Loaded Potato Leek Chowder (Gluten Free)

Loaded Potato Leek Chowder is the perfect meal for cold and blustery winter days! It will warm you through and thoroughly satisfy your hunger. It is also terrific for ski weekends in the mountains with your friends and family. Everyone will love it!

I didn’t start skiing until I was in my 20s so I had already developed a healthy skepticism and surety that I would die on the mountain by the time I strapped on skis. It took a lot of courage and practice but eventually I was comfortable on most intermediate runs and could even handle a few of the black diamonds!

I love the bright sun, tanned faces, and breathing in the fresh crisp air in the middle of winter. In California, many weekends have sunny days with light snow overnight. The snow may be heavier than Colorado or Wyoming, but it is perfect for us. Tahoe is just four hours away from San Francisco, an easy drive up on Friday night after work. That gave us two days of fun and snow before coming back to reality.

My favorite part of the weekends was spending time with great friends, dancing all night long, and sipping hot chocolate with Schnapps by the fire. Laughter, stories, and good friends make the best days. Plus I got to cook for a crowd again, a real treat for me!

Whether it was a huge pot of pasta sauce and spaghetti feed (great for carbo-loading), barbecued chicken, or huge pans of lasagna, everyone was thrilled to come home to a delicious meal that we would whip together. Everyone pitched in and in no time we were all sitting around the big dining table, sharing stories of our day on the slopes, the funny things that had happened, and planning for the next day’s adventures.

If the weather was too cold and snowy, sometimes a few of us would choose to stay in the warm cabin instead of freezing our behinds off. On those days I would make lunch for us while we sat by the fire, sipping on wine and getting caught up on all the latest goings-on in our lives. A big pot of soup was the perfect combination of flavors and ingredients to fill hungry bellies and replenish the calories burned during a day of snowball fights, sledding and hiking.

Being the good Irish girl that I am, anything with potatoes goes on my must make list, and loaded baked potatoes are at the top. Filled with melting cheese, butter, bacon, and onions, it is one of my personal beloved comfort foods. It also happens to be a super easy mid-week meal. With the speed of a microwave you can have this meal on the table in less than 30 minutes!

Now, how do I turn that into a soup? Simple – I take my favorite potato-leek soup that The Artist loves, add some ingredients that remind me of the loaded potatoes that were a favorite on our ski weekends, and create a new family favorite. You can use as many or as few toppings as you like, but the combination of the smoky Gouda, crispy bacon, and chopped green onions really makes this taste like a fully loaded baked potato. I love the dimension the smoky cheese gives the soup.

This potato chowder is bumped up and combined with leeks and several other vegetables. Creamy, warm, filling and healthy – your family will beg you to make this for them and the whole house will smell wonderful as it cooks. Nothing says love more than a homemade meal!

This soup is incredibly versatile. You can vary the toppings to suit your moods and the event you are hosting, utilizing what you have on hand. 

This Loaded Potato Leek Chowder is the perfect meal whenever there is inclement weather; cold, rainy, or snowy, they all work. It will warm you up and satisfy all your cravings. Share it with a group of your friends or family and everyone will have a fun time together!

Welcome to another edition of Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a progressive dinner party. This month’s theme is a cozy Weekend Ski Party hosted by Susan Pridmore of The Wimpy Vegetarian. Don’t consider yourself snowed in, consider it a party, even if you are in the middle of an East Coast blizzard! You’ll love all the recipes we’ve come up with that will be perfect for Super Bowl Sunday and all winter long! Make sure you check out the links below the recipe. 

 

Ingredients needed for Loaded Potato Leek Chowder:

• Bacon, leeks, onion, celery, bell pepper, green chiles, garlic,
• Thyme, flour, chicken stock, water, salt, potatoes, sour cream,
• Cream, pepper, cheese, parsley or cilantro, green onions

 

PRO Tip:

If you can’t find leeks (very large green onions), you can use mild onions instead. Just simmer longer until they are slightly caramelized to soften their bolder flavor and add a little sweetness to the soup.

