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
This is really good. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Sounds good! Do you think it would work well with Rosemary substituted for the dill??
I’m having a hard time picturing rosemary here. Also,The dill is a tender herb – so no cooking required, rosemary would need to be sauteed frist.
Delicious! I’m not surprised. Thank you for a lovely recipe and it was oh so easy!
Can you freeze this?
Yes, but best to freeze without the sourcream- just add it when reheating. 🙂
This is simply delicious!
Followed the recipe & made it vegan – didn’t use olive oil to cook onions just fried in water – added 1/2 cup raw cashews & 120 grams of baby spinach along with the other fresh herbs – amazing comfort food – definitely on the regular rotation list -really yum! Thanks so much for posting this recipe 🙂
Great to hear!
I used four teaspoons of the Better than Boullion Chicken base to make four cups of stock — it was the instructions on the jar. The recipe called for three. I should have used three instead, as my soup is a tad salty. It might even out with some almond milk, though.
Yes, it runs on the salty side! I always cut back with this.
Loved it! I really wondered if it would be too plain, but the celery had a real zing brought forward by the cayenne. I kept the dairy out to allow each of us to choose. Both were delicious.
This soup is SO GOOD!! I used bone broth to make it even more beneficial, Greek yogurt, and just 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne. This will go on my “make often” list. Thank you for sharing!
Perfect recipe! Soup is sooo delicious! Also my 3y son love it!
This recipe was so good! I only made it because I had a head of celery that had gone limp in the refrigerator and I didn’t want it to go to waste. I expected not to love the soup and for it to be bitter (like celery sometimes is), but it was so tasty and hearty! Perfect for a cool day. I will definitely be making this again.
This soup was really quite good. I’m not a huge fan of celery soup in general but had a ton of celery from our CSA. I’ll make this recipe again. I made it without cream or cashews and used vegetable broth for a vegan soup and it was great. I put 5 small potatoes in it as thickener and it turned out great.
I added Cauliflower instead of potatoes… totally delish.
OMG this soup is fantastic. I didn’t change a thing. I did combine chicken stock and veggie stock as I had a little of both leftover in the fridge. The last time I had celery soup it was from Campbells Soup and very nasty. I only made this due to all the great reviews. Don’t hesitate to try this.
I made this for lunch today and it was dill-icious! Lol. I will be making it again, for sure. Just the perfect thing for a cool rainy day and an abundance of celery. Thank you Sylvia!
I had a lot of celery to use up so I decided to try this recipe. I used olive oil in the beginning and I didn’t add any cream at the end. It was still delicious. Thank you.
This was easy and delicious! I made a double batch and enjoyed it as an entree w warm crusty bread. Left out the cream and didn’t miss it one bit. And I love cream!
Cut the recipe in half, went with thick cream, and didn’t use dill because I didn’t have any. It turned out delicious! Thank you!
This recipe was easy and absolutely delicious
I’m not a huge fan of celery, but loved this soup! Nice and light. I did add about 1/2 t cayenne, which gave it a little kick. Also added 1/2 c greek yogurt. Will be making this again!
Thanks Theresa!
Sylvia,
I want to make this recipe however I do not have dill or parsley on hand are there any substitutes? And for the fresh garlic could I use garlic powder and if so would the measurement change? I’m really excited to use up all this extra celery I received as a gift from a friends garden without it going to waste. I greatly appreciate any tips and advice.
Respectfully,
Amanda
Do you have any basil or any tender herbs? They really add a nice brightness to the soup.
This is delicious. I never bought or even liked celery until I tried this recipe. Now it’s a beloved staple. The cashew cream works like a dream, and we make it greener by adding two handful of fresh spinach for a few minutes before blending it. Thank you!
Delish!
I grew too much celery this year and chose this recipe. I am so glad I did as is very tasty, especially with the optional kick of cayenne. Froze some back ready for when the winter months are here. I am not a vegan but love my homegrown produce… now what to do with my funky courgettes.. thank you for the recipe.
Just wonderful- perfect