Leek soup

Leek soup is gentle and sweet, and all it needs is leeks, potatoes, olive oil and patience: sweat the leeks slowly until they are soft as jam, simmer them with potatoes and blend into a cream. A thorough wash beforehand is half the work.

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VeganGluten freeDairy freeParve

Updated

Leek soupIllustration
Time1 hCook 40 min
Pot6 bowls2.1 litres
Per bowl227 kcal4.4 g protein · a 350 ml bowl
Cost of the pot₪25for the pot, about ₪4.1 a bowl

The story of Leek soup

The leek has been known in this region since ancient times. The Israelites in the desert longed for the chatzir they had eaten in Egypt, and many commentators identified it as leek. In the Talmud it is called karti, one of the symbolic foods eaten on the eve of Rosh Hashanah in Sephardi and Mizrahi homes, with the wish that our enemies be cut off. Jews from Turkey and the Balkans call it prasa and make leek patties for the holidays.

In Europe the leek is a winter vegetable. In France leek and potato soup is a basic home soup, and in Wales the leek is a national emblem. In the early 20th century, in a New York hotel kitchen, a French chef turned this soup into a cold version with cream and called it vichyssoise, after Vichy, the town near where he grew up.

What makes Leek soup itself

The leek is related to the onion but far gentler. Sweated slowly, its sharpness disappears and its sugars give a sweet, smooth soup the colour of pale green cream. What makes this soup itself is that all the flavour comes from the sweating stage: there are no strong spices, and it does not need any.

Leek soup for any number of people

Change the number of people and the bowl size, and every ingredient updates in grams, with the cost, calories and protein per bowl.

Bowl size
Units
2.1litres in the pot
3Pot to use, litres
₪25Cost of the pot
₪4.1per bowl
227kcal per bowl
4.4g protein per bowl
IngredientAmountCost
The leeks
Leeks, white and pale green parts, cleaned900 g · 4 pcs₪18
Olive oil40 ml₪2.1
Garlic, sliced10 g · 2 pcs₪0.4
The pot
Potatoes, in 2 cm cubes600 g₪3.5
Bay leaf1 g · 1 pcs₪0.4
Water, or stock from the green tops1.2 l
Seasoning
Salt12 g₪0.0
White pepper1 g₪0.3
Grated nutmeg0.5 g₪0.2
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Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026. Nutrition from the ingredients in grams, before cooking.

How many calories in Leek soup? Nutrition facts and calorie calculator

Change the amount of any ingredient, drop one, or pick a lighter version, and the numbers per serving update at once: calories, fat, carbs, protein, sodium and fibre.

Leek soup has 65 calories per 100 ml. A 350 ml bowl made with our recipe has 227 calories: 4.4 g protein, 6.7 g fat and 36.8 g carbohydrates. A 250 ml cup has 162 calories.

Lighter

Ingredients, for the whole recipe

  • 4 pcs92 kcal per serving
  • 40 ml54 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs2 kcal per serving
  • 600 g77 kcal per serving
  • 1 pcs1 kcal per serving
  • 12 g0 kcal per serving
  • 1 g0 kcal per serving
  • 1 g0 kcal per serving

What each add-on adds to Leek soup

Values for the amount in the row, from the national food database.

Add-onCaloriesProtein, gFat, g
A tablespoon of oil122013.8
A slice of white bread792.50.5
A slice of challah12641.1

How to make Leek soup

In cook mode the screen stays on, tap a step when it is done, and the timers run next to each step.
  1. Cut off the tough dark green tops and keep them for stock. Halve the white and pale green parts lengthwise.
  2. Slice the halves 1 cm thick, drop them into a large bowl of cold water and separate the rings with your fingers. Swish, wait 2 minutes for the grit to sink, and lift the leeks out by hand or with a slotted spoon. Repeat until no grit is left in the bottom of the bowl.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a wide pot over medium low heat, add the leeks and half the salt, cover and sweat for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until very soft and not browned.
  4. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute.
  5. Add the potato cubes, the bay leaf and the water. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes over medium heat, until the potatoes are completely soft.
  6. Remove the bay leaf and blend with a stick blender in short pulses until smooth. If fibres remain, pass the soup through a sieve.
  7. Season with the rest of the salt, the white pepper and a little nutmeg, and thin with boiling water if it is too thick.

