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This simple Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup is the perfect cozy bowl you will love. About 15 minutes of prep and the rest is done by the Instant Pot! You can make it nice and smooth or with a touch of chunkiness–you choose!
Creamy, cozy and oh so very simple. Your pressure cooker does a whole lot of work for you with this Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup!
I took for granted how incredible delicious soup recipes were growing up, so now it’s time to make up for lost time! This soup along with this Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Tomato Tortellini Soup and Chunky Italian Vegetable Soup are on repeat these days!
This creamy potato soup is as easy as chopping and tossing in the ingredients–oh and just a touch of sautéing, but you won’t even care, promise!
Grab the Instant Pot and maybe our favorite havarti avocado grilled cheese, or some buttery honey biscuits and let’s have some soup!
Make sure to try these other easy Instant Pot Recipes: Instant Pot Creamy Parmesan Chicken, Easy Instant Pot Mac and Cheese and my personal favorite Creamy Parmesan Instant Pot Pasta.
Ingredient Notes:
Find the full printable recipe card with specific measurements below.
- leeks: Leeks are super simple to cut, check out this video if you haven’t used them before! Use mainly the bottom section of the leeks where it’s white and cut off the dark green part of the plant.
- butter: starting with butter versus oil adds to the richness of this potato leek soup recipe, but if you prefer, you can use olive oil.
- potatoes: Russet potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes or red potatoes are our top picks for this soup recipe. I don’t peel them but you are more than welcome to if you prefer. When the immersion blender breaks down the soup, most of the peels end up blended smooth, so it is a lot of extra work for no reason to peel.
- broth: vegetable broth or chicken broth will work well, so use what you have on hand or whichever you prefer. Low or no sodium broth is ideal so you can salt to your liking.
- milk: whole milk is the preference for this soup for the richest flavor. 2% should work well too. While you could use skim, I don’t recommend it.
- corn starch: this will help thicken the soup up in the end when whisked together with the milk.
- sour cream: this will give your soup a tang and add to the creaminess of it. Full fat is recommended.
- cheese: the recipe only calls for a cup, but you can add more if desired. Shred the cheese straight from the block to get the creamiest soup. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in cellulose so doesn’t melt quite the same.
How to make this recipe:
- Prep all of the ingredients and chop the leeks, potatoes and celery. Leeks will hold a lot of dirt between the layers, so rinse them well. You can even rinse them after chopping.
- Turn your Instant Pot to the “Sauté” setting and allow it to heat up. Heat your butter (or oil will work) until melted and add in the leeks and celery. Stir frequently. When celery and leeks begin to soften, add the garlic and stir in. Heat for another minute. (steps 1 and 2)
- Turn the Instant Pot off and add in the broth, potatoes, and seasonings. Stir to combine. The broth should pretty much cover the potatoes or at least cover them almost completely. (steps 3-5)
- Cover your Instant Pot and turn it to Pressure Cooking setting. (On mine it says “Manual” for pressure cooking option.) Set it to 10 minutes. Make sure the vent is sealed and you should be all set!
- After the cycle is complete, do a quick release to allow the pressure to escape. (step 6)
- Whisk together the corn starch and milk well until the corn starch is dissolved. Slowly pour the mixture into the pot and stir to fully combine. (step 7)
- From there, stir in the heavy cream, cheese and sour cream. Stir until cheese is melted. You can serve it up from there or use an immersion blender to quickly blend the soup a bit (but not too much, cause we want some chunks, right?!)
- Adjust seasoning to your liking. Add extra broth if the soup is too thick for your liking. Serve it up with all of your favorite toppings!
Notes and Tips:
- Don’t over process the potatoes in the soup. To avoid a gummy texture in this potato leek soup, make sure not to overdo it on blending or mashing the potatoes if you don’t have a blender.. Leaving behind some chunks in the soup is perfectly okay.
- If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can pour half of the soup into the blender and blend that half until smooth. Then pour it back into the pot and stir to combine. You can also use a potato masher and just mash some of the potatoes to break them down, but if you do this, you will likely want to peel the potatoes beforehand.
- Add more cheese! The soup does not have an overly cheesy flavor, so if you are looking for that, double the cheese. Cream based soups can be on the rich side so I like to start lower with the cheese and then add to my taste.
What To Top Your Soup With:
- more cheese
- chives
- Fritos (trust me on this one!)
- Bacon or bacon bits
- croutons
- sour cream
- fried onions
- fresh thyme
How To Make This in the Crockpot:
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can still enjoy this potato leek soup! Toss the potatoes, broth, seasoning, leeks and celery (you can sauté them first for best results) in the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Once the potatoes are soft and tender, follow the remaining instructions in the recipe card for the addition of the corn starch and milk mixture, and remaining ingredients.
Storage and Reheating Instructions:
To store leftovers, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. If you plan to freeze your potato soup, allow it to cool completely before transferring to the freezer.
Reheat the potato leek soup in the microwave in 1 minute increments, adding extra milk or broth if it needs to be thinned out. For stove top reheating, heat on medium low heat until the soup starts to very lightly bubble, stirring frequently.
Other Soup Recipes:
- CHUNKY ITALIAN VEGETABLE SOUP
- SLOW COOKER CREAMY CHICKEN AND WILD RICE SOUP
- BLACK BEAN AND RICE SOUP
- MAPLE ROASTED SWEET POTATO CARROT SOUP
- SLOW COOKER SWEET POTATO CHILI
- PUMPKIN QUINOA CHILI
- TOMATO TORTELLINI SOUP
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Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup
Ingredients
- 3 lb potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 large leeks, whites only, roughly chopped
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ T butter (or olive oil)
- 4 c broth, more as desired
- ½ tsp thyme
- 1 tsp parsley
- ¾ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 T corn starch
- 1½ c milk
- 1 c cheese
- ½ c sour cream
- ½ c heavy cream
Instructions
- Chop veggies and prep ingredients. Turn your Instant Pot to "Sauté" and allow it to heat up. Melt butter. Add in leeks and celery and heat for about 3-4 minutes or until slightly softened. Add in garlic and stir. Heat another minute.
- Turn off the Instant Pot and add in broth, scraping anything off of the bottom of the pot. Add the potatoes, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Close the Instant Pot and lock it. Make sure the vent is turned to "Sealing" and set it to pressure cook for 10 minutes. When the cycle is complete, do a quick release to allow pressure to escape. Remove the lid. Whisk together the milk and corn starch until corn starch is dissolved.
- Slowly pour the milk and corn starch mixture in and stir. Add the cream, sour cream and cheese and stir until cheese is melted. From there, use an immersion blender to blend the soup slightly, but not too much if your prefer your soup chunky! You can also use a blender to do this.
- Serve with your favorite toppings. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 or 5 days.
Notes
- You can use olive oil instead of the butter in this potato soup if you prefer. Either will work just fine.
- If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can pour half of the soup into the blender and blend that half until smooth. Then pour it back into the pot and stir to combine.
- Sometimes I add more than just a cup of cheese, in this potato leek soup. Just depends on my mood. Cream based soups can be on the rich side so I like to start lower with the cheese and then add to my taste.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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YES, thank you!! SO GOOD. I have never cooked with leeks before, so your recipe for this soup is what brought me here. I used a can of coconut milk instead of of corn starch, cheese, milk, sour cream and heavy cream. Wanted you to know it comes out delish!! I def plan to try your recommendations of bacon and Frito toppings, thanks again for the inspiration.
Oh that is so awesome to hear!!! Thanks for the info and so glad you enjoyed it Jen!