It’s about that time of year—soup season!! I LOVE making soup in the Fall/Winter months for a ton of reasons:
1) They are generally easy and relatively quick to throw together 2) Soup is really customizable and you can use almost any veggies and spices you have on hand to make a truly delicious soup 3) As long as it isn’t cream-based, homemade soup is healthy and nutritious (way healthier than overly-salty, canned varieties) 4) It makes a lot of servings, so I always have leftovers for lunch 5) Soup is inexpensive to make 6) Soups are warming and so comforting on a chilly, rainy, or snowy Fall or Winter evening 7) Most soup recipes are ONE POT (or crock-pot) which makes for an easy clean up
8) Many soup recipes are vegetarian, vegan, or gluten free or can be easily modified to meet these requirements.
This Potato Leek Soup, in particular, is awesome. It is made with absolutely no cream or dairy. The creaminess comes from pureeing the soup after cooking- the pureed really thicken everything up and creates an indulgent texture. It has a ton of flavor from the leeks and celery, and the spices added at the end really take it over the top. All of the ingredients are cheap to buy and it makes about 5 servings, so it’s a very economical meal on top of being healthy. I would suggest serving the soup with a side salad or half of a sandwich for dinner to make the meal a little more substantial. This Potato Leek Soup is naturally vegan and gluten free, so it’s great for anyone following a special diet.
Note: I did not peel the potatoes for this recipe for two reasons. The first being that I’m lazy and I hate peeling potatoes and the second being that the skins of potatoes contain a large percentage of the nutrients. You can peel your potatoes if you prefer, but I don’t find it necessary.
PS. Love soup? Try one of my other soup recipes: Mexican Corn & Poblano, Butternut Squash & Apple, Vegetarian Pasta e Fagioli, Thai Red Curry
Active Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 5
Ingredients: 2 leeks 1/3 cup chopped celery 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or EVOO) 2½ pounds gold potatoes 32 ounces vegetable broth 2 cups water ¼ cup nutritional yeast ½ teaspoon dried thyme ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon black pepper 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (optional—see note in directions)*
optional: green onions, red pepper flakes, or additional nutritional yeast for topping
Directions:
Thoroughly wash leeks, celery, and potatoes. Thinly slice the leeks, discarding the last ½ an inch of the root end. Finely chop the celery. Heat the oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and celery and cook down until they are softened, about five to seven minutes. Meanwhile, dice the potatoes into ½ inch chunks. Add the potatoes to the pot, then pour in the vegetable broth and water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender and beginning to fall apart. Stir in the nutritional yeast, thyme, cayenne, and salt and pepper. Off the heat. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup to your desired consistency (I prefer to fully puree the soup, but it’s also good half pureed and half chunky). If you fully puree the soup, add 1 cup unsweetened almond milk as you blend so that the soup doesn’t become too thick*
Serve immediately and store leftover Potato Leek Soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
NOTE: If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can puree the soup in batches using a regular blends—just be careful because the soup will be very hot!
Nutrition Information per serving (with almond milk added):
Calories: 295 Fat: 7g Carbs: 44g Protein: 17g Sodium: 380mg Sugar: 4g
*Nutrition information is based on the products I used personally in this recipe. Different products may yield slightly different information.
