Healther Potato Leek Soup – Your favorite potato leek soup made without all the guilt. Packed full of flavor, not fat. Grab a big bowl & spoon!
It’s fall! That means it’s Soup Season!!! Oh, but t’s still 9000000000 degrees here in Florida…
Personally, I can eat soup every day of the year, regardless of temperature. It can be 10 degrees or 100. I just love soup. Even if it’s super hot out, I like blankets on me at night. I almost grabbed a sweatshirt the other night since it was *finally* back into the 70’s. Seriously, this month has been soooo much hotter than normal. I do long the heat, but it’s sorta draining at this point. At least draining in the sense that every day morning, when watching the news, I hear “Average temperature is 88 degrees, but we’re going to be at 93 today, not beating the record temp of 94, but still a hot one.” Cool…
It’s too hot to go to the park, which Autumn asks me to go to EVERYDAY. I feel bad, I want her to have fun. We drive right by it on the way home from VPK, so she asks, but it’s soooo hot out then. There is no shade since some genius didn’t put any sunshades over it (dumb!!!), and there are no tree coverage there since it was just built a few months ago. It will be great at like 9am in October, in like 10 years once the trees have grown over it. Until then we wait! ha!
But really, I can’t wait for some cooler temps so we can leave all the windows open all day long to enjoy the coastal breezes that get kicked up along The Gulf.
Even if it never cools down here, it won’t stop me from eating soup. Bowls and bowls of soup. Buckets and buckets of soup.
We already have been enjoying some soup even with the hot weather. I will not be stopped! I have enjoyed this potato leek soup for years, and yet, I realized that I hadn’t made it and shared it here. So sorry guys!!! I realized that and promptly got to work on this delicious Healthier Potato Leek Soup.
No, I realize that you are like “BUT NICOLE! This soup has bacon in it!” While there is pancetta in the ingredient list for this Healthier Potato Leek Soup, it’s just used as a garnish really. The rendered fat is being used to sautee the leeks, but that is in lieu of lots of oil or butter. It’s so little in relationship to the servings of soup. But that smokey flavor in the fat and the pancetta, really packs a punch. You’re just using the fats wisely in this case.
Same goes for the heavy cream. It’s just a 1/2 Cup of heavy cream for the whole pot. That’s not that much when it makes so many servings. Less than a tablespoon per serving. And again, before you jump down my neck about it, “But it’s fattening!!” I have made it without before and it just felt like it was missing something. If you want, you can just substitute a plain yogurt, if you do want it to be even lighter.
I hope that wherever you are that you are enjoying the fall weather and enjoy some awesome Healthier Potato Leek Soup. Get cozy and dig in!!
Healthier Potato Leek Soup
Healthier Potato Leek Soup - Your favorite potato leek soup made without all the guilt. Packed full of flavor, not fat. Grab a big bowl & spoon!
Ingredients
- 3 stalks of leeks, yield approx 12 ounces when trimmed and thinly sliced
- 8 ounces of diced pancetta/ smoked bacon
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, chopped
- 12 Cups of low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 Cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper
Garnish
- extra virgin olive oil
- chopped green onions
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cover the leeks with water, break the leeks up with your fingers, removing any dirt into the water. Let settle to the bottom prior to scooping the leeks out. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, over medium low heat, cook the pancetta until crisp. Remove, while still keeping the rendered fat in the skillet, and set aside on some paper towels to drain the excess fat from the pancetta.
- In the same skillet, add the oil to the fat. Cook the leeks on medium low heat. Cook them down until they are soft and golden in color.
- While the leeks are cooking, combine the potatoes and broth in a large pot (12 qt). Cook on medium heat to come to a boil, turn down and simmer.
- Add the leeks and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Puree the soup using a immersion blender or blender. If using a blender, do in small batches and hold the lid down with a kitchen towel. Otherwise, it will could explode out of the blender from the heat and volume.
- Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, shopped green onions, and a sprinkling of pancetta.
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This soup was DELICIOUS