Instant Pot Potato And Leek Soup Recipe
Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup is a creamy and delicious Instant Pot soup. This is made with diced potatoes, leeks, carrots, and a creamy base. You will use an immersion blender to create an ultra creamy soup that is satisfying and delicious soup the whole family can enjoy. Try my pressure cooker potato leek soup for dinner tonight.
Cooking soups in an electric pressure cooker allows for a quick cook that offers that slow-simmered flavor. This smooth soup is delicious, and you can add a swirl of heavy cream, sour cream, or even more Greek plain yogurt on top. Top with some bacon bits, green onions, or even some seeds.
If you are looking for more Instant Pot recipes, I have some for you to try. Try my easy Instant Pot goulash, pressure cooker chicken marsala, or classic chicken alfredo.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Effortless Preparation: This Instant Pot recipe’s beauty is its simplicity. With minimal prep time, you can have a gourmet-tasting soup ready to serve without the usual hours spent over the stove.
- Versatile and Customizable: This potato and leek soup can be easily adjusted to accommodate different dietary needs – it can be made vegetarian by using vegetable broth or vegan with dairy substitutes.
- Perfect for Leftovers: This soup is a hit on the first day and stores excellently for leftovers, allowing the flavors to blend and deepen even further in the fridge.
- Year-Round Comfort Food: Whether it’s a cold winter evening or a breezy summer night, this soup provides comforting warmth or can be chilled for a refreshing soup option.
Ingredients For Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup
- Leek – You will use a stalk of leek for this recipe. It will add the perfect flavor to the soup.
- Potatoes – Russet potatoes are what I used; they cook up perfectly in the pressure cooker.
- Carrots – Dice up some carrots and use them to help add extra layers of flavor.
- Garlic – You will want to mince up some garlic.
- Butter – Use real butter, not margarine.
- Yogurt – Plain Greek yogurt is what you will need.
- Half and Half – So, I used half and half to create a creamy base for the soup.
- Soy sauce – Adds a bit of depth of flavor to the soup.
- Nature’s Seasoning – If you can’t find this seasoning, feel free to use a season-all-style type of salt.
- Broth – Chicken, vegetable, or even beef broth works.
Substitutions and Variations
- Vegetable Stock or Broth: For a vegetarian version of this soup, simply substitute chicken broth with vegetable stock or broth.
- Dairy-Free / Vegan Option: Replace the butter with olive oil, half and half with coconut milk or almond milk, and Greek yogurt with a dairy-free yogurt alternative to make this recipe vegan.
- Gluten-Free Adaptation: Ensure the soy sauce is gluten-free, or use a gluten-free tamari or coconut aminos as an alternative.
- Additional Toppings: For added color and flavor, consider garnishing with chopped chives, grated cheese, or even a sprinkle of paprika.
- Different Potatoes: While russet potatoes are recommended, feel free to use Yukon gold or red potatoes for a different texture and taste.
- Extra Vegetables: To boost the nutritional value, add spinach, kale, or other greens in the last few minutes of cooking.
- Spice it Up: For those who enjoy a bit of heat, a dash of cayenne pepper or a sprinkle of chili flakes will add a nice warmth to the soup.
- Meat Lovers’ Option: While this is a vegetarian soup, cooked and crumbled bacon or diced ham can be added for those who prefer an extra protein boost.
See the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients and measurements.
How To Make Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup
- Trim the green tops from the leeks. Slice them lengthwise and wash thoroughly to remove dirt. Peel and prepare your potatoes by chopping them into chunks. (Photo 1)
- Set your Instant Pot to sauté mode. Add a knob of butter, then the leeks and carrots. Cook until they start to soften. (Photo 2)
- To the pot, add chopped potatoes, your chosen spices, minced garlic, broth, soy sauce, and half and half. Close the lid, set the valve to sealing. (Photo 3)
- Select the pressure cook setting and cook for the recommended time. After cooking, carefully perform a quick pressure release.
- Puree the soup in batches using a stand blender or directly in the pot with an immersion blender. If the soup is too thick, stir in additional liquid until you reach the desired consistency. (Photo 4)
- Serve the soup hot, garnished with your preferred toppings.
Recipe Tips
- Saute function really helps to bring out the flavor of the vegetables. Make sure you do not skip this part.
- Use a wooden spoon to scrape off any stuck bits on the bottom of the pot once you pour your vegetable broth in. To ensure you don’t get a burn notice.
- You can also use chicken stock, beef, or vegetable stock. It is up to you.
- Add in other herbs like fresh thyme, parsley, etc.
- Clean leeks well, or you will find you can get sand and such in your soup.
- Quick-release your soup once it is done. This is where you manually push the steam release valve.
- Top with cheddar cheese for a cheesy twist.