The science of Leek soup

Kitchen science

Why there is grit in leek soup

Leeks are grown with soil mounded around the stem to keep it long and white. As the plant grows, its layers open upwards and soil works its way between them, where rinsing the outside never reaches. Only slicing and soaking get the grit out, and because grit is heavier than leek and sinks, you lift the leeks out of the water rather than pouring it through a sieve.

Kitchen science

Sweat, do not brown

Salt on cut leeks draws water from the cells by osmosis, so they cook in their own juice without browning. In gentle heat the sharp sulphur compounds break down and the sugars come forward. Hard browning adds a bitterness and a brown colour that do not belong in this soup.

Kitchen science

The fibres in leeks

Leeks are long and fibrous, and a stick blender can leave strings or get tangled in them. Slicing into thin rings before cooking shortens the fibres, and the dark green tops, the most fibrous part, stay out. A sieve at the end deals with whatever is left.

Kitchen science

Vichyssoise and the cold

Cold soup tastes less salty and less aromatic, because taste and smell are weaker in the cold. Potato starch thickens a lot in the fridge, and butter firms up. So season vichyssoise again after chilling, thin it with a little cold water or milk, and finish with cream, which stays smooth when cold.

Kitchen science

Potato as the thickener

The potatoes give the soup its body: the starch inside their cells swells with heat and turns the liquid into a cream. Blending too long tears the cells and releases sticky starch, so blend in short pulses.

Leek soup in every kitchen

Parve with olive oil

The recipe on this page: leeks, potatoes and olive oil blended into a cream, suitable before a meat meal.

French, with butter

A dairy version: sweat the leeks in butter and finish with a spoonful of cream and chopped chives. The everyday dairy soup of French home cooking.

Vichyssoise

The cold dairy version: only the white of the leek, butter, vegetable stock and cream, blended very smooth and strained, served ice cold with chives.

Scottish cock a leekie

A meat version: chicken broth with leeks and prunes, with shredded chicken in it. No butter and no cream.

Rustic, not blended

Cut the leeks into rings and the potatoes into cubes and serve unblended, with plenty of black pepper and parsley.

Common Leek soup problems and how to fix them

There is grit in my leek soup

The leeks were rinsed whole, or the water was poured through a sieve along with the grit. Slice first, soak in a large bowl and lift the leeks out of the water. If the soup is already made, pour it slowly into another pot and leave the bottom layer behind.

Leek soup tastes bitter

The leeks browned or caught on the bottom, or too much of the dark green went in. Sweat over medium low heat with a lid, and use only the white and pale green parts.

Leek soup is stringy

The fibres were not cut short enough. Slice into thin rings, blend, then pass through a fine sieve, pressing with a spoon.

Leek soup is gluey

Too much potato, or blending for too long. Blend in pulses and thin with hot water. With three parts leek to two parts potato the soup stays light.

My vichyssoise tastes bland

It was seasoned while hot. Cold mutes salt and aroma, so taste once the soup is fully chilled and add salt, white pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.

Storing, freezing and reheating

3 days

In the fridge

2 months, without the cream

In the freezer

2+4

To cool

Bring it from 60 to 21 °C within two hours and down to 5 °C within four more. Split a big pot into shallow boxes.

75 °C

Reheating

Reheat over medium low heat with a little water, stirring until it steams. Do not boil a version with cream. After thawing, blend for a few seconds to restore the smooth texture.

Nutrition of Leek soup

From our recipe, per bowl and per 100 g, next to the national food database.

