This 4-Ingredient Potato Soup Was Queen Victoria's Favorite

You can make this soup even when it feels like there's nothing to eat.

Queens are, sometimes, just like us. Take Queen Victoria’s favorite soup, Potage Parmentier, for example. This leek and potato soup is the simple but super satisfying dinner you might pull together when it feels like there is nothing in the house to eat. You just need a few leeks, a knob of butter, a couple of potatoes, a cup or two of broth, and some leftover bread for making croutons, and you, too, can eat like royalty.

I’ve long considered potato leek to be fancy fare, the kind of soup only perfected by restaurant chefs. It wasn’t until I saw Tom Parker Bowles' recipe for Potage Parmentier in his new cookbook Cooking & the Crown that I realized this classic soup is the kind of scrappy dinner you can pull off when the pantry is bare and still end up with an incredibly delicious and hearty meal.

How To Make Potato Leek Soup

Parker Bowles' version of Potage Parmentier has minimal ingredients: butter, leeks, russet potatoes, and broth make up the soup. You begin by sauteing chopped leeks in the butter—which perfumes the whole kitchen—until they are softened. This takes about 10 minutes, the perfect amount of time to peel and chop the potatoes.

The potatoes are added to the leek mixture and covered with broth. The recipe calls for chicken broth, and while homemade broth makes this soup even more filling, it is still very good when made with canned broth or bouillon. You could swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth to keep this meal vegetarian. While the potatoes and leeks simmer, you’ve got some time to prepare the toppings that really make this soup a stunner.

Cooking & the Crown calls for cream, chervil, and croutons for topping the soup. If you’re out of cream, half and half is a worthy substitute. I rarely have chervil and find that chives or any delicate fresh herbs (parsley, thyme) are really lovely in the soup. The one component you shouldn’t skip or sub here is the croutons. You can easily make these in the oven or another pan with whatever bit of bread you have on hand—yes, even the heel of the store-bought loaf.

Once the potatoes are tender, the soup is pureed. You can do this in a blender or just stick an immersion blender in the pot, making this meal even easier. Once ladled into bowls, top the soup with a generous drizzle of cream, a sprinkle of herbs, and your croutons. The soup is creamy and rich without being heavy, and the contrasting crunch of the croutons makes this a meal truly fit for royalty.