How to Clean Leeks (A Step-by-Step Guide)

Name: How to Clean Leeks
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: Fresh leeks

In This Recipe

Leeks Are Dirty
2 Ways to Clean
Prepping Leeks for Soup
Cleaning Whole Leeks

Consider the leek.

It's majestic, a titan in the onion family.

Mostly just the white and light green parts are eaten, though the darker green parts have plenty of flavor and can either be cooked longer to tenderize them, or used when making homemade soup stock.

Leeks Are Dirty

The challenge when cooking with leeks is that they are almost always dirty. When leeks are grown, soil is piled up around them, so that more of the leek is hidden from the sun, and therefore lighter in color and more tender.

What produces a beautiful leek, a long pale body, also results in sand and dirt being lodged deep inside the leek.

Two Ways to Clean Leeks

There are basically two ways to clean leeks, the method you use depends upon how you are going to use the leeks in cooking. The easiest way is to prepare them chopped for use in soup.

A little more challenging is preparing a leek for use in a recipe that requires whole leeks. Both methods are detailed here.

Have Leeks? Here Are Some Great Recipes to Use Them With:

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Watch How to Clean Leeks

How to Clean Leeks

Prep Time 10 mins

Total Time 10 mins

Servings 2 to 12 servings

Yield 1 to 6 cleaned leeks

Choose leeks that are about an inch thick, and have a long white to pale green shaft. The pale parts are the most useable.

Fresh leeks

Rinse the leeks

Rinse:

Before getting started with either method, rinse the leeks under water to remove visible dirt or sand.

Elise Bauer

Elise Bauer

Preparing leeks for soup

Remove the roots and slice:

Cut off the roots of the leeks. Slice the leeks lengthwise.

Elise Bauer
Make crosswise cuts:

Decide how much of the leek greens you want to use. They are tougher and can be stronger tasting, but soften with long cooking.

The last couple of inches of the dark green ends should probably be discarded or saved for making stock. (I put mine in a plastic bag and drop it in the freezer.)

Make crosswise cuts along the parts of the leek that you intend to use.

Elise Bauer
Rinse in a bowl of cold water:

Place the chopped leeks into a bowl and fill with cold water. (If the leeks are especially dirty, rinse them first in a colander, before covering with water.) Use your hands to agitate the leeks and dislodge any dirt or sand that may be clinging to them.

Elise Bauer

Elise Bauer

Scoop the leeks out of the water with a sieve or slotted spoon and place in a new bowl.

Cleaning and prepping whole leeks

Cut from opening to ends of greens:

Place leek on a cutting board. Insert the tip of a sharp knife about a 1/4-inch below the lowest opening in the leek.

Cut straight through, up to and through the green ends of the leek, leaving the pale part of the leek whole.

Elise Bauer

Elise Bauer
Rinse:

Fan open the leek and place under cold running water. Rinse out any dirt or sand. If the leek is especially dirty, you may want to make another similar cut through the leek to further be able to fan the leek open.

Elise Bauer
Cut off dark green tops:

Cut off the dark green tops of the leek, reserving on the body of the leek as much of the dark green as you want. We like the taste (it's basically just a big onion green), so we typically keep about 2 to 3 inches or so of the dark green part with the body of the leeks.

Elise Bauer

Discard the dark greens or save them to flavor soups or stews, or use for making stock.
Cut of the root end of the leeks:

Stay as close to the roots as possible. Cutting close to the roots will hold the leeks together when cooking them whole.

Elise Bauer

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
6	Calories
0g	Fat
2g	Carbs
0g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2 to 12
Amount per serving
Calories	6
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g	0%
Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 2mg	0%
Total Carbohydrate 2g	1%
Dietary Fiber 0g	1%
Total Sugars 0g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 1mg	4%
Calcium 6mg	0%
Iron 0mg	1%
Potassium 18mg	0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.