 

PRO Tip:

Many potato soups have a ton of cream and cheese stirred in and melted. I wanted to make a healthier version, so I cut back on the cream and limited the cheese to a garnish on top. Feel free to add more if you want it.

 

How to make Loaded Potato Leek Chowder:

1. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven until the fat is rendered and it is crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon. Remove all but 3 tbsp of the fat from the pan.
2. Clean the leeks (directions below), slice, and rinse again in a colander. Set aside.
3. In the same pot you cooked the bacon, add the leeks, onions, celery, bell peppers, and chiles; cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and thyme and cook another minute. Sprinkle with flour and stir to coat the vegetables and scrape the bottom of the pan. Cook 3 minutes until the raw aroma of the flour is gone, do not brown the flour.
4. Whisk in 1 cup of the stock and be sure the flour is completely dissolved. Whisk in remaining stock and water until smooth and stir in the salt. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and gently boil until potatoes are very tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
5. Transfer about 1/2 cup of the liquid to a bowl and whisk in the sour cream; set aside.
6. Transfer half the soup to a blender (or use an immersion blender) and puree until smooth. Pour the puree back into the pot for a thick creamy soup. Stir in the cream and reserved sour cream mixture. Whisk until completely incorporated. Taste soup and add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Ladle the hot soup into warmed bowls and sprinkle a little of the cheese over the top. Top with some of the bacon. Sprinkle with parsley and green onions on each bowl and serve hot.

 

PRO Tip: How to Clean Leeks

Cut off and discard the tough dark leaves and slice off the root end leaving as much of the white portion as possible. Cut a slit lengthwise in the leeks from the leaf end to about halfway into the white portion. Fan the leaves while washing under running water to remove grit and dirt. Be careful because leeks tend to trap dirt as they grow.

Cut leeks crosswise into 1/2-inch rings. If you see any dark spots in the rings, set them aside and, working under running water, pull them apart – chances are some dirt is trapped between the layers. Rinse well and add to the rest of the leeks.

 

Recommended Tools (affiliate links; no extra cost to you):

• Chef’s knife
• Cutting board
• Kitchen scale
• Box grater
• Stockpot or Dutch oven
• Blender or Immersion blender

 

Gluten-Free Tips:

*You can adjust any baking recipe to gluten-free by using 120 grams per cup of my favorite gluten-free flour blend. If you are using another brand of gluten-free flour, whisk the mix, spoon it lightly into a measuring cup until mounded, level off the top with the back of a knife, and weigh the flour left in the cup. Use that weight as your standard per cup of that specific flour. Do this for each flour blend you use. Commercial blends such as Pamela’s All-Purpose Artisan Blend, Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1, or King Arthur Measure for Measure are all good choices.

**Bacon and other processed meats can contain gluten. Applegate brand is all natural, gluten-free, and supports small farmers. They are my favorite brand for cold cuts, salamis, and other cured meats. They also sell amazing bacon that would be perfect for this soup. Boar’s Head is another good option.

All recommended ingredients are gluten-free as of the writing of this article. Always check to be sure the products haven’t changed and are still safe to consume.

 

 

 

 

This recipe is part of our monthly progressive dinner party, #ProgressiveEats. See the links below for more inspiration and great recipes!

 

Create a New Tradition Today!

 

Welcome! The suggestions here are not intended as dietary advice or as a substitute for consulting a dietician, physician, or other medical professional. Please see the Disclaimers/Privacy Policy page for additional details. Unauthorized use, distribution, and/or duplication of proprietary material from The Heritage Cook without prior approval is prohibited. If you have any questions or would like permission, please contact me. We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small amount from qualifying purchases without any additional cost to you. This page may contain affiliate links. The author makes no claims regarding the presence of food allergens and disclaims all liability in connection with the use of this site. This post was first shared in Jan 2015. The article was updated in 2024.