replace thyme, sub-d homemade turkey stock instead of chicken broth, and I had some spicy sausage I needed to use before it went bad so I crisped that up in a separate pan and topped the soup with my seed mixture and the sausage. It was incredible! Don't let the lower reviews fool you :)
Anonymous
Nevada City, CA
12/1/2020
I appreciated sweating the leek greens with herbs to extract as much possible flavour. Adding the heavy cream isn’t necessary. #slowfood #responsiblecooking
Preed1
GTA, Ontario
4/11/2020