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This easy soup is creamy without being too heavy. If you can’t find chestnuts, top it with toasted pecans instead. Make this soup up to two days in advance and refrigerate it in an airtight container. Just before serving, heat in a saucepan over medium until warmed through and garnish with the parsley and chestnuts.

Ingredients

  • 2 leeks (white parts only), cut into ¼-inch pieces (2 cups)
  • ½ small onion, diced (½ cup)
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 6 medium potatoes (any variety), peeled and cut into ½-inch dice (2 lb.)
  • 3½ to 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 sprig thyme
  • 1 cup unsweetened, unflavored plant-based milk
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • ¼ cup roasted chestnuts, chopped

Instructions

  • In a large stock pot, cook leeks, onion, garlic, and ¼ cup of water over medium 10 minutes or until leeks and onion are tender, stirring frequently and adding water, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, as needed to prevent sticking.
  • Add potatoes, 3½ cups broth, the bay leaf, and thyme to stock pot. Bring to boiling; then reduce heat. Simmer over medium 10 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
  • Remove bay leaf and thyme. Add the milk, vinegar, and nutritional yeast. Using a hand blender, or carefully transferring soup to a blender in batches, blend to a creamy texture. Add additional stock to thin to desired consistency. Return soup to pot if necessary. Heat over medium until warmed through.
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley and chestnuts just before serving.

Comments (27)

(5 from 22 votes)

Recipe Rating

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Dana

I'm slowly transitioning into plant-based and a friend shared this recipe. It's good, although bland so I think I need to play with it more. I read the comments and will try some of those ideas including more yeast. I topped with chives, put in pepper and sea salt. I used dried thyme. Overall, I like my texture on the creamier side and didn't use the additional broth to thin. Overall I like it and will keep.

Rosie

I added some worstershire sauce and a splash of tamari and when i served it i used a splash of lemon juice. Delicious. Omitted the parsely and chestnuts. Yes it has salt from nutritional yeast and tamari but not much.

John Lacroix

Nice recipe. I always feel that if you have an ingredient like "6 medium potatoes" it would be very helpful to include the weight of potatoes required in this recipe. What, after all, is a "medium" potato?

Lisa, Forks Over Knives Support

Hi John, Thanks for your feedback. A medium potato is anywhere from 5 to 10 oz. This soup will taste great if you have more or less potato. The only issue with having too many potatoes is that the soup would be thicker; in this case, you could add some water to thin it to the desired consistency. Let us know how you get on! Thanks, Lisa, Forks Over Knives Support

Jan W

I was surveying the bag of potatoes which remained from the holidays and reminiscing about vichyssoise back in the day of butter, heavy cream and chicken broth, when this recipe appeared. Got to work with an open mind, and although I did not include the vinegar, I did add the nutritional yeast as I felt it would substitute for most of the salt. Also added some white wine which I thought drew out the leek flavor-- marvelous. Since I used a bit more potatoes and leeks than the recipe called for, I ended up with an enormous frozen batch of lunchtime comfort, warm in winter or cool in spring.

Brenda aspey

I love leek and potato soup and this was delicious, I added lentils as they don’t alter the taste but add lots of nutritional value. Thanks for the recipe.

Steven C

This has become our favorite soup recipe. We have made it without the chestnuts, bay leaf and the Thyme and it’s still delicious. With the right consistency it is also great as a gravy for plant based mashed potatoes. A serving suggestion is steaming broccoli and serving it in the bowl with the soup.

Diane K

Made it today (without the chestnuts) because I read the recipe after I was at the store, and it was delicious!

Cindy Papa

Love this simple, flavorful soup! So did my hubby and my neighbor!

Connie

I made this today. I did not have the milk, nutritional yeast or the chestnuts. I made it with the remainder of the ingredients and added a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Also I seasoned and baked the potato peels and crumbled them on top of the soup. Outstanding!

Barbara McGehee

I agree wholeheartedly, 5 stars! This soup will definitely be a regular on our table from now on. I wanted to try this recipe but didn't have 1/2 the ingredients. Green onions instead of leeks. No broth, used plain water. No garlic and just lose thyme. Popped it in the pepper grinder and proceeded. cooked in no time at all, and by the time I put it in the blender, I couldn't believe how wonderful it turned out! Also used cashew cream instead of chestnuts. Even my mother raved about it and she is not on the whole foods plant based way of eating. Thank you for this recipe....

Maria

I don’t have nutritional yeast. What can I substitute?

Kirsten Evers

Delicious , fast, easy . I doubled the vinegar and the nutritional yeast .

Lisa

Absolutely delicious

Charlie

I omitted the chestnuts and added a cup of (savory) cashew cream. This is now our favorite leek and potato soup.

Laurie ann

Awesome meal for lunch or dinner for the whole family

Tosia Tole

Can I omit the chestnuts? Or use something else in its place?

Alison

Tasted great with a couple of changes! First, the potatoes needed to cook much longer than 10 minutes. I found 30 minutes to be just right. Second, I doubled the thyme and nutritional yeast. To serve, I sprinkled a generous amount of red pepper flakes because we like it spicy in this house! A great, hearty soup for a cold winter day.

Susan

Such a hearty & delicious soup!

Kari

Creamy and delicious! I used dried thyme and added more nutritional yeast than what the recipe called for.

Samantha

Pretty bland. Had to add too much salt for flavor.

Alissa

I am so sorry to say this but this is the worst soup I’ve ever made. I make homemade soup every weekend and in the fall I make extra to freeze. In over 25 years of trying new recipes and tweaking bad ones, this was unsalvageable. Wasted of time and food.

Lydia

An autumn/winter staple in our house.

Helen Whitefield

Why the yeast in this soup. Please advise.

Amanda

Nutritional yeast is added to give a cheesy flavor. Its added to vegan food to make it taste cheesy! Its not the same as regular yeast used for bread at all. Although, personally I'd add a lot more than 1 T for sure. Hope that helps.

Kelsey B

This soup is absolutely delicious! Pretty easy to make and the flavor was out of this world. I used fresh basil instead of the thyme and parsley. Highly recommend!

Karen Buell

My husband loved this soup! I made it two nights in a row. Will probably make it again this week since I have a huge bag of potatoes I need to use up! I garnished mine with pecans and leek greens.

About the Author

Headshot of Darshana Thacker

About the Author

Darshana Thacker Wendel

Darshana Thacker Wendel is a whole-food, plant-based chef and former culinary projects manager for Forks Over Knives. A graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute, she is the author of Forks Over Knives: Flavor! She created the recipes for Forks Over Knives Family and was a lead recipe contributor to the New York Times bestseller The Forks Over Knives Plan. Her recipes have been published in The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook, Forks Over Knives—The Cookbook, Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health, and LA Yoga magazine online. Visit DarshanasKitchen.com and follow her on Instagram for more.
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