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: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- 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 probiotic sour cream, 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
If I left out the cream or yoghurt could I freeze the soup for later use?
I think that would work fine. I haven’t tried it personally- but this makes sense! Then when you heat up just add a little sour cream.
Added a little extra cayenne and arugula as well as baby spinach. So delicious! Will be using this recipe again!
Awesome- arugula sounds good!
Have just made this and it is absolutely delicious, so much so that I just had to have a second helping!! Recipe is really easy but your instructions made it even easier, so quick to prepare and cook.
Thank you very much, this will definitely be one my favourites for the coming winter nights when I want something wholesome, healthy and filling that doesn’t involve much work on my part!
Delicious soup with a creamy texture! I used ingredients that I already had, including a large Vidalia onion, little creamer potatoes, dried dill, pink Himalayan salt, and because I didn’t have any parsley, I decided to add a 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and a 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric, which was just enough spice to add a savory complexity to the flavor. I wanted to share the soup with my vegan family members, so I left out the dairy. Next time I’ll add cashews and lemon juice. Thank you for a great, simple recipe!
For a simple soup you have presented a plathora of options and suggestions. It does not get any better. It was fun to just read about and then to make. And very soothing to enjoy. My wife, children, and grand child will be home this comming sunday night, and what better (after a long evening flight), than a warm and comforting, smooth, and tasty soup. Thank you Sylvia.
Thanks so happy you enjoyed it!
Made in my soup maker so had to cook onion and garlic separately before adding plus a little more paprika. Absolutely delicious.
Yummy soup, thank you!!!
Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s sooo delicious that I feel like I just upped my culinary game 🙂 slight revisions to method but all the same. I tried to grow celery this year and unfortunately they ended up hollow and bitter, so thought I’d give this a try. Due to their toughness I prepared in the IP, following the same directions. Once all ingredients were in, I put it to high pressure for 15min and QR. Added herbs and omitted sour cream (used as a dollop when serving). I chose to use Yukon gold potatoes. I blended mine up in the vitamix and it was so creamy. When I served it, I added a dollop of sour cream, a pinch of salad mix sprouts and a couple shakes of everything bagel seasoning. Divine! I can’t wait to try the leftovers cold too (summer time here).
Can this be served cold?
I’m not sure how it would taste? I guess you could try it and if not good, heat it up? 😉
So delicious and simple…I love when fresh beautiful ingredients can really shine! I had tons of huge celery leaves from my garden, along with lots of fresh herbs (parsley, tarragon, dill, chives, oregano, basil and thyme). Served with a squeeze of fresh lemon, hot sauce and fresh ground pepper and sea salt…soooo good!!!
Lovely and so full,of goodness. Even my grandsons loved it and ask me to make it when they visit.
Just made this and it is fantastic!
Couple things I did:
Used Basil instead of parsley.
Tossed is a small amount of fennel.
Waited until the very end to add the celery. This gave it a nice fresh flavor, unlike soups that simmer for hours. In fact, it was almost as good cold as hot!
My family was asking when we can have it again before they were done eating it!
Two enthusiastic thumbs up Sylvia!
So glad you liked it!
This is definitely a keeper – a VERY special and unusual blend of flavours.
Not quite sure why Rick decided to use basil and fennel, and what he means by having added the celery only at the end?
I’m not going to mess with this recipe – it’s absolutely perfect just as it is. I’m just deciding whether I’ll add creme fraiche, yoghurt, cream, or perhaps just milk, as I often do with other soups. We usually have to avoid cream because of a cholesterol issue with one person, so I may just decide to use full cream milk and add a dollop of creme fraiche to my serving.
easy to make and the dill made it
Yes! Love it and thanks!
Wow! This soup is outstanding and is definitely going to be part of our regular rotation. I added two sweet potatoes and some shredded carrots I had on hand. I taste tested before adding the Greek yogurt and found that it’s absolutely delicious as is. MY FAMILY THANKS YOU!!!
Awwww, thanks!!! So happy everyone liked it. 🙂
Needed a green soup for Easter Brunch.
On a whim, I googled “celery soup”, picked yours out immediately and looked no further!
Fantastic recipe & presentation.
Thank you.
Perfect thanks and glad you liked it!
Another delicious recipe! I was short on time at the end so just toasted some Pepitas for the top instead of using the celery leaves. Fabulous flavor – the cayenne added a nice kick. We used sour cream. Family enjoyed, too, so I will make again. Thank you Sylvia!
Found it too fibrous but loved the overall flavors . Will peel the strings off the celery next time, peel the potatoes and maybe add some thin sliced bacon as a garnish. Definitly will make again.
Interesting, I didn’t have that problem. Removing the strings is easy enough though. I wonder… did you slice the celery thinly? Did you cook until tender?
Slicing the celery nice and thin will eliminate the “fibrous” issue. The original recipe says to “rough chop” but if you do that with celery it can definitely come out fibrous.
Yes,this correct. I’ve updated the recipe- thanks Rick!
I floored your recipe, and it came out perfect, I think I am ready for a contest.
Thanks,
Haha- Love it!!!! Thanks for sharing Allen!
Hi! You used celery stalks not the roth right? 😉
Not sure what you mean?
As I am not a huge fan of celery, my expectation was that this would be good for me but I might not love it. I LOVE it. This soup is delicious, filling, and fun to make. Thank you for the new fondess for celery!
Im so glad you enjoyed it! One of my favorites!
So intensely good!! The flavor is scrumptious and I think I ooohed and awed with each bite! Even my 8 year old loved it! Seriously the easiest and best soup I’ve had in a very long time and the first time I’ve cared to comment on a recipe. This will be kept in my favorites folder! Thank you for sharing.
I so glad you and your 8 yr old love it! Good to hear!
Delicious! Now I have a go-to when I have extra celery that needs to be used up. Even the non-celery lovers in my family liked this soup.
So great to hear! Awesome!
I had just bought celery at the market that froze overnight, in the wrong part of the fridge, anyway I didn’t want to waste the entire bunch so I made this celery soup. I tweeked it a bit by adding carrots, diced potatoes & mushrooms. i also left it chunky, I didn’t blend it all up. Most tasty & filling!!
This looks amazing and I love the idea of elevating the basics to be standout stars! I seem to be on a perpetual cycle of buying celery, forgetting about it, and then discovering it all wilty and rotten in the crisper a month or so later…must stop doing this! Will definitely try this one out:)
p.s. love the quote about making bad habits impractical–soooo bang on.
Surprising filling and delicious for a simple soup!!
Fabulous recipe!!
We used the cashews and parsley not the sour cream.
My husband loved it as well. I used the 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper so it had a good kick!
Everything was fresh from the garden ?
What a lovely soup!! I added fresh tarragon, basil and oregano as I didn’t have any thyme or parsley. It turned out delicious!!