I hope some of you have had a chance to try making cashew cream from the last post! I have been loving it and using it in soooo many recipes. It has turned out fantastic every time. Today, I am happy to show you one of my favourite soup recipes, made dairy free and just as delicious as the original! One of my first cookbooks (and still one of my favourites!) was this one from Ina Garten. Everything I made out of it turned out incredible (of course!). This Roasted Potato Leek Soup became a favourite for us and I made it often. However, when one of our kiddos showed an intolerance to dairy, I stopped making it due to the high dairy content (heavy cream and sour cream). I didn’t think coconut milk would be a good stand-in… I was afraid of it would give a coconut-y flavour. And I knew almond milk wouldn’t be rich enough to give it the flavour and creamy texture it deserved.
Finally, after discovering the magical qualities of cashew cream, I have found a dairy free alternative that works *perfectly*. You literally cannot tell the difference. I also discovered that nutritional yeast gives the soup the perfect cheese-y flavour for a dairy free alternative. It has much less calories than regular cheese, and a bunch of added nutrients as well (hello B vitamins!!). If you are new to nutritional yeast, here’s an article on the merits of it. I sprinkle it on anything I would usually think to put parmesan cheese on and it is absolutely delicious mixed into creamy soups and sauces.
What else do we have going on in this soup? My favourite aspect of this soup is the flavour from the roasted potatoes and leeks. Roasting the vegetables caramelizes them, bringing out a rich depth of flavour you wouldn’t get from simply sautéing. The leeks give the perfect mild onion-y flavour. Every fall when I see them in the grocery stores I have to make this soup! Optionally, we have arugula in the mix as well. I’ve made this soup many times with and without the arugula depending on if I have it on hand, and it is delicious ether way. The arugula gives a nice peppery, slightly nutty undertone to the soup, and you get the added benefit of all the minerals and nutrients from the greens. It’s worth adding if you have it! We also have the option of cooking down some white wine into the mix. Again, I’ve made the soup both ways and enjoy it either way. The wine gives a nice fruity, slightly acidic note to the soup. You can use all chicken broth instead and it will still be delicious! I prefer to make my soups with homemade bone broth, but this Better Than Bouillon base works great as well.
Let’s talk leeks for a minute. One thing you should know about leeks is they are FULL of sand. This is because they are grown in sandy soil which gets in between all their layers. It is essential that you clean your leeks properly before cooking with them or your dish will be full of gritty sand… not very appetizing!! I’ll admit, it’s a tedious process the first time you do it, but one you get comfortable with handling the leeks, you’ll be cleaning them up in a few minutes flat no problem!
How to Clean Leeks:
Arrange your leeks on a cutting board. Cut off the dark green woody leaves and the bottom root. These parts you can clean and save to use in your homemade bone broth! Just throw them in a sink of cold water and clean through the layers with your fingers to get all the sand out. You can freeze them for later use in broth.
Slice the white and light green parts of the leek into 1/4″ rings.
Add the sliced leeks to a large bowl of cold water and loosen the rings apart with your fingers, cleaning the sand out as you go. The sand is heavier than the leeks and will fall to the bottom of the bowl.
Scoop the leeks out of the water into a colander. I like to use the one in my salad spinner as I will use the spinner to dry them after. Do not dump the contents with the water into the colander or you will be dumping the sandy water back onto the leeks. Rinse the cleaned leeks under fresh cold water.
Dry your leeks either by patting with paper towels, or, my preferred method, by spinning them in a salad spinner.
And that’s it, you are done! You can go ahead and use your leeks in whatever recipe they are called for.
Ok, are you ready to make the quintessential fall soup?! I’m so excited for you guys to try this. Be sure to let me know in the comments what you thought of it if you gave it a try. I’d love to know which garnishes you went with. I gravitate towards crispy bacon, chives, and aged cheese, but crispy fried onions make a delicious vegetarian alternative! Serve it up with some crusty bread and a simple green salad and you have an unforgettable meal. Enjoy!
