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A healing bowl of Celery Soup – comforting, affordable, and flavorful, that can be made in 35 minutes. Healthy, delicious and vegan adaptable- watch the 35-second Video!
Love soup? Take a peek at 25 Cozy Vegetarian Soup Recipes!
When we come to a great barrier, when we find a place inside us we do not know how to navigate, when we are in a painful experience that we cannot avoid, we need to sit right down there–at the root of that experience, at the root of the tree of life- and be still. ~Adyashanti
This recipe for Simple Celery Soup is creamy and luscious ohhhhh so comforting! If you’ve been here a while, you’ll know how much I love to take simple, ordinary ingredients and try to elevate them. It’s something I learned from my very frugal, immigrant parents who would often host the most delicious dinners while using the humblest, most cost-saving ingredients.
This Celery Soup could be the start of a grand meal. It could also be a wholesome homemade supper, simply served with crusty bread. What I love most about this is, how adaptable it is. It is really easy to make this vegan. For more plant-based soup inspiration, take a peek at our 25 Cozy Vegetarian Soup Recipes!
Watch how to make Simple Celery Soup!
Oftentimes I’ll skip the dairy completely and make this with cashews, cooked right in the soup.
Sometimes I’ll make it with sour cream, giving it a delicious tanginess and extra richness.
Traditionally, it’s made with butter and heavy cream, which is totally fine too. Up to you!
Do what feels best.
Here I’ve topped the soup with crispy celery leaves and toasted nigella seeds and some hemp seeds, but really, you can top it any way you like.
Croutons are always a nice option, as well as my new favorite, halloumi croutons, or millet croutons if going grain-free.
The crispy celery leaves are a beautiful touch and are really simple to make too.
Nigella Seeds are often used in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking and offer up a pungent, oniony-peppery, herbal flavor, that is especially nice when toasted in a little oil. Sometimes they are called black cumin or black caraway seeds.
They are not imperative to the recipe, but if you have Nigella seeds, try them out-they will elevate!
And if you are curious about the health benefits of celery – they are numerous!
Seriously, just google it!
Celery fights inflammation, lowers cholesterol, lowers blood pressure and is super high in antioxidants, just to name a few.
Health benefits aside, I personally just really loooooooove the flavor. I am one of those people who fill celery stalks with almond butter and sprinkle them with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. A tasty snack!
As common as celery is, it truly is a flavor enhancer.
So for me, to have a bowlful of this Celery Soup with warm toasty bread ….. is beyond amazing!
I hope you like it too!
More recipes you may like:
- 25 Cozy Vegetarian Soup Recipes
- Potato Leek Soup
- Coconut Corn Chowder
- Homemade Tomato Soup
- North African Carrot Soup
- Creamy Celeriac Soup
- Parsnip Soup
- Simple Cabbage Soup
- Farmers Market Vegetable Soup
Have a lovely weekend!
xoxo
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Simple Celery Soup
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 7 cups 1x
- Category: Soup, vegan, Gluten free
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Northwest
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A healing bowl of Celery Soup- comforting, affordable and flavorful, that can be made in 35 minutes. Healthy, delicious and vegan adaptable!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, or butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 fat garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 6 cups celery, sliced thin (about 1 1/4-1 1/2 pounds) 1 extra-large head, save some leaves for garnish
- 2 cups potatoes, sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds ( about 3/4 lb – 1 extra-large russet peeled, or use a few yukons, unpeeled.
- 4 cups veggie or chicken broth ( or 4 cups water + 1 tablespoon “Better than Bouillon” Vegetable Base)
- 1 cup water
- 1 bay leaf (optional), remove it before blending
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, start conservatively, add more to taste or leave it out entirely.
Add:
- 1/4 cup fresh dill (small stems ok)
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley (small stems ok)
- Stir in: 1/2 cup (or more) of sour cream, plain yogurt, vegan sour cream, heavy cream or cashew cream. (see notes)
- Garnish: Crispy celery leaves, nigella seeds, hemp seeds (all optional, but delicious!)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a big pot over medium-high heat and add the onion, stirring occasionally, letting the onions get golden, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and stir 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
- Add the celery, potatoes, broth, water, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and cayenne. The liquid should just cover the veggies ( if not, add a little more water). Cover, bring to a rolling boil, turn heat down and simmer gently until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Turn heat off, remove bay leaf and add the fresh herbs and just wilt them (don’t cook herbs or you lose the vibrant color!)
- Using an immersion blender blend until very silky smooth – OR if using a regular blender, let cool before blending in smaller batches. ( If blending warm soup, fill blender no more than halfway full, cover tightly with a lid and kitchen towel, holding it down firmly, when you start the motor (on the lowest setting, working up gradually) to prevent a blender “explosion”).
- Blend well, a full minute, until herbs are fully blended, creating a vibrant colored soup. For extra “green” color, add a handful of raw baby spinach if you like, or more fresh parsley.
- Place it back in the same pot over low heat. Stir in your choice of sour cream, or any of the other options. Gently heat, careful to not over-simmer, or you may lose the lovely vibrant color.
- To make the crispy celery leaves, heat a generous amount of olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Wait until the oil is hot. Fry a “tester” celery leaf for 10-20 seconds on each side. Set on a paper towel. If it is crisp, continue on. Adding a few at a time, not overly crowding. If not crisp, fry them a little longer. You want about 3-5 leaves per serving bowl. In the same oil, you could fry the nigella seeds until you just begin to hear popping. Turn heat off. Arrange the crispy celery leaves in a crescent shape. Spoon a little of the nigella seeds along with a little oil in the same shape. Sprinkle with hemp seeds if you like.
