Leek and potato soup is one of the classic soups I remember from going way back. It was often one of the soups on the menu when working with my dad during school/college breaks and stopping for lunch in pubs and restaurants around Ireland. There was often one veg option and one meat based option, mainly chicken. The veg options were often either vegetable soup, minestrone soup (was never quite sure what that was, but have a version of it here), leek and potato soup, or mushroom soup (I wasn’t a fan of mushroom). Oh and tomato, I always enjoyed tomato soup.
Soups are a great comfort food and also a good way to get a daily does of vegetables. They are also a lovely warming food on a cold winter’s day.
Often leek and potato soup is made with butter and cream to give the creamy flavour. This version is a little lighter in calories than these traditional versions. I use Almond milk to add a little creamy texture to the soup. You can also add cream at the end as an optional extra (I use oat or soya).
Neither leek or potato have a very strong flavour so its the combination of the herbs that gives this soup a lot of its flavour. I used a a few sprigs of fresh thyme but a teaspoon of dried thyme will also work. If you use fresh thyme, don’t forget to remove the sprigs at the end before blending. Same applies for the bay leaves.
I use a hand blender to blend the soup. Hand blenders are very useful since you can just stick them in the soup and blend. You can also use a traditional blender and transfer the soup to the blender and blitz.
Leek and Potato Soup (Low Calorie)
Ingredients
- 500 g potatoes floury such as Maris Piper
- 750 ml vegetable stock
- 250 ml almond milk
- 3 medium leeks
- 1 medium onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 carrot medium
- 1 stalk celery
- a few sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- a small bunch of fresh parsley
Instructions
- Cut the ends of the leeks and quarter them lengthways. Wash them under running water to remove any dirt. Cut into small pieces.
- Chop the peeled onion and finely chop the peeled garlic.
- Put the leek, onion and garlic into a pot on a high heat. Stir regularly as they start to sweat.
- Add the peeled and chopped carrot and celery.
- Make up the vegetable stock and after the leeks, onion and garlic have been sweating for about 5 minutes, add the 750ml of vegetable stock to the pot. Add the 250ml of almond milk.
- Add the peeled and chopped potatoes, along with the sprigs of thyme, dried oregano and bay leaves.
- Bring the pot the the boil, cover and turn down to a simmer.
- Simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft enough to put a sharp knife through without resistance.
- Remove the bay leaves and sprigs of thyme.
- Add the chopped fresh parsley (keep some leaves for garnishing) to the pot.
- Blend the soup until smooth.
- Serve in bowls along with a little fresh parsley to garnish and some oat/soya cream (optional) and season with a little salt and pepper.
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