This recipe for vegan potato leek soup is so undeniably creamy, rich, hearty and flavourful you may have a hard time believing that it’s totally dairy-free. Not only is it a delicious soup to serve on a chilly winter afternoon, it is also cooling and refreshing when served chilled on a hot summer day.
There are two things I love in this world: potatoes and garlic. Asking me to choose which one I love more would be like asking me to tell you which child I love more. I don’t have an answer to that and if I did I’d never say it out loud.
This creamy vegan potato leek soup combines my two favorite things along with a somewhat underrated winter vegetable: leeks. I never really knew too much about leeks until I did a year abroad in Wales, then I couldn’t escape them!
They were everywhere: in sandwiches, pies, soups, sauces or just sweated off in a bit of butter and served as a side. I got to discover how magical a humble leek can be when treated right.
I first developed this recipe as my version of vegan vichyssoise. Even though I hadn’t had the cream-based vichyssoise since I was a child, as soon as I put the first spoonful in my mouth my taste memory told me that it was exactly how it should be.
I’ve adapted this leek and potato soup from that vegan vichyssoise recipe with the addition of roasted garlic. Now, this is a quick and easy soup to make so I wouldn’t recommend that you turn on your oven for an hour just to roast one head of garlic.
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Get yourself a microwave garlic roaster (like you see in the picture), or put it in a dish and cover with plastic wrap. All you need to do is drizzle over a tiny bit of olive oil and nuke it for two minutes and you’ve got a soft, mellow flavoured head of garlic ready for this, or any other, recipe.
Got leftovers? Use them in these recipes:
Potatoes, garlic, cilantro: Samosa wraps with homemade mango chutney
Cashews: Green pizza with herbed vegan cashew cheese ; Baked beet falafel vegan quinoa bowl
Vegan Potato Leek Soup
Ingredients
- 4 medium-sized leeks - $2.53
- 1 large potato - $0.32
- 1 ½ cups vegetable stock - $0.37
- ½ cup (75 grams) raw cashews soaked overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes - $1.15
- ½ cup (120 ml) water - $0.00
- 1 head of garlic - $0.59
- ⅛ teaspoon olive oil - $0.01
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice - $0.02
- ½ teaspoon salt to taste (depends how salty your stock is. Mine was pretty salty so I didn’t add any more salt) - $0.02
- The seeds of half a pomegranate optional - $0.64
- A few herb leaves of your choice - mint, basil, cilantro, chives, etc. (optional) $0.01
Instructions
- Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add a couple tablespoons of water.
- Slice the white and light green parts of the leeks. The more green you add, the more off-white your soup will be so it’s up to you how much green to use. Add the leeks to the pan and sweat for about 5 minutes.
- Peel and dice the potato and add it to the pan. Sweat for another couple of minutes then add 1 cup of the vegetable stock, reduce the heat to medium-low and partially cover the pan. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft and falling apart.
- Cut the top off the head of garlic, drizzle over ⅛ teaspoon of oil and microwave “roast” it on high for 2 minutes or until soft. You can use a garlic roaster or place it on a plate and cover with a lid or plastic wrap.
- Drain the cashews and blend them with ½ cup of fresh water until creamy. Add the contents of the saucepan, as much of the roasted garlic as you like (I like the whole head), lemon juice and salt to taste and blend until creamy. Add as much of the remaining ½ cup of vegetable stock as you want to reach the consistency that you like.
- Serve the soup hot or chill it in the fridge for a couple of hours and serve cold. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and herbs, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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