Everyday dinners
Gluten-free soup
A comforting leek and potato soup with a little cream, thickened with potatoes rather than flour.
Free guide: thirty gluten-free dinners, with the shopping lists
Leeks and potatoes make a thick, comforting soup without any flour. A little cream rounds it off, and chopped chives add a fresh finish.
Wash between the leek layers to remove any grit, and choose a vegetable stock labelled gluten-free. Blend briefly for a smooth soup, or use a potato masher if you prefer some texture.
The recipe
Gluten-free soup
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Total*
- 50 min
- Makes
- 4 servings
*Estimated development timings. No standing time is required.
Ingredients
Tick things off as you go.
For the soup
To finish
Equipment
- Use a large saucepan of at least 3 litres with a lid.
- Use a chopping board, sharp knife, vegetable peeler and colander.
- Use weighing scales and a measuring jug.
- Use a wooden spoon and a ladle.
- Use a stick blender suitable for hot soup, or a potato masher.
Let’s make it.
- 01
Prepare the vegetables
Split the leeks lengthways and rinse between the layers until no grit remains, then slice thinly. Dice the onion and cut the potatoes into roughly 1.5 cm cubes so they cook evenly. Rinse and finely chop the chives, keeping them aside for serving.
- 02
Soften the leeks
Melt the butter in the saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the leeks and onion, cover and cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. They should soften and smell sweet without turning brown; lower the heat if they begin to colour.
- 03
Simmer the potatoes
Add the potatoes and hot vegetable stock. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and leave the lid slightly ajar. Simmer for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until a potato cube crushes easily against the side of the pan with a spoon. Continue cooking if any pieces still have a firm centre.
- 04
Blend the soup
Take the pan off the heat and let the bubbling stop. Following your stick blender's instructions, keep its head submerged and blend in short bursts just until the soup is smooth, then stop. Alternatively, use a potato masher until no large potato pieces remain for a more textured soup.
- 05
Finish and serve
Stir in the cream. If the soup is thicker than you like, add the measured water a little at a time, using up to 150 ml, until it flows easily from a ladle. Return to a low heat and stir for 2–3 minutes, or until steaming hot throughout. Taste a cooled spoonful and add salt and black pepper as needed. Divide between four bowls and scatter over the chives.
Ingredient checks
Choose vegetable stock explicitly labelled gluten-free and check the labels of cream alternatives and other packaged ingredients. Do not use stock containing ordinary wheat flour or barley malt. For someone with coeliac disease, use clean equipment and work surfaces and prevent contact with bread crumbs or other gluten-containing foods. Check each label for all 14 UK declarable allergens: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, soya and sulphites.
Allergens: Contains milk from the butter and cream.; Vegetable stock may contain celery, mustard, soya or other declarable allergens; check the chosen product.; No other UK declarable allergens are deliberately added in the remaining ingredients, but check all packaging and any substitutions..
Make it work for you
For a dairy-free version, replace the butter with 20 ml olive oil and the cream with 100 ml unsweetened gluten-free soya cream; this introduces soya.
Replace the chives with the same weight of fresh parsley, rinsed and finely chopped.
A gluten-free chicken stock can replace the vegetable stock in the same quantity, although the soup will no longer be vegetarian.
For another day
Divide leftover soup into small, shallow containers so it cools promptly, then cover and refrigerate within 1–2 hours at 0–5°C.
Eat refrigerated soup within 48 hours, or freeze cooled portions as soon as possible in labelled freezer-safe containers.
Defrost frozen soup thoroughly in the fridge and use within 24 hours of fully thawing; the texture after freezing has not been kitchen-tested.
Reheat only once in a saucepan, stirring frequently until steaming hot throughout; add a little water if it has thickened.
Exploding food
What goes in.
The ingredients, seen a little differently. This image is an illustration of the main ingredients; use the written recipe for the full list and quantities.
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