Light vichyssoise
This lighter vichyssoise adapts the famous French chilled soup by replacing cream with milk and using very little butter. Made with leek, onion and potato cooked in a mild stock, it has a silky, delicate texture with considerably fewer calories and less fat than the classic recipe.
At a glance
- Cooking20 min
- Total20 min
- Servings4 servings
- DifficultyEasy
Allergens
- Dairy
Who this recipe is for
A light, delicate version of the classic French soup. Replacing cream with milk and moderating the fat can make it suitable for weight-loss plans.
Ingredients
Quantities for 4 servings. Tick off what you already have.
Step by step
- Clean the leeks thoroughly, removing the root base and the fibrous dark green part, and wash between the layers to remove any soil. Slice thinly.
- Peel and finely chop the onion, then peel and cut the potato into small chunks.
- Heat the teaspoon of butter in a saucepan over a medium-low heat and gently cook the leek and onion for 8-10 minutes without browning.
- Add the chopped potato and pour in the low-salt chicken stock.
- Bring to the boil, reduce to a medium heat and cook covered for about 20 minutes, until the potato is very tender when pierced.
- Remove the pan from the heat and blend everything until very smooth.
- Add the milk and a pinch of freshly ground pepper, then mix well.
- Leave to cool to room temperature and refrigerate for at least three hours before serving.
Adaptations
How to change it depending on the day. Each change keeps the dish, it does not replace it.
For people with lactose intolerance or following a vegan diet
Use extra-virgin olive oil instead of butter and replace cow’s milk with unsweetened soy or oat drink.
For a vegetarian version
Replace the chicken stock with a mild vegetable stock made with leek, celery and carrot.
If you cannot eat potato
Replace it with an equivalent amount of peeled courgette or cooked apple to thicken the soup with a lower glycaemic load.
What it provides
Leek provides water, dietary fibre and sulphur compounds with antioxidant effects. Cooked potato gives the soup its creaminess and starch without needing cream or industrial thickeners. Using semi-skimmed or skimmed milk instead of cream, and just one teaspoon of butter for four servings, greatly reduces the saturated fat content.
The dietitian's tip
Cook the leek gently over a very low heat without browning it; if it becomes toasted, the soup’s characteristic mild flavour will change and its colour will darken. It keeps very well for two or three days in an airtight container in the fridge.
It fits into our weight-loss plan. Other chilled vegetable soups: chilled white asparagus and cottage cheese soup and chilled pea and mint soup.
What a recipe is not
This recipe fits into a plan; it does not replace one. It cures nothing and it is not calculated for one particular person: the quantities are indicative and will need adjusting to your case.
If you have a medical condition, take medication or follow a prescribed diet, check with your doctor or your dietitian before changing anything.
Where this recipe comes from
The main guide
Weight-loss diet: how to lose fat and keep it off
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A recipe fits or does not fit depending on what is going on with you. In clinic we build the whole plan around what you eat, what you tolerate and what you fancy.