ServingkcalProtein, gFat, gCarbs, gFibre, g
Our recipe, a 350 ml bowl2274.46.736.85.0
Our recipe, 100 ml651.31.910.51.4
Typical Leek soup, 100 g601.13.75.20.5

What the ingredients of Leek soup cost

What each ingredient costs in one pot, and where to buy it.

IngredientPriceIn this potWhere to buy
Leeks, white and pale green parts, cleaned₪20 per kg₪18Greengrocer
Potatoes, in 2 cm cubes₪5.9 per kg₪3.5Greengrocer
Olive oil₪53 per litre₪2.1Supermarket
Bay leaf₪360 per kg₪0.4Supermarket
Garlic, sliced₪34 per kg₪0.3Greengrocer
White pepper₪250 per kg₪0.2Supermarket
Grated nutmeg₪398 per kg₪0.2Supermarket
Salt₪2.1 per kg₪0Supermarket

Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026, VAT included. Vegetable prices change with the season.

Make Leek soup a meal

Shabbat

Ready Shabbat food

Soup, hamin, mains and sides, with a quantity calculator and prices.

Plan Shabbat
Hosting

Hosting trays

9 trays to go with the soup, with a planner by number of guests.

Tray planner
Events

Catering

A whole menu in grams per guest, with a reheating table.

Menus

What to serve with Leek soup

Serve hot with crisp fried leek rings, white pepper and a few drops of olive oil, with country bread. Serve vichyssoise ice cold in chilled bowls with chopped chives.

Leek soup in large quantities: events, offices and communities

How much of everything by number of guests, at a 350 ml bowl. For institutional pots, catering and community kitchens.

GuestsLitres30 l potsCost of ingredients
258.81₪103
50181₪206
100352₪411
200703₪822
5001757₪2,056

Every ingredient for any number of guests is in the calculator above: type the number of people.

Order Leek soup

A ready pot for Shabbat, an event or the office, ordered ahead.

  • Cooked to order, for Shabbat, an event or the office.
  • Tell us how many people and when, and we send a quote.
  • Delivery in Tel Aviv from ₪35, free over ₪750.
Ask for a quote for Leek soup

Order Leek soup for a large event

Large orders in Israel and abroad: events, offices, synagogues, communities and institutions.

  • In Israel: cooked in Tel Aviv and delivered to events in the area, and to large events anywhere in the country on a quote.
  • Abroad: for communities, events and restaurants. Tell us where, how many and when, and we come back with a quote and options.
  • Institutional quantities and a shopping list for any number of guests, in the calculator above.
Ask for a large-order quote

Frequently asked questions

How do you clean leeks for soup?

Cut off the dark green, halve lengthwise, slice and soak in a bowl of water. Separate the rings, let the grit sink and lift the leeks out. Repeat until the water is clean.

Which part of the leek goes into soup?

The white and pale green parts. The dark green is tough and fibrous and better for a vegetable stock that you strain.

What is vichyssoise?

A cold leek and potato soup with cream, blended very smooth and served with chives. It was born in New York in the early 20th century and named after the French town of Vichy.

Can you make leek soup without dairy?

Yes. Olive oil instead of butter, and water or vegetable stock. The potatoes provide the creaminess, and coconut milk or blended cashews add extra richness.

Can you freeze leek soup?

Yes, for up to 2 months. Freeze it without cream and add the cream when reheating. Blend for a few seconds after thawing.

What is the difference between leeks and spring onions?

Both belong to the onion family, but leeks are thicker, sweeter and milder and suit long cooking. Spring onions are sharper and best added at the end.

How many calories are in Leek soup?

A 350 ml bowl of Leek soup made with our recipe has about 227 calories and 4.4 g of protein. Per 100 ml: 65 calories.

How much does it cost to make Leek soup at home?

A pot of 6 bowls costs about ₪25 at Israeli shelf prices in October 2026, about ₪4.1 a bowl. The calculator above works it out for any number of people.

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