Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup is a classic, simple, delicately flavored soup. My family has enjoyed my Grandpa’s Potato Leek Soup recipe for years. Now I’m sharing it with you! Enjoy this delicious creamy, but light, pressure cooker Potato Leek Soup with some nice crusty bread for a wonderful meal!
Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup
Often times the recipes that we remember from childhood are the simplest ones. Our family recipes are some of my greatest treasures. Each one has a story. and brings to life all of the wonderful memories from the good old days.
My Nana and Grandpa were great cooks. I love to make their recipes. Today I’m sharing one of my Grandpa’s recipes with you. It is a very simple Potato Leek soup that I tweaked just a little so you can easily make it in your Instant Pot electric pressure cooker (because I just love making soup in my IP!).
This is one of the recipes from Grandpa’s side of the family. He said it’s a Welsh recipe. I’m not sure, but have seen references to that. I think like many recipes, each region has their own version and claims it as their own.
One thing’s for sure, it is a simple and tasty soup. It is very good hot, though in the Summer we would often eat it chilled, then it is called vichyssoise.
This soup is easy enough to make on the stove, but I prefer making it in my pressure cooker. Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup is easy to prepare, and doesn’t take long at all to cook and get the leeks super tender. I hope you like it!
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Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup is a classic, elegant, simple soup with a delicate flavor of leeks and potatoes. Easy to make in your electric pressure cooker.
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 Tbsp Butter
- 4-5 large Leeks, about 5-6 cups chopped (cleaned and sliced into half-moon shapes. Cut off the dark green part, trimming to the part where the color is a pale green)
- 2 cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 Tbsp Flour
- 5 cups Chicken Broth (or vegetable broth)
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp White Pepper (or black)
- 1 lb Gold Potatoes, cubed
- 1/8 tsp Nutmeg (optional)
- 3/4 cup Half and Half (or heavy cream, or for lower fat use milk)
- Chopped Chives (or parsley)
- Sour Cream
Press the Sauté button on the Instant Pot. When the display reads 'Hot', add the oil and butter.
Add the leeks and stir. Cook until soft, stirring occasionally. It's fine if they brown a little.
Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, stirring frequently.
Sprinkle the flour over the leeks and stir. Cook for a minute to get the raw taste out of the flour.
Stir in the broth. Be sure to dissolve the flour and scrape the bottom of the pot so you don't get a "burn" issue.
Add the bay leaf, salt, pepper, and the potatoes, nutmeg. Stir.
Put the lid on the pot and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
Press the Manual (or Pressure Cook) button, and the + or - button to choose 7 minutes.
When the cooking cycle has ended, let the pot naturally release the pressure for 15 minutes. Then manually release the remaining steam.
When the pin in the lid drops, open it and stir the soup. Remove the bay leaf. Then use an immersion blender to puree it. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a blender, pureeing the soup in small batches very carefully.
Stir in the half and half.
Taste and adjust salt, if needed.
Garnish with chopped chives and sour cream.
Serve hot or chilled.
Adapted from my Grandpa's recipe.
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If you are dairy-free what alternatives would work well ?
Hi Melody. I would say that any plant based unsweetened milk would work. I usually go for coconut milk, though it does change the flavor a bit. I haven’t tried almond milk in it, but that might be a good one for this recipe.
Sandy, I used Almond milk and it work just fine. I did add 2 cloves garlic minced, 1/2 tsp. Chili powder and 3-4 sprigs of fresh Thyme. This is really good soup, hubby loved it.
Hi Denise! Those changes sound great! I’m so glad it worked for you, and that it is Hubby Approved! 🙂
My first comment EVER on a recipe. I made this recipe on Sunday. Here it is only Tuesday and I am making it tonight. The recipe is FABULOUS! I didn’t even add the dairy. Taste-wise, you don’t need it. Thank you!!!
Hi Dalyn, I’m so thrilled that you like this recipe enough to leave your first ever comment! My grandpa would be proud! Thank you, and I’m happy you like this soup!
Long, long story, but no recipe.
The recipe is at the bottom. This is a special recipe to me as it was my dear grandfather’s. I can’t just throw it up on the Internet without honoring his memory, and what this means to me. Surely you have a special family recipe or memory around a special meal?
Looks really nice
Do you use the whole leek? Or just the top? Thank you!
Hi, Cut off the dark green part, trimming to the part where the color is a pale green. I’ll add this to the instructions, too. Thank you!
