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    Home » Soups & Stews » Alton Brown's Potato Leek Soup with Buttermilk & Bacon

    Alton Brown's Potato Leek Soup with Buttermilk & Bacon

    Published: Feb 10, 2019 · Modified: Jan 3, 2025 by Eric Samuelson

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Learn how to make Alton Brown's Potato Leek soup with buttermilk, a tasty soup that I made even better with the addition of bacon! Alton, why didn't you include bacon to begin with? 🙂

    A bowl of Potato Leek soup that is topped with bacon and dried thyme on top of a plate with leeks next to the plate.

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    ❤️ Why You Will Love This Soup - The leeks are slowly sweated to bring out their maximum flavor. The gold potatoes bring a buttery element to the party. The buttermilk adds the perfect amount of tang. Then do what I do and top it all off with bacon!

    Leeks weren't on my radar at all until I first watched Alton Brown using them on Good Eats. I decided I wanted to give a try to his Potato Leek soup recipe from his episode "Sprung a Leek".

    Since then I have grown to love buying leeks and my kids have enjoyed saying "dad there is a leek in your grocery bag!". I have used them for other recipes and have even grown them in my garden with mixed results.

    I made his soup recipe many times, so I wanted to take you through the process, giving you my tips, as well as a couple tweaks that I have made.

    ingredients for potato leek soup - leeks, potatoes, buttermilk, cream, butter, white peppercorns, cherrywood smoked bacon
    The ingredients I used to make this soup. Now including BACON!!!! I love the flavor of cherrywood smoked bacon so I get when I have the chance and it's a good deal.

    Shopping List

    Here are the ingredients that Alton called for:

    • 1 pound leeks, cleaned with white parts only
    • 3 TBSP butter
    • 14 ounces gold potatoes peeled and cubed
    • 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth/stock
    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • 1 cup buttermilk
    • ½ tsp freshly ground white pepper
    • kosher salt to taste

    What is missing here is of course the bacon for that I used 4 slices of bacon that I cooked up and then chopped into pieces.

    Most of the time when you are buying leeks in the grocery store, they come in a bundle of 3-4 leeks. They may or may not equal up to a pound.

    This recipe only uses the white parts of the leeks. By no means just toss out the green parts, they are so incredibly useful. Check out my post on What to Do With the Green Parts of Leeks.

    I also tend to use more potatoes than the 14 ounces he calls for. You can just eye ball it. Or purposely buy 2 pounds at the grocery store. I puree the soup in the end as he does but I prefer to have chunks of potatoes in the soup as well which is why some extra potato is nice to have.

    Gold potatoes on a wood board.

    The first time I made this soup I did not have any gold potatoes on hand, so I had to use Russet. It still produced a good tasting soup, but the Gold add a buttery taste to the soup, so I would buy them.

    I have never used a Russet potato to make this soup since, only that time. Gold potatoes work so much better in this soup. Save your Russet for baked potatoes.

    I recommend buying whole white peppercorns for this soup and grind them in a spice (coffee) grinder. I also like to add a couple pinches of white pepper to my bowl when serving. The white pepper really makes this soup. It brings a great depth of flavor to the party.

    A grinder of Burlap and Barrel Fermented White Pepper.

    The best white peppercorns I have ever had are the Fermented White Pepper from Burlap & Barrel Single Origin spices. Those peppers have a Parmesan like quality to them and are worth springing for to go on every soup you make this season.

    Broth for the Soup

    The recipes calls for vegetable broth. This can easily be made with veggies scraps. Here are some suggestions of what veggies to save to make the broth. You don't need to use all of these just a combo of them. I would do about 2 cups worth for every 1 quart of stock you want to make.

    • Carrots
    • Parsnips
    • Celery
    • Onions
    • Corn cobs (I do this for my Corn Chowder recipe)
    • Green part of the leeks

    You just need to simmer these veggies in a water for about 30 minutes, so this can be an extra step you take before making the soup, or you can make it while the leeks are cooking. Just make sure to strain the broth before using it.

    You need 1 quart or 4 cups of broth for this recipe so make sure you make enough broth to have that amount.

    If you want to do homemade chicken broth instead, what I normally do is save up chicken bones and then cook them for 2 hours in my Instant Pot. The last time I made chicken broth I also included the green parts of the leeks. So really the whole leek can be used for this recipe.

    A container of Umpqua Cultured Lowfat Buttermilk on burlap.

    Buttermilk

    I believe using buttermilk is essential to making this soup the best it can be. You can live without it, but it adds so much to the soup. The tangy flavor of the buttermilk really adds a lot of depth of flavor. I would highly recommend you use it.

    Worried about wasting leftover buttermilk? No problem, you can freeze it for later use. The best way to freeze it is to measure it out first, so you can get out exactly what you need. I have fallen in love with Souper Cubes. They allow you to freeze ingredients into perfect cubes that will save space in freezer and are easy to warm up. They are really high quality, thick silicone, and come in different sizes from 2 teaspoons to 2 cups.

