A light, lemony potato, leek, and fennel soup recipe that’s perfect in any weather. Jump to recipe.
I’ve had soup on my mind for a while. A few weeks back, I made and froze a batch of rich vegetable stock (made with the first yellow onions of the season from our CSA). Since then, I’ve been plotting. Though hot soups aren’t typical summer fare, there are plenty of great soup ingredients out there right now – young fennel bulbs, leeks, potatoes – and so I’ve abandoned tradition. To give things a more summery feel than a typical potato-leek soup, I’ve tweaked my standard recipe and riced the potatoes for a silky texture, added sliced fennel bulb and a big squeeze of lemon, and used milk instead of cream. Leek-y, light, and lemony, this soup’s good enough to make August soup lovers out of us all.
On to the obvious question – why not make vichyssoise? The simple answer is: with the sole exception of gazpacho, I don’t like cold soups. I also don’t like cold pasta. Or even coffee, really. If you’re not similarly disposed, feel free to make the recipe as is, cool soup to room temperature, cover, and chill.
A few notes on the recipe: I’m a big fan of everything J. Kenji López-Alt does over at Serious Eats, and my interest was piqued by his suggestion that riced potatoes have a superior texture to blended ones. I hate to add another step (and more dishes), but ricing the potatoes really did make for an exquisite texture that melded beautifully with the rich vegetable broth, hint of lemon, and bit of milk.
Regarding broth: especially where vegetable broth is concerned, homemade is best. Broth supplies much of the flavor here and starting with a good one makes all the difference. My basic recipe (from the way, way back) is here. I’m also a devotee of Laura’s recipe, as well as her general vegetable broth wisdom.
A light, lemony potato, leek, and fennel soup recipe that's perfect in any weather.
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 medium leeks (pale green and white parts only), sliced and rinsed (about 2 cups chopped)
- 1 cup thinly sliced fennel bulb (for larger bulbs, cut out and discard core), reserve fronds for garnish
- 8 fingerling potatoes , cut into 1-inch chunks (about 2 heaping cups)
- 1 quart vegetable broth
- 2 bay leaves
- sea salt
- black pepper
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon
- 2 tablespoons minced chives
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Set a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Melt butter, add fennel and leeks, and turn heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring often, until fennel and leeks are tender and translucent – about 20 - 30 minutes. Vegetables should be cooked thoroughly, but not at all browned – edge heat lower as needed.
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Add potatoes, bay leaves, broth, and a generous pinch of sea salt. Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer until potatoes are fork tender, 20 - 30 minutes more.
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Use tongs to remove potato chunks, and push through a ricer or food mill. Carefully puree the remaining soup in a blender. (Always use caution when blending hot soup. Divide soup in to batches if your blender is small.) Return riced potatoes and blended soup to the pot. Warm soup over medium-low heat. Add sea salt and black pepper to taste. Finally, stir in the milk and lemon juice.
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Serve soup with minced fennel fronds, chives, and a twist of freshly ground black pepper.
I’m already an August soup-lover, so I’m just here for the ride 🙂 This looks and sounds delicious, and seems like the perfect dish for the coming season transition. I’m excited to try this out!
xx Sydney
This looks delicious!!! I love potato leek soup. Adding fennel sounds perfect too! Will definitely give this a try. xo
I’m right there with you -I like my soup piping hot. This totally has me craving some now too! With all the other foods of summer I forgot about soup, this just got me so excited 🙂
Wondering what would happen if you skipped ricing the potato chunks and just put everything into a food processor to blend? Thoughts?
I did just that really more out of laziness. Into the Vitamix it went. I like the smooth texture and the flavors are excellent.
I too am not a fan of cold soup (or coffee… or pizza). This looks so lovely and perfectly simple!
Ooh, this sounds lovely! I really like the idea of mixing up a classic potato leek soup with fennel.
GORGEOUS photos, Elizabeth. I’m not a fan of cold soup, either. 😉
So comforting and delicious looking. Speaking of which, it’s not so easy to make soup look good on camera. You’ve nailed it. Thanks for sharing.
I can definitely do hot/warm soup, stew etc in the summer, and this fresh combination sounds just right. I also feel like the more soup I eat, maybe the faster Fall will be on its way? I’m not usually a season pusher, but I’m really ready for a big cool off this year. I love that riced potatoes tip, too. Thanks for the vegetable stock link-up love, Elizabeth!
where does one procure those beautiful bowls?
Just tried this and it was DELICIOUS! The only substitution that I made was coconut milk for dairy, since I didn’t have any in the house at the moment. Worked nicely. Thanks!
So, so good. This was one of two soups I made this wknd for my mom and dad and I’ll ne making it again and again. Dad is going through extensive chemo, and the other soup I made had lemon, so I did want to keep this mild…he’s a fan of very basic potato soup…used part chicken broth and part water as I had no veggie prepared, skipped the lemon though I’ve no doubt it’d be wonderful, and subbed whole milk kefir for the milk for a tangy effect. I did leave a few potatoes in pieces, too. This soup is delightful! Thanks so much!
Forget ricing potatoes. Use immersion blender and it comes out delicious.
This was delicious, even fussy son mentioned he really enjoyed it and didn’t think he would. I am too lazy to pull the potatoes out to rice so just used a stick blender. I added some kefir at the end so skipped the lemon since it’s already a bit sour. I’d give it 5 stars but can’t see how to. Anyhow luckily I have leftovers for lunch! By the way I always make my regular potato and leek soup hot. Not tried it cold but I am sure I’d like it since it’s always hot here in Nth Queensland.