Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup

This Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup is blended with creamy goat cheese and topped with crispy prosciutto. A quick and easy soup recipe to keep making all winter long. Instructions to make this on a stove top are also included below.

Potato Leek Soup with Crispy Prosciutto

I love creamy potato soup so much! I already have a traditional potato soup recipe, so I wanted to make a new potato soup recipe with a modern twist. I have been really into crispy prosciutto lately, and I know some people say “prosciutto is not meant to be cooked”, but actually, I prefer it that way. I feel like cooking the prosciutto gives it a better flavor. And, I researched prosciutto and learned that the traditional Italian dish “Saltimbocca” always includes cooked prosciutto. So, there you have it, it CAN be cooked.

I love adding crispy prosciutto to vegetables, especially asparagus. I have been wrapping asparagus stalks with prosciutto and air frying them, and I love the flavor so much. I knew it would go so well in this soup.

Stove Top Potato Leek Soup

This recipe is mainly for an Instant Pot, but I have also included instructions on how to make this on a stove top. Making this soup on the stove top is super easy, it just requires a heavy duty pot with a lid.

If you want to make this on the stove top, you would first add chopped up pieces of prosciutto to the bottom of a large dutch oven or heavy duty pot. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil and crisp up the prosciutto. Then, remove the prosciutto from the pot and set aside. Add your chopped up leeks and onions to the pot with the butter and saute them until they are soft. Stir this frequently so that it does not brown. It should take about 10 minutes for them to be wilted. Add your chopped potatoes, garlic, salt, and black pepper to the pot. Stir it around and then add your chicken broth and water. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover it for 20 minutes.

Once the soup is done cooking, add in the goat cheese and then blend until creamy using an immersion blender. If you are using a regular blender, you will need to blend the soup in batches. Once the soup is creamy, top with your crispy prosciutto.

Potato Leek Soup with Bacon

If you prefer the taste of bacon, you can easily swap the prosciutto for some bacon bits. You sauté the prosciutto or the bacon in the pot prior to making the soup, and then you remove it and set it aside until you are ready to use. Prosciutto doesn’t create a lot of residual oil, but bacon does. If you do use bacon, you should remove all but 2 tbsp of bacon fat from the pot, and then use this fat to saute your leeks and onions instead of oil. Keep in mind that if you use the bacon fat, the soup will have a deeper color than if you use butter.

Potato Leek Soup with Goat Cheese

A lot of potato leek soup include cream in the recipe. This recipe is a “no cream” recipe, but I added goat cheese at the end. You can omit the cheese, or add a different cheese. I like the way the creamy goat cheese melts into this soup and gives it a surprisingly warm and creamy flavor. If you do want to add cheese, I recommend something with a strong burst of flavor like goat cheese, feta, extra sharp cheddar, or even blue cheese.

How long do you cook Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup?

Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup cooks for 8 minutes on high pressure plus 8 minutes of natural release. However, I also took time to crisped up the prosciutto. All in all, this soup cooked for less than 1 hour.

It is super easy. You throw everything in the instant pot except for the cheese, cook it on high pressure for 8 minutes, release the pressure and then use a blender or immersion blender to turn it into a creamy soup. Add the cheese and then blend the soup some more.

Because I wanted to top my soup with crispy prosciutto, I crisped up my prosciutto using the sauté function of the instant pot before I started my soup. I then put the prosciutto pieces in a bowl and waited till the rest of my soup was finished cooking.

If you like this recipe, you can try my Broccoli Cheddar Soup in your instant pot, too!

Is Potato Leek Soup Gluten Free?

Yes! This potato leek soup is gluten free, grain free, and if you omit the goat cheese it can be whole30 compliant.

  INGREDIENTS

• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 1 pack Prosciutto
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 Leeks
• 1/2 Yellow Onion
• 2 Cloves Garlic minced
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 lb Yukon Gold Potato peeled and chopped
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• 4 oz Goat Cheese

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Rip up prosciutto into 1-2″ pieces. 
• Clean and chop up the leeks. Slice the yellow onion.
• Press Saute on the instant pot, add 1 tsp of Olive Oil and pieces of prosciutto. Mix every few minutes until prosciutto has crisped up. Set aside. There will be some bits that stick to the bottom of the instant pot. This is ok and it will come off once you add the liquid
• Add 2 tablespoons of Butter to the instant pot, and add the leeks and onions with 1/2 tsp salt. Saute for about 10 minutes.
• Turn off the instant pot and add the remaining salt, 4 cups of broth, 1 cup of water, potatoes, garlic, and black pepper
• Put the cover on the instant pot, seal the vent and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
• do a natural release for 8 minutes and then do a quick release. 
• Add the goat cheese to the soup and then use an immersion blender or high speed blender to blend the soup.
• add the crispy prosciutto

If you like this recipe, you may also like:

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

Instant Pot Parsnip Soup