- Use a salad spinner to help clean the leeks. There is lots of dirt in leeks, and the spinning will help tremendously.
- Use Yukon gold potatoes in replace of russets if you want.
- For a creamier soup, add more half-and-half or even heavy cream when using the immersion blender.
- For a dairy-free option, use coconut milk.
Alternative Cooking Methods
For those who don’t have an Instant Pot, the recipe can be easily modified for a slow cooker or traditional stovetop preparation:
- Slow Cooker Method: Combine all ingredients except for the dairy and garnish elements in your slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Before serving, use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth, then stir in the half and half and Greek yogurt for creaminess.
- Stovetop Method: In a large pot, sauté the leeks and carrots in butter, then add the broth, potatoes, spices, and soy sauce. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 25-30 minutes. Proceed with blending the soup and adding the dairy ingredients as the final step before garnishing and serving.
Remember, when adapting cooking methods, the key is to ensure that the vegetables have enough time to cook through and flavors meld perfectly.
Storing Tips
You can store the leftover soup in an airtight container. This creamy Instant Pot potato leek soup recipe does store for 3-5 days. This makes for an easy dinner or meal prep for lunches, especially in cold weather months.
Now, in terms of freezing, due to the creamy texture, the soup can become gritty once it thaws. I don’t recommend freezing the soup if you don’t care for different textures.
Serving Suggestions
This can be a meal in one, but feel free to pair it with cheesy garlic bread, an easy healthy salad, or cheesy bread rolls. Or go for it and do a club sandwich with a side of soup.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can make this potato leek soup ahead of time. After cooking, allow it to cool completely before storing it in the refrigerator. Reheat it gently on the stove or in the microwave, adding a bit more broth or half and half if it’s too thick.
The white and light green part of the leeks is the part where most prefer to eat. You can eat other areas of the leek, but you will find the best flavor is in the white and light green color.
The best way to clean leeks is to first slice them and then rinse under running water to remove any dirt between the layers. Alternatively, you can soak the sliced leeks in a bowl of water, then lift them out and discard the dirty water.
Absolutely! If you prefer a chunky soup, simply skip the blending step. Instead, after cooking, you can lightly mash the potatoes with a potato masher for a soup with more texture.
Yes, a regular stand blender can be used to puree the soup. Just be careful when transferring hot liquids and blend in batches, if necessary, to avoid overfilling.
The thickness of the soup can be easily adjusted by adding more broth if it’s too thick, or by blending in more potatoes or adding a thickening agent such as cornstarch or flour if it’s too thin.
Need More Instant Pot Recipes? Try These:
- Instant Pot-Jambalaya
- Instant Pot Italian Chicken Penne Pasta
- Instant Pot BBQ Pork Tenderloin
- Loaded Instant Pot Potato Salad
- Quick and Easy Instant Pot Egg Salad
- Instant Pot Taco Soup
- See all of our Instant Pot recipes!
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Instant Pot Potato and Leek Soup Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 stalk of leek
- 4 russet potatoes
- ⅓ cup (42 ⅔ g) carrots diced
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup (60 ½ g) half and half
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons nature’s seasoning
- 5 cups (1 ⅙ l) Broth
Instructions
- Trim the green tops from the leeks. Slice them lengthwise and wash thoroughly to remove dirt. Peel and prepare your potatoes by chopping them into chunks.
- Set your Instant Pot to sauté mode. Add a knob of butter, then the leeks and carrots. Cook until they start to soften.
- To the pot, add chopped potatoes, your chosen spices, minced garlic, broth, soy sauce, and half and half. Close the lid, set the valve to sealing.
- Select the pressure cook setting and cook for the recommended time. After cooking, carefully perform a quick pressure release.
- Puree the soup in batches using a stand blender or directly in the pot with an immersion blender. If the soup is too thick, stir in additional liquid until you reach the desired consistency.
- Serve the soup hot, garnished with your preferred toppings.
Notes
- Saute function really helps to bring out the flavor of the vegetables. Make sure you do not skip this part.
- Use a wooden spoon to scrape off any stuck bits on the bottom of the pot once you pour your vegetable broth in. To ensure you don’t get a burn notice.
- You can also use chicken stock, beef, or vegetable stock. It is up to you.
- Add in other herbs like fresh thyme, parsley, etc.
- Clean leeks well, or you will find you can get sand and such in your soup.
- Quick-release your soup once it is done. This is where you manually push the steam release valve.
- Top with cheddar cheese for a cheesy twist.
- Use a salad spinner to help clean the leeks. There is lots of dirt in leeks, and the spinning will help tremendously.
- Use Yukon gold potatoes in replace of russets if you want.
- For a creamier soup, add more half-and-half or even heavy cream when using the immersion blender.
- For a dairy-free option, use coconut milk.
Nutrition Information
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