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
Print
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
delicious healthy vegan soup, very easy to follow instructions.
The best soup ever. Simple and delicious. My husband is not a vegan but he loves it as well. After that recipe I started to fallow Sylvia. So grateful for her.
Thanks so much!
Good veggie soup. As an alernative I added bacon bits or a small red chilli. Beautiful with crusty bread. Through a carrot in too, all healthy and wholesome.
I added broccoli to mine and used sour cream and spinach as suggested. The color is a beautiful bright green, so the men in my house are scared to try it. What they don’t know is that it’s absolutely delicious, so I’m okay that there’s more for me :).
Perfect Lorraine!
I have made it I made a few adjustments of my own. I used a little coconut milk and sprinkled chia seeds.
Perfect Lisa thanks!
I was looking for a celery soup recipe and came upon this one and your wonderful blog – not only was this delicious but your spiritual quote could have been written for me at this time! I am looking forward to being a subscriber to your lovely blog – thank you.
Thanks Jill, glad you enjoyed this! 🙌 Glad the quote struck a note for you.
I used cashews for creaminess and added some dill and coconut milk at the end. Served it with a drizzle of black truffle oil and toasted hemp seeds on top. This may be the most luxurious soup I have ever eaten. And it was so incredibly easy to put together. I’m making it again tonight. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed this!
Great tasting soup. I typically use a few celery stalks and end up wasting the rest – Not anymore! Also, this soup freezes and re-heats perfectly. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Thank you for this comment. I was looking to see if anyone had tried freezing.
We (2) have been working our way thru our first batch this week, and it is so delicious! I prechopped all the veggies, because I’m slow and methodical when working with knives and feared my onions would burn from neglect. I also had to take a long pause (overnight) before blending, which is actually a bit of a blessing– since now i blend 2-3 cups at a time with several spoonfuls of plain yogurt, which is much more manageable then doing the entire amount at once would have been. The disadvantage is there’s less free liquid as time goes on, but it hasn’t proven problematic yet, and i think i could safely add water, milk, or broth if necessary. Today, from laziness, i discovered it’s as nice cold as warm, too 🙂 This is a great way to use up all those celery bunches in our garden, too. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Do you think this could be modified for the instant pot? Any tips?
Probably but I would be guessing here.;) I can’t imagine it would take more than 5 minutes of pressure cooking time.
It looks very interesting will dif try it
Striking colour of the nail polish sets off the colour of the soup so beautifully.
This is really nice soup! I actually hate celery but this soup is beautiful. Thank you for the recipe
Yum – just how tasty and popular is this divine soup – I am so happy to buy a whole big bunch of celery from the farmers market so we can have extra to whip up a batch for delicious lunches – Last night when I made it, I used a whole celeriac with all its leaves (as I had no potatoes on hand) – & it was just as lovely as the potato based one —-the cayenne, crispy celery leaves and nigella seeds are soooo good – it freezes (with no dairy) & reheats well (we only add dairy – usually a goat product for dietary reasons – when heating to serve). It’s such a lovely winter warmer in this house. Thank you. 🙏
PS – this delicious soup does have a wee bit of a close competitor though with your Creamy Celeriac Soup with Fennel (that is also another one to definitely swoon over 😋)
Hi Sylvia,
I just found your celery soup recipe and intend making it with my first celery head of the season. It looks delicious. May I please ask if you use the leaves as well as the stalks in the soup (not just the garnish)?
Kind regards,
Kaye
Hi Kaye, yes I do add the leaves to the soup too. 🙂
Absolutely wonderful! My husband used dry dill and dry/granulated garlic, and it was still AWESOME!
Thanks!
I snuck some kale into the pot added a can of white beans. Half the amount of potato.
It is delicious cold with a dollop
Of yogurt
Perfect, glad you like it!
This recipe is delicious and I plan to make it again and again! I didn’t have fresh dill so used 2 teaspoons of dry dill instead and I also added more fresh parsley (3/4 cup) to compensate and add to the color, used 6oz sour cream and it was amazing!
Thank you for sharing!
Yay Izzy! Glad you liked it! 🙌
I made this because I had some wilting celery in the fridge that needed using. I totally didn’t expect celery soup to be very exciting, but it was delicious! The cayenne is a really nice touch.
Awesome great to hear! 🙌
Great flavor and creamy texture. I served it at a luncheon for my daughter and we both loved it.
Perfect!Glad it worked for you! 🙌
This is the second time I have made this soup this week. The weather is cold. First time I made it to the recipe which my family liked. Had great delight telling my daughter “no I did not add any milk product” I don’t think she believed me 😂. Today I added leek as well and Hubby are it all for lunch. Thank you for your great recipe.
Hahaha, love it! Thanks for sharing. 😉
Hi Sylvia…..I will make this soup, probably this afternoon; it sounds delicious! Is this celery soup to be served warm? Or chilled? Thanks! I am making for a friend who requested a cold celery soup.
I usually serve warm. But I suppose it could work cold?
I’ve made it and eaten it chilled during these hot summer days. It’s delicious! I make this recipe almost every week now!
Very nice and excellent on its own. I decided to change gears and added some curry powder to it. For some reason I just felt all the flavors would line up and they did wonderfully. Make the soup as is and, when reheating, add a couple dashes of good curry powder to change it up for some different flavors. The sweetness becomes more pronounced with the spices.
Great recipe, life story adds nothing to it
Use the Jump to recipe Button at the top of the post. Save your sanity. 🙂 xoxo
Neither do rude comments!
Seriously
This was so good, mellow and subtle and comforting and delicious. The toasted celery leaves and toasted caraway seeds were super easy and added a lot! Sliced the celery on a mandolin and used Forager dairy free sour cream, blended it in the Vita Mix and it was silky and dreamy. Even better the next day.
Perfect! glad you liked it! 🙌
So… I know I was warned but I didn’t take the time to peel or finely chop the celery and ended up with lots of fibrous pieces in my soup. I’m going to try straining it when it cools a little. I also didn’t have veggie or chicken stock so I just used water and added some dried parsley before blending.
Overall loved this recipe and next time I’ll take the time to actually follow it! 🙂
Where does it say to peel the celery? Thinking of making this tonight since I have two big heads of celery I need to use up, but I just see that it says to slice the celery thinly. What am I missing?
I don’t peel. 🙂 Some people have, to remove the strings. If you slice thinly it will break up the strings. Up to you. 😉