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
It came out delicious. I replaced potatoes with sweet potatoes. Also, after adding little cashew paste, i added few cashew crumbles, which were a Surprise feast for tongue
Oh, yum! The fried celery tops and a pinch of Welsh salt really made this a delicious soup. It was popular and they asked that I make it, again!
Delicious. Not too, rich or thick. All I changed was using chili powder and adding about 1/8 of dill. In replacement of the dairy (cream) I added 3/4 C whole milk and 3 Tsp. Butter. Than you for the recipe. So many times I have had left over celery (and parsley)! A little bit of thinking outside the box and voila!
Nice Work! Thanks!
just made this at the cabin… so delish! amazing comfort food and easy to prepare. thank you!
Glad you liked it Mizu!
At 1/4 tsp I find the cayenne overpowering. I’d rather taste the celery more. I’ll use 1/8 next time. Or substitute with paprika. Also, you don’t mention to remove the bay leaf before blending! Most people will know to do so, but some may not.
thanks I adjusted the recipe.
O.M.G. I just made it again (I love celery). This time I used 1/8 tsp of cayenne, threw in the 1/2 cup of cashews, and used dried parsley and dill. It’s SO delicious!! Thank you!!
Glad you enjoyed.
I am going to make this soup today
Would send you feedback
tomorrow@)
Perfect!
Excellent!
All the family loved it!
I made this soup because I had so much celery on hand before thanksgiving & have been asked to make it again for Christmas Eve dinner.. Typically I browse several recipes to get ideas & inspiration. I having been making soups in the winter months for years & they are usually in the moment combos according to ingredients on hand – I live in a communal household ( I am Vagner but not my roommates) my roommates raved about the celery soup, I used the cashews & at the last minute also added chestnuts to the mix. Those who ate it asked for the recipe, a big hit
Great to hear Esther! happy you all liked it.
Your photography is gorgeous! And Canadians use Imperial measurements too:) They use both often, but Imperial are sometimes easier.
Got it Lisa- Thanks!
Seriously, the rest of the world is digital (i.e. counts in TENS or multiples thereof).
It means any calculations are almost instant, constant, use accurately measurable amounts and are convenient for all.
However, measuring in fractions of a cup, fluid ounces or quarts (and even these are different to old-world Imperial measurement) looks both silly and outdated to anyone outside America.
Please, include METRIC measurements in you lovely tasty recipes and a lot more of us will be trying them…promise!
Hi Nigella, I’m so sorry there are not Metric measurements…actually working on this, but it’s not as simple as it seems.
I’m not a celery fan, but I had a bunch that was wilting in my fridge so I decided to give this recipe a try. I was really pleasantly surprised! I used cashews instead of sour cream (as noted in the recipe) plus a squeeze if lemon, and it was delicious. Even my “soup is not a meal” husband enjoyed his dinner. Thanks for this one!
Thanks and I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Well presented easy to understand very homely and useful. Some new ideas some new ingredients. Some new ideas some new ingredients
Thanks Billy! Kind of a fun one. 🙂
This was surprisingly good. I had vegetable broth from previous CSAs and an abundance of celery. It was flavorful before adding the sour cream. Easy and delicious. Get a crusty bread and dig in.
So happy you liked it!
Nice recipe! However you should now that when I tried to print this using the “print” button, the social media sidebar stays on top of the recipe, covering on the measurements and part of the instructions.
It might be just me, but you might want to check just to be sure.
Hi Thanks Martin, just fixed it. Sorry about that.
Delicious!!
It’s delicious!!!!
I tried this recipe hoping my kids would like it…..they loved it and it was with ingredients I already had. Thank you so much for a “keeper “ recipe.
So Glad you liked it!
Looks great! I’m going to try it vegan-style today. However, the vid is for Aguchile 😉
I’d really like to make, but fresh dill is a terrible price right now. Have you tried with the dried dill herb by chance?
I have not… but you might loose the lovely green color with dried dill. What about Italian parsley?
One of the best soups my wife and I have ever had! We went for the cashew version! Excellent!
Awesome! great to hear vegan version. turned out!
vERY GOOD! i also add any other veg’s I happen to have around (to use up) carrot, cabbage, zucchini, peppers. I have also added leftover chicken if I want meat, or better yet I’ve added sausage balls, made by using loose sausage and a melon baller. Drop into soup while heating (I don’t add milk/cream till I’m about to serve). Yum Yum Yum.
Use organic celery. this way you cut out the 80 or more pesticides they put on celery. The recipe is just great.
Thanks, i agree!!!
Absolutely delicious! Just made this soup on a wet October day. It warmed the cockles off my heart. What more can I say except that I loved it.
Where is the simple???
Wow!! I never leave comments on recipes, much less anything, but this was phenomenal!!
I had lots of celery so I doubled the recipe and omitted the extra water following the broth as my pot wouldn’t fit it all, I didn’t have dill on me but added a whole head of parsley along with two handfuls of spinach and the juice of half a lemon once I turned off the heat . I used red potatoes from the farmer’s market, carelessly peeled. The crispy celery leaves are a great touch, very cool, never came across something like that before. And the zing is soo on point for someone who loves spice..
I only hope I can replicate this the next time I make it, it makes top of the list for one of the best soups I’ve ever had. This is my first time finding your blog and I will definitely be returning.. Thank you for putting your gifts out there for all to enjoy! Namaste
Awwww…. thanks, Candice. Super sweet. xoxo
Deep apologies!
When I typed out my last one your reply was not on the website.
I’m now delighted to have your endorsement for freezing!