Bright Green Leek Soup Recipe (2024)

Instead of rice, try a small, chopped Yukon gold potato (about 1/2 a cup). You'll get a nice creamy texture with a bit of the Yukon gold's butteriness.

This soup is beautiful and delicious. Next time I will add just a tablespoon or two of raw rice. 1/2 cup of rice made it quite thick - difficult to puree and impossible to strain.

This is a very nice and elegant soup to start off a French meal. The flavor is delicate so I felt adding 4 cloves of garlic would overpower the flavor of the leeks so I added 2 cloves, and I'm glad I did. As others have said, 1/2 cup rice will make it quite thick, I had to add nearly 2 additional cups of broth to thin it out. 1/4 cup rice would probably be plenty. The spinach gives this soup a gorgeous bright green color and the creme fraiche is definitely a must. Will make this again!

If a recipe is listed as vegetarian, maybe suggest vegetable broth instead of chicken broth? It's just another small way we can start encouraging people to lay off animal based products. The onus should be on meat-eaters to choose to substitute chicken broth for veggie broth; not the other way around, especially when a recipe is listed under "20 Vegetarian Soups".Also I'm just commenting because I'm procrastinating doing work.

I made this without the cream. Did not strain--I thought the slight chunky texture was good. However, I found the soup bland. I added an Indian spice mix of ground fenugreek, cumin, coriander and fennel seeds plus a little cayenne (2 teaspoons of each; whole spices and then finely ground). I added approximately 1/3rd of the mix per quart. Definitely made the soup more interesting.

This is a fabulous soup. However, the straining thru the sieve is very time consuming and cumbersome. I just pureed the soup, that sufficed.

I 'simplified' the procedure : used pressed garlic instead of mincing. Saw no need to completely cool the mixture. By the time spinach was added (which I tore into smaller pieces) the mixture was room temperature. Then w/immersion blender, blended until I liked the texture, quite smooth. Beautiful & fine textured at this point! Saw no need to strain. Adjusted flavors by adding more pressed garlic, cayenne, nutmeg etc.. Had my own garden tarragon & chives in Sept., YUM!

Several comments suggest a problem with the rice (and straining). I think it is important to use white basmati rice, which will be very cooked and creamy after 25 minutes, and it will pass through the sieve easily. Other ricers, not so.

Many reviewers say they skipped the straining. I've made this both ways, and I think the extra effort of straining is definitely worth it. It results in a more refined texture. Also, heavy cream substitutes well for the creme fraîche

This was time consuming and a tad messy. The day
was much warmer than anticipated, and I served the
soup cold, adding a squeeze of lemon. Lovely texture
and very fine flavor.

Soup was delicious and the color was amazing. Leaving the spinach raw is ingenious- better tasting and better looking. I will try the recipe with blanched nettles the next time. I am also going to try this recipe with fresh raw peas instead of spinch as soon as the peas are ready in the garden.

For a Syrian take on this, add bharat spice mix to the leeks and lemon at the end.

When it says "take the time" to sieve the soup, it should remark that it takes a good half hour to get it to pass through a not particularly fine mesh. I'm not sure it's worth it

Spouse had a good time putting this together. What glorious color. Yogurt instead of creme fraiche. No straining!

I did not do the cooling or the staining due to a time restraint and I thought it was delicious regardless. I also added a Serrano pepper to it (added at the same time as he garlic), and extra “pinches” of cayenne. Because I read in some of the notes that the soup was a bit bland, I put in a little bit of cumin and coriander and turmeric while it was simmering. I served this soup with toasted ciabatta bread with garlic aioli. Truly delicious meal.

I don't add rice. I use a couple of red potatoes instead. I also don't add the creme or garnish. Further, when I make this in my Vitamix, I don't have to strain it. This soup is DELICIOUS, and easy to make.

I don’t get the six/three pounds of leaks. It took me 12 trimmed leaks to equal 3lbs. Now I’ve got a pot full to the brim of leaks. Hoping they cook down.

I made this tonight - out of this world! I would not add rice to this soup to "thicken it" - I would instead add a small mashed potato, or make a roux of potato flour and broth. It will thicken nicely. However, being Cuban I added a small amount of garlic (about 3 cloves), and used homemade veggie broth I did not have creme fraiche but did have cream and buttermilk, so I made my own, which I had to thin a bit for this recipe. I also use leeks instead of onions when I can.

is the rice not supposed to be washed before cooking so the starch adds body?

Loved the color, loved the taste. Did not use creme Fraiche because I am dieting. Did not use rich and still delicious and filling. Will definitely make again,

Vibrant beautiful color but I think that could have been achieved with half as much spinach. The full 10 Oz gave it a very spinach-y flavor and texture.

Super tasty, the herbs and crème fraîche make it pop.

What a great and simple recipe. Each element adds to the taste and texture: the butter's creaminess, the nutmeg's spice, the touch of heat, and the fresh herbs (I just used tarragon). the only unneeded step was straining the soup: the blender has already done that work.Thank you, David Tanis

Coriander > nutmeg, added fried pepitas with spices and yogurt, didn't let it cool off all the way. Also used a potato instead of rice. Would definitely make again!

My husband declared, “this is the best soup we’ve ever made.” We made a few tweaks to save time. First, I followed another tip and used a small golden potato instead of rice. Second, I blended the raw spinach with a little bit of chicken broth and set it aside so I didn’t need to wait for the soup to cool down and then reheat it again. I blended that in batches and then mixed it with the spinach liquid and the color and texture were perfect. Lastly, we topped it with roasted cashews

I enjoy very much making this soup, it has great texture and flavor. I make it regularly and highly recommend. Once everything is in the pot it gives you time to clean and have everything ready for the last and final step.

Needs some kind of crunchy thing to sprinkle on top. Tired scallions but they overpowered it.

I hate to say this recipe really did not work for me. As mentioned in other comments, the straining is tedious. The spinach I chose was somewhat bitter, as were my homegrown leeks, and in the end the soup came out bitter, flat, bland, and watered down. Perhaps I needed sweeter tasting ingredients. I wonder if the stock volume should be halfed to 4 cups, it tasted watered down. The cayenne was unneccessary.

use less rice or potatono tarragon use basil or lemon?add spicesuse food mill vs. strainuse basmati rice

This soup was easy and fantastic. Tasted "French"! A couple deviations. I added the broth semi-warm (not hot), added soup to blender still hot (didn't let cool), used a vitamix, and didn't strain. Added a little "crema" at the end since that's what we had.