Slow Cooker Potato Leek Soup
This easy Slow Cooker Potato Leek Soup is creamy, hearty, and full of flavor. Perfect for cozy nights — simple ingredients, minimal prep, and big comfort.
If you’re craving a cozy, homemade soup that’s effortless and full of flavor, this easy Slow Cooker Potato Leek Soup is your new go-to recipe. Creamy, comforting, and packed with tender potatoes and sweet, buttery leeks, it’s the perfect slow cooker soup for chilly nights or busy weeknights. With simple ingredients and minimal prep, you can have a restaurant-quality potato leek soup ready with almost no hands-on cooking.
This creamy potato leek soup is naturally comforting and ideal for meal prep — it reheats beautifully for lunch or dinner throughout the week. Plus, using your slow cooker means no babysitting the pot or worrying about overcooking; the flavors meld together perfectly while you go about your day. Serve it with crusty bread or a fresh green salad for an easy, wholesome comfort food recipe that’s sure to become a family favorite.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Effortless Comfort Food - Toss everything into your slow cooker and let it do the work while you go about your day. There's no standing over a pot required.
- Customizable - blend it smooth, keep it chunky, or load it up with toppings like crispy bacon, cheese, or fresh herbs.
- Naturally Vegetarian (and Easily Vegan) - use vegetable broth and swap the cream for coconut milk or cashew cream for a dairy-free version that’s still rich and satisfying.
- Family Friendly - my kids gobbled this up when I served it with grilled cheese sandwiches. One kid ate them separately while the other two dunked their sandwiches in the soup!
Ingredients
Yukon Gold Potatoes - these are perfect for soup with their buttery flavor and smooth texture.
Leeks - leeks are mild, sweet members of the onion family with tender white and light green stalks that add a delicate, savory flavor to soups, stews, and sautés. With three large leeks in this soup recipe, they give it a ton of flavor.
Onion - just half of a white onion for mild onion flavor which complements the leeks well.
Butter - the leeks and onion are sautéed in butter prior to slow cooking the soup. You can use salted or unsalted butter here.
Fresh Garlic -
Vegetable Broth - this is the main liquid that makes up the broth of the soup.
Fresh Thyme - fresh thyme adds delicious fresh earthy flavor to the potato and leek soup.
Half and Half - just a splash at the end to give this soup a nice creamy finish.
Salt and Pepper - these enhance all of the natural flavors in this potato soup.
Variations
Heavy Cream - you can use this instead of half and half if you want it extra rich, or if that is just what you have on hand.
Add Bacon - you can garnish this soup with crispy bacon, or stir it in at the end.
Different Herbs - I love fresh thyme but you could add bay leaves or fresh rosemary.
Step by Step Instructions
Photo 1. In a large sauté pan or a slow cooker with the sauté function, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Photo 2. Add the garlic and thyme and cook another minute.
Photo 3. Transfer the leek mixture to slow cooker, if not already in it, and then add the potatoes and broth. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 8 hours.
Photo 4. Once cooked, puree with an immersion blender or transfer to a blender and puree. Stir in the half and half. Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips
Sauté the leeks and onion first - a quick 5–10 minute sauté in butter before adding them to the slow cooker builds a richer, more complex base flavor.
Clean your leeks thoroughly - leeks can hide dirt between the layers. Slice them lengthwise and rinse under running water in a colander or soak in a bowl, swishing to loosen grit.
Storage - store leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days.
Topping Suggestions - garnish with crispy bacon bits, more fresh thyme, chives, grated cheese, or a drizzle of cream for restaurant-level presentation.
Recipe FAQs
No. If you use Yukon gold potatoes, you don't need to peel them. If you use russet potatoes, I would recommend peeling them.
Yes. I love Yukon gold potatoes because of their texture but a russet potato or red potato will work too. Just peel these potatoes first.
Yes. This soup freezes and thaws really well. Freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
You can either blend in a couple more Yukon gold potatoes or stir in some instant mashed potato flakes to thicken it up. I like to start on the lower end of recommended liquid and add at the end so my soup is not too runny.
Other Vegetarian Recipes to Consider
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #greensnchocolate.
Slow Cooker Potato Leek Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 3 large leeks white and light green parts, sliced
- ½ white onion diced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes cut into chunks
- 5-6 cups vegetable broth adjust according to how thick you like your soup
- ½ cup half and half
Instructions
- In a large pan or a slow cooker with sauté function, melt the butter over medium heat.
- Add the leeks and onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and thyme, and cook for another minute.
- If using a sauté pan, transfer to a slow cooker.
- Add the potatoes and broth.
- Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 8 hours.
- Using a hand immersion blender, puree the soup until creamy. Alternately, you can transfer the mixture to a large blender to puree.
- Stir in the half and half.
- Enjoy!
