Winter Vegetable Soup With Turnips, Carrots, Potatoes and Leeks Recipe (2024)

I've made a similar soup all my life since my Scots grandmother taught it to me. Her trick (besides no garlic, more celery and fewer potatoes) was to use her potato masher when all the vegetables were tender. It gives the soup a great rustic hearty texture. It is also much more fun to bash away with Grandma's masher than use a food mill or blender.

Really good and satisfying. If the now-banned Oxford comma appeared after "2 to 3 teaspoons salt" I believe it would be clearer. It would read "2 to 3 tablespoons salt, and pepper to taste."

Tweaked a bit, was fabulous. Sautéed all veg, sequentially, in olive oil and pat of butter, so leeks got golden. (I think soup needs that taste dimension.) Added parsnips, used more celery and carrot. Bouquet fresh from garden: two bay leaves, sprigs winter savory, French tarragon, Italian parsley. Immersion blended, to rough texture (about the texture of porridge). Soup thick and fibrous, in a good way. Added tsp. Sherry vinegar (before creme fraiche) for brightness. Served w/ plain focaccia.

We make this all the time, but usually substitute celery root for the potatoes. Call it "no points soup", very good and satisfying meal. But skip the creme fraiche, not needed.

To those who have written that puréeing destroys vegetable [or fruit] fiber: If you purée a vegetable or fruit, its fiber gets mutilated, but it is still there, and the produce is just as nutritionally valuable as if it were left whole. If you juice the food, however, practically all of its fiber is removed--it's the stuff that comes out of the other end of the juicer. Enterprising cooks who juice may find ways to use the macerated fiber in recipes, but others simply discard it.

I made this soup tonight. I used parsnip instead of turnips and put in coconut milk instead of creme of fraiche and some chicken broth. I made plenty so we can freeze some for later. Excellent winter soup with fresh salmon!!

I almost never peel potatoes (even for mashing!) unless there's an element of elegance needed for a dish. But for dishes like this soup, rustic for sure, why peel the potatoes? Just scrub, remove blemishes. Less work, more nutrition (extra fiber) and tastes great.
amusing how some of the tweaks in the comments actually make a completely different dish.

I doubt that is universal; I have always called each unit a stalk, rather than a rib..

This recipe calls for a large stalk of celery. My family grew celery when I was a child. A stalk of celery is made of ribs of celery. Having made the soup with a whole stalk, I think the author meant "large rib of celery". Celery is a great backnote to a recipe, but is not good front and center, as its too bland. I had to do a lot of adjusting for the stalk of celery I added per the recipe to make this a soup that we would eat more than once. Big miss by the NYTimes.

Love the many suggestions I've read here. The dicing didn't appeal, so I used the food processor grater. Took only a minute. Also, I added 1 tsp of chicken bouillon paste and two leftover cheese rinds stored in the freezer. These I removed before pureeing the soup in a standing blender.

I've had a similar soup in London, but they used parsnips. I love their sweet flavor and prefer them to turnips. They're perfect with carrots.

wow, just finished making this and it's fantastic. after reading other comments i played with the ingredients- added one more carrot, 2 stalks of celery, 3 parsnips, 3 small turnips and omitted the potatoes. i sauteed the carrots, leek, garlic in one T butter, seasoned with Fox Point seasoning, then used chicken broth (2Q). i pureed it then added about 1/4 heavy cream and sprinkled in a little cayenne pepper. it's perfect! next time i'll make a double batch.

I've been making variations of this soup for years. I like the suggestions people made about parsnips and celeriac. I would also include rutabagas. I think that actual turnips are bitter and add an unpleasant taste. Another suggestion that is great is a splash of sherry vinegar. Also, I would cut back on the leek and use some shallot instead of all leek. For a discussion of turnip vs rutabagas, see: http://www.finecooking.com/articles/turnip-rutabaga.aspx Medium size is best.

