Soup is the best remedy to warm oneโs soul on a chilly winter day. This creamy Instant Pot Potato Leek soup will not only warm you, but fill you with with savory satisfaction. This is such a comforting soup on a chilly day. Itโs so worth making when youโre craving a warm bowl of creaminess with filling up on heavy comfort food.
I have one very fond memory of potato leek soup and it was in San Diego, CA of all places. It was a miserably windy and chilly winter day in San Diego and I was wandering the Gaslamp quarter with a friend. We really wanted to warm up somewhere and stumbled upon a dark little hole in the wall Irish pub. We were offered their popular Potato Leek Soup and it was just amazing, I still remember to this day how creamy and satisfying this bowl of goodness was. It hit the spot and left an impression on me. I wish I knew the secret to this memorable soup.
How to Make Potato Leek soup In Your Instant Pot
The first thing you need to deal with is cleaning the leeks. They can be very gritty, sandy or even packed with mud on them, but theyโre not a big deal to clean. I personally find it easiest to chop up the leeks 1st, white and light green parts only, and then wash them in a salad spinner. It makes it such an easy and quick task this way. Then peel and cut potatoes. If you do this ahead of time just be sure to hold them in a bowl of water. After this, sautรฉ the vegetables for a few minutes, add the remaining ingredients, deglaze the pot, seal and set the pressure cooker. The rest is smooth sailing as shown on the recipe card.
Great Toppings for Potato Leek Soup
- Fried Onionsโ very good on this soup; a little crunch a little salt, whatโs not to like?!
- Fried Jalapenosโ Yes, truly. If you like a spicy kick, this is a great topping for this soup. This is my husbandโs favorite topping now!
- Roasted Jalapenosโ Just a little sprinkle of some chopped up roasted jalapenos gives it a nice back heat on your palate.
- Sour Cream or Heavy Creamโ One of the other; just a dollop or a drizzle to add a little extra creaminess.
- Baconโ If youโre not going for a vegetarian soup, crumbled crispy bacon bits are great on just about anything, but especially a soup like this.
- Green onions or fresh chivesโ I love green onions on just about any soup, chopped small it just makes your soup look inviting as well.
- Soy Sauceโ sounds strange, but a few dashes of soy sauce is a nice umami touch to the soup as well. Canโt knock it till you try it.
What to serve with Potato Leek Soup
- Bread, bread, breadโฆ.yes, itโs a lot of carbs, between the soup and the bread, but if this is your main dish, which it very well could be, homemade or freshly baked bakery bread would be divine.
- Saladโ a simple green salad with a vinaigrette is great!
- Beet Saladโ This sweet and tangy salad goes well with the savory earthy flavor of the potato leek soup, plus it looks great together. We eat with our eyesโฆ
- Spinach saladโ a balsamic basic spinach salad with
- Broccoliโ Any sort of green vegetable goes nicely with potato I think, especially broccoli.
Vegetarian Potato Leek Soup Ingredients
- Potatoesโ I like golden potatoes like Yukon gold for this soup, but russets are good as well.
- Leeksโ For this Instant Pot potato leek soup, you will only use the white and light green parts of the leek, but โDonโt throw away the dark green partโ according to La Cucina Italiana. They share some great ways to use the dark green parts.
- Onionโ White or Sweet Onion is the way to go here, diced small. You just want it for added flavor.
- Celeryโ This is optional if youโre not a fan of celery. I know a lot of people who donโt care for celery, but I think itโs great in this soup if you donโt mind.
- โGarlic Cloves
- Broth or Stockโ I prefer vegetable broth, but chicken broth or stock are great too, unless youโre going for a vegetarian soup.
- Fresh Thyme
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Half & halfโ you can use whole milk or heavy cream if thatโs what you have available. If you need a vegan soup replace with an equal amount of coconut milk.
- Butterโ I use unsalted butter.
Easy Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup (Vegetarian)
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 lbs potatoes (4-5 medium sized, cut into 1/2โณ cubes)
- 3 leeks (white and light green parts only, thinly sliced)
- 2 large celery stalks (diced)
- 1/2 cup onion (diced)
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 6 cups broth or stock (I prefer vegetable)
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 cup half & half
Instructions
- Prep your vegetables if you have not done so already.
- Set your Instant Pot on sautรฉ function.
- Add butter and olive oil once your pot is hot.
- Add onion, celery and leeks to the pot. Cook about 8 mins or until tender. Stirring frequently.
- Add garlic to vegetables, cook about 30 secs until fragrant.
- Stir in salt, pepper, broth and stir to deglaze the pot.
- Then add the potatoes and thyme sprigs to the pot, close the lid and set to 10 mins on high pressure (Keep in mind it could take about 8 mins for your Instant Pot to get up to pressure, hence the added cook time on this recipe.)
- Once the timer goes off, quick release the pressure valve and then switch the pressure cooker the sautรฉ function once the lid is off.
- Remove twigs of thyme from pot (The leaves will be in the soup) Theyโre easy to grab with tongs.
- Use an immersion blender to smooth the soup just a bit, leaving some chunks, unless you prefer it completely smooth. I just do 10 pulses. ***Another option is: Transfer about 4 cups of soup to a blender and puree until smooth and return to the pot. This way youโll have a semi-chunky soup as well if you do not have an immersion blender.
- Once the soup is back up to a simmer, stir in the half and half and sautรฉ until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
- You may enjoy the soup immediately or let cool to refrigerate for the next day.
Delicious! My husband canโt stop talking about how good it was. I didnโt know when to put in the potatoes, so I sauteed the other veg and added the potatoes during that step.
Iโm so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for pointing out the missing potatoes. Sorry about that. I have corrected that now. I appreciate the comment and correction. Happy New Year!
The printable recipe lists โ2 lbs potatoes(4-5 medium sized)โ but there is no mention of chopping them up or even adding them to the pot. Iโm assuming the potatoes get diced & then theyโre added to the pot before pressure cooking. Is that correct? Please edit the printable recipe so it can be printed out with accurate info. Thanks!
I apologize, Sue. So sorry for missing that. I have fixed it. I hope you enjoy the soup! Thanks for your input.