    If you don't have cream or buttermilk on hand, you can use a combination of milk or half and half. Cream is best and will create a thicker soup. But if you want to cut out the fat or save some money, then you can just use milk, the soup will still be good, just not as thick or rich.

    Do You Have to Peel the Potatoes?

    Are you like me and hate having to bring out vegetable peeler for any reason? I tested the recipe where I didn't peel the potatoes. Did it bother me at all? Nope. The skins on the gold potatoes are thinner than Russet potatoes. From now on I am not going to peel the potatoes before hand.

    Not peeling the potatoes allows you to have the option to use baby gold potatoes that would otherwise be a pain to peel. Kroger stores sell a Petite Gold bag of potatoes under their Private Selection line.

    ⭐ Recipe Review

    My family loves this soup. It is easy to make and I can find all the ingredients without trouble. The leeks add a nice touch to the soup without being overpowering. I prefer leeks over onions, plus with leeks, no tears! The addition of the white pepper is what really does it for me. I never expected I would really like this soup, but I do. It makes a great lunch, appetizer for dinner, or even a main course along with some kind of greens.

    This soup got me into two different ingredients - leeks and white pepper, that I use now in several other recipes. Those are the kinds of recipes I love, ones that introduce you to ingredients you didn't use before that much before.

    I believe I have improved the soup now by adding bacon to it. Alton, why wasn't there bacon in it before? The smokiness of the bacon is such a nice touch. If you omit the bacon, then maybe a good smoked sea salt would be a nice finishing touch.

    Vichyssoise vs Potato Leek Soup

    Have you ever wondered what the difference is between potato leek soup and vichyssoise is? Me too. I dug around a little on Google. What it seems to me is they are pretty much the same soup, although often when it's called Vichyssoise is it being served cold instead of hot. I am saying that is the main difference.

    More Soups to Make

    Want some more soup recipes, here are some other ones you should check out:

    • Instant Pot Cherry & Roma Tomato Soup
    • Leftover Turkey Orzo Soup
    • Asparagus Ends Soup
    • Better than Campbell's Bean Soup

    More Alton Brown Reviews

    Another recipe Alton shared in that leek episode was a recipe for leek rings (like onion rings!). I talk about it in my post on Air Fryer Leeks.

    Here are some other Alton Brown recipes I have reviewed on my blog that I love.

    • Cacio e Pepe
    • Bonuts
    • Lemon Meringue Pie
    • Fish Sticks
    A bowl of Potato Leek soup that is topped with bacon and dried thyme on top of a plate with leeks next to the plate.

    Alton Brown's Potato Leek Soup with Bacon

    This recipe is for Alton Brown's Potato Leek Soup. In my version I have added bacon to it. You're welcome. Off course if you want to leave the bacon out and use vegetable stock you can make the soup vegetarian. The instructions have been written in my own words.
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    Servings: 0

    Ingredients

    • 1 pound leeks, cleaned with white parts only
    • 4 slices cooked smoked bacon chopped
    • 3 TBSP butter
    • 14 ounces gold potatoes cubed
    • 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth/stock
    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • 1 cup buttermilk
    • ½ tsp freshly ground white pepper
    • kosher salt to taste

    Instructions

    • Cut the green parts off the leeks. Cut the roots off making sure the leeks sections are still connected at the very bottom.
    • Run the leeks under water to remove any dirt or debris.
    • In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, then add the leeks with a heavy pinch of kosher salt.
    • Cook the leeks for 5 mintues. Turn the heat down if the leeks are starting to get too brown.
    • Decrease the heat to just above low and cook for 20 mintues or until leeks are tender. Stir occasionally, and check to make sure they don't burn.
    • Add the potatoes and broth to the pan. Increase heat to bring just to a boil.
    • Decrease the heat to low and simmer the potatoes for 45 minutes. Increase or decrease the heat to keep the potatoes at a simmer.
    • Remove the pot from the heat. If you want a smooth soup puree it completely. If you want a more chunky soup, remove some of the soup to a bowl, puree it and add it back in. 
    • Stir in the heavy cream, buttermilk, bacon, white pepper. Taste and then add more salt to taste. Serve.

    Notes

    You don't have to peel the potatoes for the soup if you don't want. It's up to you. 
    Tried this recipe?Mention @eatlikenooneelse or tag #eatlikenooneelse
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Cheryl Smith

      July 30, 2023 at 1:25 pm

      I LOVED Alton Brown's show!! Great recipes AND he always explained WHY he was doing things a certainway.

      !

    2. Eric Samuelson

      July 31, 2023 at 12:09 pm

      Yes!!!! He helped me a lot in my journey of learning how to cook.

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