A super quick & easy Vegan Potato Leek Soup with only 5 ingredients (plus water & seasoning). It’s creamy, comforting & healthy & makes the perfect light lunch or a more substantial dinner with lots of crusty bread, spread with a generous amount of my vegan butter, for dunking!
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This Vegan Potato Leek Soup is the kind of soup that gives you a hug for lunch for lunch or dinner. It’s so super creamy and cozy!
And in addition to being creamy, cozy and super delicious, it is also really nutritious.
It’s got all the goodness of the leeks and potatoes hiding out in there, as well as healthy fat from the coconut milk. And all of that is blended up into velvety perfection.
This is my kind of soup!
A lot of my inspiration for recipes comes from my amazing local greengrocer.
Whenever I go there and see the piles and piles of beautiful produce, I come away with so many recipe ideas. And after my most recent trip, I arrived home with a bunch of beautiful leeks, a little bundle of fresh thyme and my favourite Yukon Gold potatoes.
Out came the soup pot and within thirty minutes I was sitting down to a warm, nourishing bowl of this Creamy Vegan Potato Leek Soup.
A tumble of crispy, golden croutons might have ended up on top too.
WHAT DO I NEED TO MAKE VEGAN POTATO LEEK SOUP?
This Creamy Vegan Potato Leek Soup has just five ingredients (plus optional oil, water & seasoning) and is exceptionally easy to make.
The main ingredients are:
leeks
and potatoes
You will also need:
- a can of light coconut milk
- some ground nutmeg
- some fresh or dried thyme
- water
- salt
- and pepper
Optional is some stale bread to make crispy, golden croutons.
Is it really optional though? I think croutons on soup should be mandatory!
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN POTATO LEEK SOUP
STEP 1
Clean the leeks really well and slice them thinly.
If you are wondering how to wash them efficiently then have a little look at this slide show from Food Network.
STEP 2
Sauté the leeks in a little oil then add the cubed potatoes, cover with water and let simmer until tender.
STEP 3
Add coconut milk, nutmeg, seasoning and fresh or dried thyme if you have it.
STEP 4
Blend the soup, then return to the pan and warm through.
STEP 5
Make optional croutons if you want to! I have added instructions for making them too. They are an awesome way to bring stale bread to life!
WORRIED ABOUT THE COCONUT MILK?
If you are worried about the coconut flavour from the canned coconut milk, as long as you use light coconut milk, it is undetectable in the finished soup. Please don’t sub it for any other kind of milk because it adds a beautiful velvety creaminess which really makes this soup.
WHY NUTMEG?
Nutmeg might seem like a strange addition to Potato Leek Soup but it really works. It’s my little secret weapon! You only need a tiny bit and it adds a lovely sweet, earthy depth to the flavour.
HOW TO SERVE VEGAN POTATO LEEK SOUP
The finished soup has a beautiful pale green colour and subtle, sweet and creamy leek flavour, and is wonderful served with some golden brown croutons sprinkled generously on top. Instructions for how to make them are included below. I also recommend serving fresh crusty bread spread with a generous schmear of my vegan butter on the side!
(This recipe was originally published on Jan 5th 2016 and was updated on Feb 8th 2019)
Vegan Potato Leek Soup
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil , optional
- 2 large leeks , washed and sliced thinly, (use just the white and light green parts)
- 1125g | 5 cups potato , peeled and cubed
- 960mls | 4 cups water
- 1 can (398-400mls / 13.5 oz) light coconut milk , it must be light if you don't want to taste coconut in the finished soup
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme (optional)
Optional Croutons
- Cubed bread Gluten-free if necessary, and it's better if it's a few days old
- Olive oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a soup pan over a medium heat. f you prefer to cook oil-free, use a few tablespoons of water to sauté them in instead and add a little more as necessary to prevent sticking.
- Add the sliced leeks and sauté for 5 minutes until just starting to brown.
- Add the potato and cook for another minute or two.
- Cover with the water and simmer until the potato is tender (test with a fork - it will take about 10 minutes).
- Remove from the heat and add the seasoning, coconut milk & nutmeg.
- Detach the thyme leaves from the stems by running your fingers up them and add to the soup.
- Pour into a blender or use an immersion blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Return to the pan and allow to warm through over a medium low heat before serving.
For the optional croutons
- Preheat oven to 300
- Put cubes of bread in a bowl and spray with olive oil or drizzle over some oil and toss thoroughly.
- Sprinkle with a little salt then pour onto a baking tray and spread out into a single layer.
- Put into oven and bake until dried out and golden brown. Watch them as they don't take long at all. (5-10 minutes, 15 max).
- Cool and store in a sealed container.
Long time vegan, creator of A Virtual Vegan & author of the book 
Deb says
March 24, 2019 at 8:47 amWhat is the conversion for the coconut milk? You have it listed in mls. Thank you~
A Virtual Vegan says
March 24, 2019 at 10:11 amIt’s just one standard sized can. It would be equal to about 1 + 2/3 in cups. or 13.5 ozs.
Neda says
October 4, 2018 at 12:18 pmThank you for this delicious recipe, my husband and I really enjoyed it! This makes a ton of soup and it is very filling so it will last at least two days for smaller households. I used russet potatoes (took a little longer to cook) and included a little bit of the darker leek parts because I like the edge they provide. Just for others to know, I definitely did taste coconut milk in the end but it matched the other flavors very well and I love the taste of coconut so I did not mind at all. Thanks again!
joe says
November 3, 2017 at 10:42 amI make croutons by spraying sliced bread with oil or smear with vegan butter and toast them in the toaster
joe says
November 6, 2017 at 4:02 amMade this today half the recipe and it came out as it is sufficient for a whole week. Like it very much.
A Virtual Vegan says
November 6, 2017 at 9:49 amThank you Joe. I’m glad you are enjoying it!
Kathryn Grace says
February 27, 2016 at 5:12 pmLooks delicious! We used to eat potato soup at least once a month, now hardly ever, but I must try this one soon. Wish I had some leeks on hand tonight!
A Virtual Vegan says
February 27, 2016 at 5:23 pmThank you! Potato based soups are so cheap to make and so comforting. Let me know what you think when you try it :0)
Nancy Nurse says
January 12, 2016 at 3:30 pmCould I use soy in place of the coconut milk? Can’t have any fat at all! Thank you.
A Virtual Vegan says
January 22, 2016 at 9:43 pmHi Nancy. I am sorry it has taken me so long to reply. Your message got marked as spam for some reason and I only noticed it tonight when I was deleting it all.
Yes you could use soy milk, or any other non dairy milk. The soup will end up a bit thinner and not quite as creamy but it will still be good. You could make it a bit thicker by just adding a few extra potatoes. That way when you blend it they will thicken it up.
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
January 5, 2016 at 12:41 pmYour recipe reminded me how much I LOVE leek and potato soup…but I have not made it in ages. I’m going to try this one soon. I love the addition of nutmeg! Beautiful pics too :)
A Virtual Vegan says
January 5, 2016 at 12:49 pmThank you Gwen. It’s such a classic flavour combination and the nutmeg just adds a little something :0)