Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup
Growing up, I don’t ever recall eating leeks and really didn’t know what to do with them until relatively recently. They’re part of the onion family and have a more mild flavor.
They’re also really low calorie, which balances out the potatoes in this recipe, and they’re high in antioxidants, Vitamin K and flavonoids.
This recipe is super healthy and tastes amazing if you like rich, creamy soups. The best part is that it doesn’t have any cream or butter in it.
I find soups to be a bit like stir fries in that you can play with them somewhat, depending on the ingredients you have in the fridge. This particular recipe came out really well, though I do believe that the homemade stock is a big part of the amazing flavor.
If you’ve never made your own stock or think of it as something difficult, please check out these two recipes (free vegetable stock, homemade chicken stock).
These stocks are much easier (and less expensive) than you might think and taste so much better than anything in the supermarket.
Ingredients: (4 servings)
1 TBSP olive oil
3 medium leeks, sliced and rinsed (only the white part, the green part can go into your next vegetable stock)
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped (or approximately 1/4 cup of celeriac, peeled and chopped, we get a lot of this in our farm share and it substitutes well anywhere you use celery)
1 large carrot, skin on, sliced into thin rounds
4 medium potatoes, washed with skin left on and diced into approximately 1” pieces (about 4 cups of potato)
4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Set the instant pot to saute and add the olive oil, leeks, garlic and celery.
Saute for 2 - 3 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften. If the instant pot starts to get to hot (your vegetables are sticking to the bottom of the pot or are at risk of buring) cancel the saute setting and cover the pot for a couple more minutes to allow the veg to soften further without burning.
Add the carrot, potato and chicken stock and stir all ingredients well.
Cover the pot and set to pressure cook high for 10 minutes. Make sure the pressure knob is in the closed position.
When the pot timer goes off, cover the pressure release knob with a dish towel and release the pressure by turning the knob.
Carefully transfer the hot soup into a blender and blend for approximately 10 seconds or to desired consistency.
That’s it. Enjoy on its own or with a big green salad.
Either way you have a healthy, delicious, low calorie, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free meal.
Stove Top Directions:
Follow the same directions above but saute the vegetables over medium low heat until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring the soup to a boil, then lower heat to medium (gentle boil) for 20 minutes or until the potatoes, carrots and celery are soft. Transfer to the blender as above and enjoy.