Enjoy!
Notes
If using cashew cream, adding a little splash of lemon juice, enlivens the soup. Sour cream and yogurt have a natural tanginess, so you may not need it.
A quick way to make this vegan version ( with cashew cream), is toss the ½ cup of cashews into the simmering pot at the beginning with the celery and potatoes, letting them soften. Then just blend it all up!
Slicing the celery thinly will prevent fibers texture.
If freezing, best to freeze without the sour cream, as it may get granular- then add it later when reheating.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 cups made with ½ cup sour cream
- Calories: 183
- Sugar: 5.2 g
- Sodium: 478.2 mg
- Fat: 9.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 22.1 g
- Fiber: 4.8 g
- Protein: 4.5 g
- Cholesterol: 8.1 mg
Keywords: Celery soup, the best celery soup recipe, vegan celery soup, easy celery soup, healthy celery soup recipe, celery soup recipe
Lovely – especially with some lemon.
★★★★★
Thanks Elizabeth!
I have some sweet potatoes on hand I was wondering if I could use this instead of the potatoes?
Hi Danielle- you could but I think it would really change the flavor here? And the color?
★★★★★
I used frozen celery I had on hand. Dried dill. 1/4 teaspoon of celery seed as I had less than 6 cups with thawed celery. The color was dark I think from dried dill. Added 2 cups sweet peas for vibrant green color. Added Umami seasoning blend as it was a bit bland. My immersion blender left celery strings. Put it in my Vitamix blender. The soup was amazing!!
Thank you for thus healthy recipe.
★★★★★
Awesome Alfredia! Glad you made this work for you!
I received a whole bunch of celery from a friend’s garden. Stalks are small and it is mostly leaves. Can I use this recipe the same way using mostly leaves or should I be using stalks?
I think you’ll need mostly stalks. But feel free to try? You can dry the leaves and make really good celery salt though- a great gift! Just an idea!
First time Ive made or had celery soup. What a delicious surprise. Half recipe made two large bowls.
Great Andrew, so glad you gave it a go!
got a pot on the stove right now but may I make a comment please? You have written, bay leaf (optional, discard…). It looks questionably as though you mean that it is optional to discard. May be important to rewrite.
Hey Marg- thanks and I am not seeing that? In the recipe card? Bay leave optional- remove it before blending?
“1 bay leaf (optional, remove before blending)”
from the list of ingredients. I know many people who do not know that bay leaves should be removed. In this case it just seems that an interpretation could be that removing is optional.
Loved the soup. I put lots of dill in and it’s even better the next day. Thank you again.
★★★★★
Oh ok!!! I got it now. I’m so happy you like the soup. I’ll fix the wording. 😉
Just making it now. I’m in the U.K. I added spinach as it wasn’t very green!! Looking forward to eating it tonight,
★★★★★
Hi Lynda-thanks for trying it out! What did you think?
Absolutely delicious . I added spinach and didn’t liquidise it. I will tomorrow. It was quite spicy because of the cayenne.
Thanks Lynda!
I am OBSESSED with this celery soup. We accidentally bought way too much celery and then found this recipe. I ate the whole pot in one sitting. I can’t get enough of this soup. And I can’t believe how good celery can be. Every time my wife leaves on a trip she cooks me a big pot of celery soup to sustain me while she’s gone (somehow I just can’t make it quite as well as her). Every time we try another wonderful recipe from your blog, we say “well of course, it’s from celery soup lady.”
★★★★★
Ha! Funny, thanks, and glad you like the soup Daniel!
Used dried dill and good taste and felt a healthier option to lots of cream!
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed!
For those concerned by NITRATES it should be realised that CELERY has enough NITRATES to be used, when dried and powered, in CURING bacon, Some dishonest Bacon curers sold CELERY cured bacon as NITRATE FREE,Nitrates are Nitrates PERIOD. Whatever their source
I love this soup! I’ve made it many times because it’s easy & tasty & filling.The cashews add just enough creaminess.The addition of spinach and jalapeno are super add ons.
★★★★★
So glad you are enjoying Alice!
I L-O-V-E, love this recipe. The cayenne is a great unexpected touch. I’ve been adding garbanzo beans pre-blend to up the protein. Thank you for this recipe!
★★★★★
Nice Drew, that sounds good!
Good idea, We call ’em CHICK PEAS this side of the pond but any WHITE bean will do the trick, In fact I add white beans to most soups even TOMATO This was actually one of the Government recommendations during Wartime Rationing in the UK when the growing of protienaceous beans was a priority in the UK. All beans and PEAS are GOOD beans and peas.
Interesting! Thanks Albert, we agree- beans are good!
I like it, but I didn’t have a bay leaf or fresh parsley. What could I use to give it more flavor? I like it though!
★★★★★
The parsley really adds a lot of flavor here.
★★★★★
Excellent and wonderful when I have a whole bunch of celery and russet potatoes in my pantry but not much else. I used pistachios instead of cashews since we have some nut allergies. Worked well. Loved sautéing the celery leaves with olive oil and caraway (ok substitute). Everyone ate their serving.
★★★★★
Sounds good Judith!
I subbed 2 avocados for the potatoes since I’m watching my white carbs. Delicious. I make this soup often.
★★★★★
What a great idea!
yum
★★★★★
🙌🏼 😊