I made this today and both my husband and I loved it. I want to share the recipe with our son but he doesn’t have an IP, can you tweak it back for stove top recipe?
Hi Marie! I’m glad you liked this soup! To make it on the stove top, sauté the onion, etc., as stated in the recipe, but instead of pressure cooking it, let it simmer on low for about 20 minutes. Then use immersion blender to puree, or a potato masher if your son doesn’t have a blender. Then stir in the cream, taste, and adjust for salt
Thanks Sandy! I’m excited to try some of your other recipes!
Fabulous conversion to the Instant Pot! I made it with my homemade chicken broth. Also using chicken fat for some of the butter. Was using this recipe for a family favorite watercress soup. Chopped the stems and put them in the hot soup after opening. Wait 5 minutes use the immersion blender. Add the watercress tops , your watercress is chopped less than half inch. Add the half and half…this soup is good cold as well as hot. My boyfriend loved this. My kids always loved it too. Also used russet bakers, old fashioned Idaho gal.
Hi Tam, what a fabulous variation! Thank you for your review!
First time making potato leek soup. Process worked well in the IP, but it needed more flavor. Added more salt, dried sage, and bay leaves.
Hi Lindsey, this soup is not one that is strong in flavor. It is supposed to be delicate. Having said that, you know what you like! I’m glad you could jazz it up to taste how you wanted. Thank you for your review!
Thanks for this recipe. I make a similar soup called Potage Parmentier, julia Child’s recipe. Her husband liked it so much that he had it as the first course for EVERY SINGLE DINNER she cooked for him at home their ENTIRE MARRIED LIFE. I was looking for an infant pot recipe. I garnish mine with radish slices per her recipe. I sometimes serve it chilled in mini parfait cups as an appetizer (shooters) when I entertain. I’m an EatWith host in France and Washington DC.. I actually think it tastes better chilled. Leek is such a delicate flavor and it comes out more when it is chilled. This soup is a staple in France where I live part time. You can buy it in cartons at the grocery!
Hi Tess, that is so interesting! Thank you for the info!
This soup was absolutely delicious. So good that I couldn’t stop eating it. It was super fast using frozen sliced leeks I found at trader Joe’s. I used like 6 cloves of garlic, added an extra bay leaf and used 4 cups of broth and 1 cup of stock. Otherwise stuck to the recipe. Highly recommend!
Yay! Grandpa would be happy that you liked his recipe! Thank you for letting me know!
Thanks very much for your explicit instructions as well as your lovely recipe. I just got my pot and thought I would try out my favorite slow cooker recipe for potato leek soup and see how it came out in the pressure cooker, hopefully tasting great and cooked in a lot less time. I found your recipe on the internet and it had a similar number of leeks and potatoes so I decided your timing would be my model. Worked great and now I’ve got a big bowl of delicious soup on my lap while I’m writing this. Thank you again. I’ve clipped this recipe to to try as you’ve written it to taste an entirely new set of flavors, my only changes will be that I’m plant based, so will make those changes.
By the way, if you know of a reference on pressure cooker timings I would appreciate that. Thanks again.
Hi Kaye! I’m so glad this method worked for you! As for timing, they are all over the place, and I usually do my own thing. I’m sure Pinterest has some timing printables you could download. Just go there and do a search. Enjoy your soup!
I made this tonight in my Instant Pot. Oh my goodness….so delicious!!
That’s great, Carol! Thank you for your review!
I doubled the recipe, its amazing! Will definitely make again. Thanks so much for sharing!
Awesome, Chris! Thank you for your review!
Hey there, I used your recipe as a guide for making my first instant pot potato leek soup. It was delicious. I love how the pressure cooker infuses the flavors. It was so leeky! I did only a couple things different. I added two heaping tablespoons of white miso in place of cream. Also, rather than cubing the potatoes, I cooked them halved. After the cooker was done, I scooped them out, blended the rest of the soup with an hand held blender and then ran the potatoes through a potato ricer. It’s extra work, but the ricer really does make the texture of the soup extra velvety.
Anyway, thanks again for your recipe. Its my go to guide for this soup from here on out. Cheers!
Absolutely delicious. Does this soup freeze well?
Yes.
Do you need to peel potatoes, assume not. Also is the flour necessary? Trying to keep it gluten free.
Hi Jackie, I don’t peel them if using the gold potatoes. I do like to peel the russets. Flour is not necessary. You can use a GF option to thicken it at the end. Maybe potato starch.