Roasted Potato Leek Soup (Dairy Free)
Ingredients
- 5-6 medium sized Yuokon Gold Potatoes, cut into 3/4" chunks (no need to peel)
- 1 bunch chopped leeks, white and light green parts, cleaned of all sand (about 4 cups) see instructions in above blog post for how to clean leeks
- 1/4 cup olive oil extra virgin
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- 3 cups baby arugula optional (tastes great either way!)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine optional (use chicken broth instead if desired)
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups cashew cream (recipe linked in the instructions) if not dairy free you can use heavy cream and/or sour cream, or a mix of both if desired
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast you can use fresh grated parmesan cheese or cheese of choice if not dairy free
Optional Garnishes (choose one or two):
- 6 pieces old fashioned thick cut bacon, browned and chopped
- pinch nutrtional yeast you can use fresh grated parmesan cheese or cheese of choice if not dairy free
- green onion or parsley, chopped
- handful crispy fried onions if not using bacon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Add the potatoes and leeks to a large sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Toss with the olive oil and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper (about 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper).
- Roast for 40-45 minutes until lighly golden brown and tender. If you are planning to use bacon as a garnish, go ahead and bake it at the same time! Simply add the slices to a sheet pan lined with parchment and roast for 30 minutes, or until cooked through and crispy nicely.
- Add the arugula, if using, and toss to combine. Roast for another 5 minutes until arugula is wilted.
- Add entire sheet pan contents to a large soup pot (easy hack: gather the 3 corners of the parchment paper and slide the contents into the pot from the empty corner). Stir in the wine (if using) and 1 cup of chicken broth and bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring until the alcohol smell dissapears (a minute or two).
- Add remaining chicken broth (If not using wine, you can add all the broth at once) and puree soup using an immersion blender until desired consistency. You can also transfer it to a blender and puree in batches if preferred.
- Stir in the cashew cream, nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper to taste (usually another tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper), bring to a gentle simmer. Check seasoning and adjust as needed (add more nutritional yeast or cheese for a cheesier flavour, add more chicken broth for a thinner consistency, add more salt and pepper for flavour).
- Serve hot with optional garnishes of choice. Today I used crisped bacon, parsley, and aged cheddar cheese. This soup goes well with some crusty bread and a simple green salad.
Featured in this Post:
This post includes affiliate links, meaning I made a small commission at no extra cost to you, should you decide to click through the links and purchase anything. These are my honest opinions and I would never recommend anything to you I didn’t absolutely love and use on a regular basis. Hope you find these lists helpful!
Nutritional Yeast – You’ll hear me talk about this a lot, and that’s because I put this stuff on just about everything! Nutritional Yeast is high in B12 vitamins (which boost your mood and give you energy), as well as protein. It is low in calories and carbohydrates and has a delicious salty/savoury flavour. It is a great dairy free substitute to give that “cheesy” flavour to your dishes. I love sprinkling it on my pasta, omelettes, salads, soup, etc., and it is excellent in savoury cashew cream. Think of it as a superfood replacement for your typical “shaker” parmesan cheese.
Immersion Blender– I can’t imagine going through the hassle of transporting hot chunky soup in small batches to a blender to puree – what a hassle! I absolutely adore my immersion blender when it comes to blending soups. It could not be easier, you just stick it in the soup and whiz away. Just make sure the blade is fully immersed before blending and while blending or you’ll have a hot mess, quite literally… everywhere! 😉
Better Than Bouillon Organic Chicken Base – When you don’t have homemade bone broth on hand, this is the next best thing. I love that the organic bouillon is reduced sodium so it’s not so overpoweringly salty. This is super handy to have on hand when recipes call for small amounts of chicken broth, or if you just want to boost the flavour of your bone broth soups. I get mine at Costco, but you can also order it online from Amazon.
Pingback: Cashew Cream - Garnish at Home