Vegan Leek and Potato Soup

This Vegan Leek and Potato Soup only requires 7 healthy ingredients, one pot and less than an hour! It’s ultra creamy, oil-free, and gluten free. Make this soup in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop for the best creamy comfort food!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Hidden serving of vegetables. Just like in my Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup and Healthy Pumpkin Soup without Cream, I make my vegan leek of potato soup with cauliflower blended in. It not only gives this soup an extra boost of nutrition, but it also makes it extra creamy and velvety.
• Only 15 minutes of prep time. Although a lot of my vegan soups like my Vegan Potato Corn Chowder have a longer simmer time, there is really only 15 minutes of hands on work to do and then the soup takes care of itself. With a little bit of planning ahead, this is an easy recipe to have for busy weeknights.
• Freezer friendly. I almost always have some of this soup in the freezer and pull it out when I am too busy to cook to thaw in the refrigerator. Highly recommend doing this to save yourself the time and stress during busy seasons of life.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Gold potatoes – I love using gold potatoes in almost all of my cooking. I even use them in my Almond Milk Mashed Potatoes when most people opt for russet. I love gold potatoes because they have a super thin skin that doesn’t need peeling and they are higher in starch, making them extra creamy – perfect for creamy leek and potato soup.
• Cauliflower – You can use either riced cauliflower or cauliflower florets (fresh or frozen!). I usually use riced cauliflower just because it takes less time to cook through and is helpful when I am short on time.
• Leeks – Leeks have a similar flavor profile to onions, but are a bit less mild.
• Coconut milk – I use full fat coconut milk from a can. This guarantees a creamy, delicious soup. If you prefer a lower fat soup, any other unsweetened plant-based milk will do or substitute with water or additional vegetable broth.
• Vegetable Broth – Helps make this soup savory and thins it out to the perfect, silky texture! I always use a low sodium vegetable broth, but you can use a full sodium for a saltier soup, if desired.

How to Cut Leeks

If you’ve never cooked with leeks before, they can be rather daunting looking.

They sort of remind me of green onions, except much larger with a tough, reed-like top.

1. Rinse the leeks very well. Leeks are known to have a lot of dirt within it’s layers, so be thorough and lightly scrub them under cool water.
2. Cut off and discard the dark green top. We are going to be working with the light green and white bottom.
3. Thinly slice the white part as shown above until you reach the light green part where it gets thicker.
4. Peel off and discard the tougher, outside layers until you reach the softer inside. If you have ever worked with lemongrass, it is the same process. Then thinly chop the white insides just like you did the white part.

Step By Step Instructions

1. Sauté the leeks and diced onion until very tender, about 5 minutes. I like to do this in a splash of vegetable broth to keep this soup oil-free but if you prefer, a tablespoon of neutral or even vegan butter works well.
2. Add in the riced cauliflower and diced potato.
3. Add in the broth, turn up the heat and bring the soup to a low boil.
4. Simmer the soup. Once the soup has reached a low boil, lower the heat slightly add the lid and allow the soup to simmer until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes.
5. Remove the soup from the heat and blend with an immersion blender until completely smooth. If you do not have an immersion blender, blend the soup in batches in a blender and then return the soup to the pot.
6. Stir in 1 cup of full fat coconut milk or lower fat dairy-free milk of your choice (make sure it is unsweetened!).

FAQs

Expert Tips

• Serve the soup with a warm slice of sourdough toast or a slice of Vegan Cheese Bread! Is there anything better than bread dipped in soup?
• Make sure to spend a full 5 minutes sautéing the leeks and onion and only stir occasionally. This will allow the leeks and onion to caramelize slightly and give this soup a slightly sweet undertone.
• Don’t shake your can of coconut milk before opening it. This will keep all of the coconut cream on the top of the can and help make the soup very creamy and silky!
• Use 1 cup less vegetable broth with the Instant Pot version. Instant Pot does not allow any of the liquid to cook off when pressure cooking so you don’t need as much liquid.

More Vegan Soups to Try

Vegan Leek and Potato Soup

This Vegan Leek and Potato Soup only requires 7 healthy ingredients, one pot and less than an hour! It's ultra creamy, oil-free, and gluten free. Make this soup in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop for the best creamy comfort food!

5 from 3 votes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 6 servings

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What You'll Need

• Immersion Blender
• 5.5+ Qt Pot
• Chef's knife
• 6 Qt. Instant Pot

Ingredients

Soup

• ▢ 2 leeks - cleaned and sliced
• ▢ 1 yellow onion - diced
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic - minced
• ▢ 16 ounces riced cauliflower - (about 4 cups)
• ▢ 2 pounds gold potatoes - medium chopped (about 4 cups)
• ▢ 5 ½-6 ½ cups low sodium vegetable broth
• ▢ 1 cup full fat coconut milk - can substitute any unsweetened plant-based milk
• ▢ ½ cup nutritional yeast - optional
• ▢ sea salt and black pepper - to taste

For Serving (optional)

• ▢ vegan bacon
• ▢ sourdough toast
• ▢ chives
• ▢ black pepper
• ▢ red chili flakes
• ▢ vegan yogurt

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Instructions

Stovetop Instructions

• In a large 5.5 qt stockpot over medium heat, add a splash of vegetable broth and the sliced leeks and diced onion. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Continue to add splashes of vegetable broth to prevent sticking and burning.
• Stir in the minced garlic and sauté for 1 additional minute.
• Add the riced cauliflower, diced potato, and 6 ½ cups of vegetable broth and stir well. Increase heat to high heat and bring to a simmer.
• Once simmering, lower the heat slightly, add the lid, and allow to simmer for 25 minutes, or until the potato is easily pierced with a fork.
• Once soft, remove soup from heat and using an immersion blender, blend soup until completely smooth. Alternatively, carefully blend soup in batches in a blender.
• Stir in cup of coconut milk and ½ cup nutritional yeast, if desired until completely incorporated.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with desired toppings.

Instant Pot Instructions

• Turn sauté function on, add a splash of vegetable broth and the sliced leeks and diced onion. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Continue to add splashes of vegetable broth to prevent sticking and burning.
• Stir in the minced garlic and sauté for 1 additional minute.
• Turn off sauté function. Add the riced cauliflower, diced potato, and 5 ½ cups of vegetable broth and stir well. Add the Instant Pot lid, confirm valve is set to seal, and cook at high manual pressure for 3 minutes. Manually release pressure immediately.
• Using an immersion blender, blend soup until completely smooth. Alternatively, carefully blend soup in batches in a blender and return to Instant Pot
• Stir in cup of coconut milk and ½ cup of nutritional yeast, if desired until completely incorporated.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with desired toppings.

Recipe Notes

• If you do not have store-bought riced cauliflower, simply pulse your cauliflower in the food processor until you reach a rice-like texture or use cauliflower florets and simmer your soup for a bit longer. Either frozen or fresh cauliflower rice/florets work.
• Note that the Instant Pot version of this soup uses 1 cup less vegetable broth.
• To freeze this soup, allow to cool completely, transfer to freezer safe jars and store in freezer for up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 48 hours before needed. Rewarm on stovetop or in microwave.
• Nutritional information provided does not include toppings.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 248kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 983mg | Potassium: 1026mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 995IU | Vitamin C: 72mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 3mg

Disclaimer: The Nutritional Information provided for this recipe is only an estimate. The accuracy of the facts listed is not and cannot be guaranteed.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Author: Nicolette Wax