Creamed Leeks an Easy Side Dish

Creamed Leeks are a rich and indulgent mellow onion flavoured side dish that cooks in less than 20 minutes.

This silky smooth and mellow onion side dish is perfect with everything from fish to chicken and steak to pork.

Easy Creamy Leeks

When I say overlooked, I mean by others of course! I use leeks all of the time here on my site and this leeks recipe sees them wrapped in butter and cream is one of my favourites.

But you can also find them in recipes as diverse as my sausage and apple casserole, smoked mackerel kedgeree and my leek wrapped skinless sausages!

This creamy leeks recipe is incredibly simple and cooks in less than 20 minutes.

Regular cooks from my site know that I am a spice fiend and add loads of black pepper to my creamed leeks.

That mild onion flavour and silky texture are contrasted perfectly by pepper, but you can of course scale this back.

My version gets rounded out with a little garlic and some thyme, although you could change out these to match them with the main that they are served with.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to blanch the leeks?

Blanching the leeks in this recipe helps on many levels and as a result, I consider it pretty essential here.

First of all, it helps “lock in” the colour and leads to a vibrant-looking dish. Blanching also mellows out that initial harsh “alium” flavour leaving a lovely mellow vibe going through the dish.

Finally, it also helps speed up the cooking of the dish, blanching the leeks reduces the cooking time by 10 minutes over cooking them straight in the frying pan.

Can I prepare this in advance?

Yes, this dish will be fine sitting in the fridge for up to 24 hours, although it is marginally better if cooked and eaten immediately.

If you are cooking this in advance reduce the amount of cream in the first cooking cycle by 50ml (3 tbsp) and add this back in when you reheat them.

You can reheat it either on the stove or in the microwave with no problems.

Can I scale this recipe up or down?

This recipe serves two but it can be scaled up or down with no difference to the cooking times. It scales linearly in terms of ingredient amounts.

Serving Suggestions

The thing that I really love about this recipe is its diversity, creamed leeks are great with everything from fish to pork and chicken.

My personal favourite thing to serve with creamed leeks is fish. It is pictured above with some pan fried salmon fillet and below with my salmon fish cakes.

When it comes to pork, this dish is just as awesome served with roasted pork belly slices or slow cooker pork loin as it is with bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin.

Simply cooked chicken works equally well with this dish, it doesn’t matter if it is a whole roast chicken or something altogether smaller like these thyme-baked chicken drumsticks.

But this recipe is wonderfully flexible and can sit happily alongside so much more.

Everything from fidget pie to roast partridge and even a perfectly cooked rump steak are great served with creamed leeks.

Equipment Used

I only mention brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Stovetop.
• 28cm or 11″ frying pan.
• 17cm or 7″ saucepan.
• Sieve or colander.
• Chopping board.
• Kitchen knife.
• Weighing scales and or measuring jug, cups and spoons.
• Stirring and serving spoons.