Scottish Tattie Soup (Potato Soup)

This potato broth is the warming type of soup I crave on blustery days, when the rain is hitting the windows. This soup is inexpensive to make and celebrates the natural sweetness of seasonal root vegetables.

Good food doesn't need to be complicated. So I like to serve this soup as it is, with a side of crusty bread, or some oatcakes, for a filling and nutritious meal.

Potato soup recipe ingredients

Find the full list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card below.

• Butter - I like to sauté the onion and leek in butter as it has great flavour, but you can use olive oil if you prefer.
• Potatoes - I always use a floury potato when making potato soup, Maris Piper, Rooster or King Edward are good choices (or russet potatoes if you are in the USA).
• Vegetables - I also like to add onion, leek, carrot and swede to this soup.
• Stock - I used chicken stock, but you could also make this soup with vegetable stock.
• Seasoning - I keep the seasoning simple, adding some sea salt and black pepper to taste.

How to make tattie soup

• Place a large soup pan over medium heat and add the butter. Once the butter has melted add the onion and leek and sauté gently for 5-10 minutes, while you get on with preparing the remaining vegetables.
• Add the vegetables and all of the stock to the soup pan, season with salt and pepper, give it a stir and bring to a boil. Then turn the heat down medium-low and simmer for 30-35 minutes until the vegetables have softened.

• At this stage you can leave the vegetables whole, or break them down a little using a potato masher. Try to leave some of the potato chunkier to give the soup a little more texture.
• Now check the soup for seasoning and add more salt or pepper if needed, before serving.

LESLEY'S TOP TIP: I like my soup with a bit of texture so try and leave at leave half of the potatoes chunky. I then use a potato masher to mash down all the carrot, swede and some of the potato.

Recipe variations

• Potato - always use a floury potatoes for this soup, as they have a higher starch content which will help thicken the soup naturally.
• Vegetables - this soup is traditionally make with potato, onion, leek, carrot and swede. However, as with most soup recipes you can add in other veggies if you wish.
• Fresh herbs - you can add some fresh herbs like parsley or time when making the soup.
• Stock - for ease I used store bought chicken stock in this recipe, you could also use vegetable stock. However, this soup would traditionally have been made with a piece of mutton or beef. If you can get your hands on beef bones, then add this to the pot. I've also used boiling beef to make this soup, and once cooked I remove it from the pan and shred the beef before adding it back into the soup.

Serving suggestions

This is a filling and hearty bowl of soup, perfect for lunch or a light dinner dish. Keep things simple and serve the soup with a side of crusty bread or toasted bread, or some oatcakes as I've done here.

Useful hints and tips

1. Check the soup for seasoning before serving, the right amount of salt and pepper makes a big difference to the taste of the finished dish.
2. Use a gluten free stock and this soup is suitable for coeliacs and gluten free diners.
3. For dairy free diners, swap the butter for olive oil.
4. For vegan diners swap the butter for olive oil and use a vegetable stock.
5. Allergy advice: gluten free, egg free, soya free and nut free. For comprehensive and detailed allergy advice go to Allergy UK.

FAQs

Pin the recipe

Additional recipe suggestions

If you like this recipe then try these great tasting broth based soup recipes:

• Scottish Yellow Split Pea Soup
• Mediterranean Fish Soup
• Spicy Tomato & Lentil Soup
• Leek & Potato Soup (no cream)
• Leek, Potato & Chickpea Soup
• Curried Chickpea & Vegetable Soup

For some great hints and tips on how to make a great bowl of soup, have a read of my 20 Simple Soup Recipes post. This features some delicious soup recipes for you to try!