Never cooked with leeks before? They may look unfamiliar, but once you know how to prep them, leeks are an easy and delicious real food ingredient to add to your kitchen rotation. In this quick tip, Krista shows you exactly how to cut and clean them — including the key trick for removing dirt hiding between the layers.
What You’ll Need
- A chef’s knife
- A fine mesh colander for washing
What Part of the Leek Do You Use?
Use the white and light green parts only — trim off the dark green tops and discard them. The dark green section is fibrous and tough.
How to Clean a Leek
Dirt loves to hide in leek layers! Here’s how to clean them:
- Slice your leek first (rings or half-moons)
- Place all the slices into a fine mesh colander
- Rinse under running water, tossing gently
- The dirt falls right through — your leeks are ready to cook!
Can You Substitute Leeks for Onions?
Yes! Leeks have a milder, slightly sweeter flavor than white onions, and are very similar to green onions (scallions). Use them interchangeably in soups, stir-fries, and sautéed dishes.
Video Transcript
“So, this is a leek. We used to not know what this was, but leeks are very similar to green onions. So here’s some green onions, or if you want to call them scallions. Now, these are farmers market green onions, which is why they’re a little bit bigger, but very similar to a leek. So when it comes to a leek, you can interchange a leek with green onions or just white onions. You’re going to use from about this part — I always trim that stem off to about right here where the light green starts to become dark green. And so this part I would discard. When it comes to leeks, sometimes dirt can get stuck in the layers. So if that’s the case, slice it up just like you would a green onion. Then put all those slices in a fine mesh colander and rinse it out. That’ll help get the dirt out of all those layers. So there you go.”