Easy Velvety Leek Potato Soup (Dairy-Free)
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Cook50 min
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Total65 min
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Servings4
Browse all Vegan Soup Recipes →36 plant-based recipes
You won’t find any cream or butter in this soup, yet you’ll get that luxurious, silky mouthfeel you’re craving – and that’s because the potatoes and sun chokes do the heavy lifting for you. Cook these starchy vegetables in broth for forty minutes, and they break down and release their natural starches, which thicken the soup naturally. Then, blending everything together creates that velvety texture without any dairy whatsoever. The result? A rich, satisfying soup that’s naturally plant-based. Simple vegetables deliver the creaminess you want, making this soup both nourishing and inclusive for any dietary preference.
Leeks: The Star Vegetable
This simple soup puts leeks front and center, mixed with creamy potatoes and earthy sun chokes to make a smooth, rich bisque. Gently cooking these vegetables with aromatic herbs builds a tasty base that becomes a silky soup when you blend it. With just a few pantry basics and fresh produce, you can make a restaurant-quality soup that’s both comforting and elegant.
Ingredients:
Easy Velvety Leek Potato Soup (Dairy-Free)
by veganpreps.com
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, halved and sliced (cleaned of grit)
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 4 medium potatoes (about 1.5 lb / 680 g total), peeled and diced
- 3 medium sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes), peeled and diced
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon dry white wine (optional)
- 5 cups vegetable stock
- 1/4 teaspoon white or black pepper
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil for garnish
Instructions
- 1Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add leeks and onion with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8–10 minutes until softened and translucent but not browned.
- 2Add white wine (if using) and stir for 30 seconds. Add potatoes, sunchokes, bay leaf, thyme sprigs, and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil.
- 3Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 35–40 minutes until potatoes and sunchokes are completely tender when pierced with a fork.
- 4Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Let soup cool for 10 minutes. Using an immersion blender (or in batches in a standing blender with the lid held down firmly), blend until completely smooth and velvety.
- 5Return to low heat, season with salt and white pepper, and heat through. Ladle into bowls and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- This recipe freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
- Adjust seasoning to taste after reheating, as flavors can mellow during storage.
Look for leeks that are firm and unblemished with bright green tops. Pick waxy potatoes instead of starchy russets for better texture. Sun chokes can be swapped out for celery root or more potatoes if you can’t find them. Fresh herbs work better than dried for building flavor while you’re cooking. Choose vegetable stock carefully for how good the final soup tastes – homemade or a good store-bought version works best instead of bouillon cubes. Let everything cool down before blending so you don’t burn yourself and get the smoothest result possible.
Sauté Vegetables Five to Ten Minutes
Begin by heating 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium pot over medium-low heat. While the oil warms, prepare your vegetables: clean and slice 2 leeks, dice 1 onion, peel and dice 4 potatoes, and peel and dice 3 sun chokes. Once the oil is shimmering and fragrant, add all the prepared vegetables to the pot along with 1 bay leaf and 2 sprigs thyme.
Sauté the vegetable mixture for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so everything cooks evenly and nothing sticks to the bottom. This sautéing step builds flavor in the soup by gently softening the vegetables and letting the aromatics from the leeks and onion soak into the oil. The vegetables should become slightly tender but should not brown noticeably at this stage, since the goal is to create a delicate, velvety soup rather than a deeply caramelized one.
Keep stirring occasionally throughout the sautéing period, paying special attention to the bottom of the pot to stop any vegetables from sticking or burning. When the vegetables have softened slightly and the kitchen is filled with their aromatic fragrance, you’re ready to move on to the next step of adding liquid to the pot.
Sun Chokes Add Earthy Depth
Sun chokes are what give this soup its distinctive earthy, slightly nutty flavor that sets it apart from a basic potato soup. Sun chokes break down beautifully during cooking, creating a creamy texture without any cream. Their natural sweetness balances the leeks’ mild bite, and they’re packed with inulin, a prebiotic fiber that makes this soup really good for you. If you can’t find sun chokes, substitute Jerusalem artichokes – they’re the same thing, just different names.
Crusty Bread Pairs Perfectly
A high-speed blender* makes achieving that perfectly smooth, velvety texture effortless, breaking down the leeks and potatoes into a silky purée with no lumps. Serve the finished soup with a thick slice of crusty bread to round out the meal, letting the bread soak up all that creamy goodness.
Final Thoughts
This easy leek and potato soup is a recipe you’ll find yourself making again and again because it does everything right – it’s simple enough for a weeknight dinner but fancy enough to serve when you’ve got company coming over. You don’t need special ingredients or complicated techniques to create something really impressive. The combination of leeks, potatoes, and sun chokes creates natural creaminess without any dairy, making it work for different dietary needs. This soup freezes beautifully, so you can make a double batch and enjoy it for weeks. It’s comfort in a bowl.