I made just one small modification to this delicious soup. My turnips had lovely greens, so I cleaned and chopped them, then added them for the last five minutes or so of cooking. They don't make a negligible difference in flavor, but they bump up the vitamins. They also add lovely green flecks in the final pureed product. I use an immersion blender.

Like others, I used parsnips rather than turnips. Still found the soup rather bland, but some smoked paprika and lemon juice brightened it up. I would serve this as a starter, not the main part of a meal.

Yummy ! I love the complex flavors in this soup. I added a few more carrot sticks. As suggested I used a bit of smoked paprika. I also aded some Cobanero chili flakes. I forgot to add the galic so pulled out the Penzy's garlic powder using the conversion 1/3 teaspoon to one clove. I've used an immersion blender for years and use it to adjust taste. It blends flavors together so nicely.

I sautéed the 3 carrots, 2 leeks, 1 whole shallot, 1 stalk of celery, 1/2 zucchini, 4 garlic cloves. Then put it in a Dutch oven with the potatoes (12oz), turnip (13oz), bouquet garnish, and added 3 cups of chicken broth and 1 cup of water. Boiled it for 42 mins. Blended everything in a blender. Put it back in the Dutch oven and added 1/4 cup sour cream. In the end I added a generous squeeze of lemon . Very delicious :)

I used shallots instead of leeks, and added a little bit of whole-fat kefir, spooned at the table, instead of creme fresh, it was delicious.

This recipe works precisely because it’s so malleable based on what you have on hand. I subbed celeriac for the celery, used Yukon Gold potatoes, and added a TBS of champagne vinegar and a dash is Sriracha just because. Delish! This will be on winter rotation at our house.

Didn't see turnips in the grocery store and prefer parsnips anyway for that zing of earthy flavor found in root veg like radishes, turnips, parsnips. Followed the weights specified by the recipe which resulted in 3 large leeks, 2 parsnips, 1 giant carrot, and 2 russet potatoes. Tremendous depth to this soup and it felt very hearty despite not having heavy ingredients. Crisped 4oz of TJ's pancetta to sprinkle over the top and ate with buttered sourdough toast for dipping. Such good flavor!

I made this recipe in the summer and it was enjoyed by all. I anticipate making this more in the fall and winter months. I followed the recipe and did not make any substitutions. Freeze the leftovers in you have any - just as good when reheated. I had never used crème fraiche before. It is an expensive ingredient. I agree with another comment that it can probably be omitted.

I finely chopped turnip greens and sprinkled them on after using the immersion blender. It was a great way to add sharpness and green contrast. Played fast and loose with the ingredients, and that was fine too. As recommended, I sauteeed everything before adding the water.

Made this exactly according to recipe except per EJC below, I mashed potatoes and turnips instead of pureeing and we loved it. Hubby and I ate also the entire pot in one sitting. Pureed soups are good in some situations but I don't think this soup should be pureed.

Do not make. My soup instincts and execution are typically decent, however, making the soup as described produces a liquid that looks like vomit.That said, I'll retain the coarse grind food mill recommendation for other soups where I want some solids / body, and not a juice-puree.

Like others, I added a few extra parsnips that I had, used chicken stock instead of water and I also added a little curry powder at the end. Not too much, just enough that get a little hint of it when eating. Yum!!!

I used homemade chicken broth instead of water. Tasty :)

I substituted parsnips in for turnips and added a little extra leek. Lovely rustic winter soup!

Excellent soup! Perfect for a cold winter night. I used suggestions from the comments here: Added a couple of parsnips, sauteed the leeks in a bit of butter before adding garlic + other vegetables, and subbed heavy cream for the creme fraiche. My addition was using 4 cups homemade turkey stock and 2 cups water, as we had stock left over from Thanksgiving. It added flavor and heartiness without getting in the way of the vegetables. I love how customizable this is.

wondering if making ahead and reheating is an option?

After surgery for acid reflux I’m on nearly an all liquid diet. I made this before with a food mill & as directed, it was a bit bland. This time I made it with chicken broth & tossed in a sweet potato that needed to be used. Blended it all up with the crème fraîche. Delicious.