Soups

August 4, 2021

Winter White Soup

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What this Winter White Soup may be lacking in color, it makes up for in flavor. The lightly caramelized leeks, licorice-like fennel, and white sweet potato are not vibrant in color, but still pack a lot of flavor and nutrition into this winter-y soup.

I love a good potato soup or chowder. This soup came about because I frequently cook for my brother, who is not currently consuming foods from the nightshade family (which includes potatoes, as well as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants). We both grew up on potato soup, often for lunch at our grandparents’ house - it was one of grandpa’s favorites, and it quickly became one of ours. Grandpa always ate his soup with soda crackers - lots of them! We often joked that grandpa like to have soup with his crackers, not the other way around!

Thankfully white sweet potatoes have proved a versatile substitute for many typical potato dishes, including a creamy, smooth potato soup. This soup doesn’t actually contain any dairy - the texture and creaminess come from pureeing the soup, along with the addition of a little almond milk to drive home that luxurious, velvety texture.

As it is, this soup is vegan. It’s a lovely, warm soup for any Souper Sunday, Meatless Monday, or any day of the week, especially because it comes together quickly. One day I decided to flake some smoked salmon into it though…and, wow! It became an awesome smoked salmon chowder. According to my brother, this soup is in top contention for his most favorite ever.


Ingredients assembled for Winter White Soup
Assemble your ingredients. (Forgive me the less-than-attractive fennel hiding on the edge of the photo...it had been frozen.)

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Stage of soup making: sauté and then simmer vegetables, puree using an immersion blender, then stir in almond milk and fennel fronds.
Sauté and then simmer vegetables, puree using an immersion blender, then stir in almond milk and fennel fronds.

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Winter White Soup in a beige mug garnished with smoked salmon
Optionally garnish with flaked smoked salmon. It's an amazing addition!

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Original publication date: December 7, 2020

Winter White Soup

What this Winter White Soup lacks in color, it makes up for in flavor. Caramelized leeks, licorice-like fennel, and white sweet potato are not vibrant in color, but pack a lot of flavor and nutrition into this winter-y soup.

Author:

Kira Freed - The Joyful Plateful

Prep:

10

min

cook:

35

min

total:

45

min

Print It

Ingredients

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3 leeks, white and light green parts

4 large garlic cloves

1 large fennel, bulb and fronds

1 extra-large or 2-3 smaller white sweet potatoes (to equal about 4 cups chopped)

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

3/4 cup plain unsweetened almond milk

Instructions

  1. Prep your vegetables. Slice leeks in half and check for dirt. Rinse leeks to remove dirt caught between layers, and pat dry. Slice into half-moons, and set aside. Remove long top stalks from fennel, and set aside. Roughly chop bulb into 1” pieces and set aside. Remove leafy fronds from fennel stalks, mince, and reserve for later. Peel and chop sweet potato, into 3/4” cubes, and set aside. Peel garlic cloves and mince, set aside.
  2. Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add sliced leeks, and saute for about 10 minutes, until leeks just begin to soften and get some color.
  3. Add garlic and saute about another minute, until fragrant. Add salt and pepper.
  4. Add chopped fennel and sweet potato, then add vegetable broth, and stir to combine. Cover with a lid, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, and simmer about 20 minutes, until all vegetables are soft.
  5. Once vegetables are soft, remove pot from heat and puree the soup using an immersion blender (or puree in a blender in batches). Return pureed soup in the pot to the stove on low heat. Stir in almond milk and reserved fennel fronds, and heat through.
  6. Serve soup as is, or add protein and enhance the flavor by adding about 1 1/2 cups flaked smoked salmon.

You might also like

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder
Chai-Spiced Sweet Potato Soup
Cozy Winter Soup Recipes

Hi there, I’m Kira!

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