This soup was perfect! Thank you for adapting and sharing it. I recommend no substitutions if you’re after the traditional flavors- don’t leave out the nutmeg folks. I’ve been growing weary of testing new recipes from blogs, so many don’t work as expected. But this one is quintessential vichyssoise with the ease of the Instant Pot. The only thing I’ll do differently next time is use a tiny bit of the finely chopped chive option instead of the parsley as the garnish. My parsley seemed very strong tasting and I think a bit of chive will better compliment the leek. Ate it hot last night with dinner and can’t wait to bring it to lunch cold today. Thanks again Sandy, to you and your grandpa. 🙂
Hi, I’m so glad you liked this recipe! Thank you for the nice review!
I’m pretty new to my Instant Pot (and loving it so far), but this was super easy and came out DELICIOUS! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
so good barely even needed the milk. i just did a splash. Very flavorful and cozy for the winter.
First, wonderful, easy recipe (that surprised me) New instapot user!. 2 notes:
1) would be helpful to include that this recipe will work in a 3 quart Instant. and
2) Reminder to remove the bay leaf before pureeing!! I forgot (not awful, but will do it next time for sure.
Thank you. – Yum!
Hi Paulette. Thank you. I will make a note about the bay leaf! So glad you liked it!
This was the very first thing I made in my Instant Pot. It’s definitely a favorite. It was easy to cut the ingredients in half for my 3 qt. IP. So yummy and perfect for a cold, rainy day. It’s definitely a keeper!
That’s great, Teri! Thank you for letting me know!
This is a great, quick n easy soup for the IP. I followed it exactly but halving amounts as I only had 2 leeks on hand.
A keeper.
Thanks for sharing it.
5 stars.
Really enjoy this soup. So quick and easy. It is part of our regular rotation. Thank you for sharing!
That’s great, Brenda! Thank you.
I quickly skimmed through the other comments and didn’t see my question
After making this and loving it I’m just thinking about making a very large batch of your recipe and an wondering if it will freeze ok
Thanks in advance
Lori
It does freeze well if you leave out the dairy. If you do freeze it, reheat it slowly for the best results.
Sounds good what about the nutmeg? Also, does it freeze well? I have the 10 at and plan to make some ahead of time for winter.. freeze without cream, I would have to guess. Thanks…
I don’t think Grandpa used nutmeg, though I’m sure it would be nice in there. Yes, you can freeze it without the cream and add it after reheating.
I have tried this recipe three times now and every time the instant pot says “burn”….don’t know what I am doing wrong but this just won’t work for me. Is the flour necessary?
I’m sorry about that. Are you scraping the pot very well and completely dissolving the flour? If you are, then I would add the flour after pressure cooking. It could be that your pot runs hotter than normal. There are so many versions of the IP out now, who knows?! After pressure cooking and releasing the pressure, mix the flour with an equal amount of very soft butter. Turn on the sauté setting and as soon as the soup starts to simmer, stir in the flour mixture. Then turn off the pot and keep stirring for a little bit.
mmmm, mmmm! This soup is soooo yummy! Even my husband loves it and generally he doesn’t like soup at all. It’s become a must make recipe in our house for sure! I made it pretty much as is, only I only used 3 large leeks, (because that’s how my grocery store sells them, in bunches of 3s), but it was still extremely tasty!
The soup was delicious! Let me say upfront I am not a novice cook. Once the soup depressurized I removed the lid and not thinking, being in a hurry, whatever was going through my head at the moment I forgot to take out the bay leaf. AUUGHHH YES! I did it! I plopped my handy submersion blender in the sop and pureed away. Once done I saw a straggly piece of it and realized what I had done. I carefully spooned through my soup to make sure I didn’t have any other big pieces. It’s a wives tale that they are toxic to eat. Since I had basically crushed the bay leaf into small pieces I was fine with that. We all have had our moments. I tasted the soup and it was still very good. At this point I realized I did not have any milk, cream, etc to add. (I was obviously having a bad day.) I did spy a package of boursin garlic and herb cheese in my fridge and added that. I remembered seeing it used in a soup on another blog I was reading. All in all the soup was absolutely perfect, even with my oops and blunders.
Hi Cris, yes, we all have those days! Obviously you know your way around the kitchen. Your ability to find a tasty substitution was so good! Love it!
I made this lovely recipe tonight for dinner. My husband (who isn’t a fan of puréed soup) ate three bowls and my mother loved it as well. I had two bowls myself. Thank you so much for sharing your Grandfather’s yummy soup with us. Five stars!