Leek and Potato Soup with Bacon

With kids back to school, our hectic life starts again. And evenings are the toughest, when everybody is tired after a long day back to the usual routine. As tempting as a take-away dinner might be, cooking it yourself from scratch is a lot quicker and healthier too.

This soup went down so well with my little girls, the older one actually licked her bowl clean and wanted more.

The combo leeks and potatoes is such a fantastic one - 2 underrated vegetables that make the most delicious dinner. Throw bacon in the mix, and you know you'll have one happy family at the dinner table.

You can make this soup with or without cream, the cream will just add richness to the soup, but the potatoes are the ones who add the creaminess anyway, so it works without the cream as well, it's just a matter of personal preference here.

Step-by-step photos and instructions

There are 2 ways you can make the soup: either cook the bacon in the same pan so the fat and brown bits left from the bacon can add more flavour and colour to the soup, or cook in separately, and garnish the soup with it when it's ready.

I wholeheartedly recommend the first way, when the leeks and onion soften, they soak up all the flavour left from cooking the bacon, which is absolutely delicious.

• chop the bacon into cubes, and add it to a large cooking pan to cook until it gets a lovely golden brown colour - or as well as you like it cooked
• remove the bacon from the pan, and set it aside
• in the same pan, add the chopped onion and leek, and cook for 3-4 minutes until they soften and soak up all the flavour left from the bacon
• add the chopped garlic, potatoes and stock, and leave to cook with the lid on for 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender
• season with salt and pepper, and add the cream - make sure the cream is at room temperature, or if not, add a few spoonful of the hot liquid to a bowl, and combine with the cream, so that has the same temperature as the soup - otherwise it might curdle when added to the pot
• use a soup blender to blend the soup to a creamy texture
• garnish with the cooked bacon and fresh parsley

Easy swaps

With the weather starting to cool down considerably, comfort food is making its way back to our tables. And soups can't be any easier and quicker to make. You can either enjoy this soup creamy, or, if you don't blend the vegetables, you get a fabulous Chunky Leek and Potato Soup (No Cream). 

Bacon can be left out, or replaced with ham and any leftover meat: chicken, turkey, beef, pork, you name it. The meat makes it more filling, but it's, of course, optional. And the chicken stock/broth can be replaced with vegetable stock or a vegetarian version.

Also, the meat can be replaced with any plant-based meat substitute, quorn mince, fillets or sausages are the perfect choices here. But as mentioned before, the soup would do without as well. And that's it, a super recipe that goes down well with the whole family.