Interested in the Irish potato soup recipe? Find out how you can prepare this traditional soup from Ireland at home…
The Irish people are particularly fond of eating soup. The climate of the region has a profound influence on the choice of food for the Irish. Amongst the most popular soups found in the Irish culture are the Irish potato soup and its variations.
The potato soup is a prominent part of traditional cuisine. The soup is particularly popular during important religious and cultural holidays such as St. Patrick’s Day. With potato as the main vegetable the different varieties of the soup make use of various herbs and vegetables to produce a unique flavor. Irish potato soups are inexpensive to prepare yet have plenty of nutritional value.
Irish potato soup recipe
In order to prepare a decent serving of old school Irish soup you will need three large sliced potatoes. These should be nicely scrubbed and cut up into thin slices. Along with this you will need one stick of unsalted butter and one thin medium sliced onion.
Another essential ingredient for the Irish potato soup are leeks. However you will only be making use of the white and green parts of the leeks which need to be properly washed and cut into thin slices. Other ingredients include kale, spinach, turnip greens and spinach in little cut up pieces. Lastly you need around six cups of good quality vegetable broth and salt and pepper to taste.
You can also make use of a wide range of additional toppings according to your preference. The most commonly used additional toppings include fresh chives and scallions. Irish cheddar cheese also adds an interesting flavor to the Irish potato soup.
Making the soup
You will start off by melting the butter over a heavy bottomed soup pot. To this you will add the onions and leeks and keep the pot over low heat long enough for the vegetables to release their juice. This should take around 20 minutes.
Next up you will add the potatoes to the mix and leave it on the fire for another 15 minutes. To this you will add the broth and to that you will add the salt and pepper according to your taste. Simmer the soup until you find the potatoes to turn tender. Then you will add the greens and cook for another ten minutes.
A good way to process the soup is to divide in batches. This way you will achieve the best results. You can also use a hand held immersion blender to process the soup. Return the soup to the pot once it has been processed and then reheat it. Once ready you can add the toppings of your choice like Irish cheddar cheese. The above mentioned recipe should be able to serve four to six people.
This recipe is for the old school traditional Irish soup. There are other varieties to the soup such as the onion soup or the carrot potato soup which you can try out.
