Cream of celery soup is super easy to make, delicious and the perfect way to use up a leftover head of celery. Cooking transforms the flavour of celery – this will win over the celery haters!
Cream of celery soup recipe
Cream of celery soup is a rich, fully flavoured soup that’s both smooth and delicious. Adding cream, leeks and potato to this recipe results in a luxurious celery soup, with complex flavours and a creamy texture.
See also
- Braised celery, a light and delicious side vegetable dish
- My celery soup, made without cream, is a lighter alternative
- Celery and lentil soup is a delicious “rib sticking” alternative!
- For gadget fans, soup maker celery soup is blissfully easy to make
I am not a fan of raw celery, finding it to be too bitter; it triggers too many memories of bad salads at school for me to change my mind!
Cooked celery is a completely different matter, however. Once cooked, the flavour and fibrous texture of raw celery disappears, leaving a meltingly soft vegetable full of complex, subtle flavours.
These days, I could easily make enough braised celery for two and eat the whole lot, and the same goes for this fabulous cream of celery soup recipe, which is very, very good indeed, healthy comfort food!.
Celery provides the bulk of the ingredients. Adding potato to the mix adds body and even more creaminess, and a leek is a further layer of flavour. For ease use around 3:2:1 weights of celery to potato to leek.
Because vegetables do not come in standard sizes I’ll show you the no waste or leftover method to get perfectly textured soup every time!
Why make cream of celery soup
- It’s a super easy recipe with minimal everyday ingredients
- satisfying but relatively low in calories
- Perfect for bulk cooking as it can be frozen
- Packed with complex flavours that even the raw celery haters may well love.
- Pick the right stock cube and this recipe is UPF free!
Cream of celery soup ingredients
- Celery – a good head of celery, if you can find one with some leaves they make a good garnish
- Potato – to thicken, giving a creamy texture. Use one or two small potatoes, about two thirds the weight of the celery.
- Leek – a small trimmed leek. About a third of the weight of the celery.
Helen’s tip
I use a ratio of 3:2:1 by weight of celery, potato and leek. But don’t worry too much about absolute precision here.
- Garlic – a couple of fat cloves
- Onion – a regular small brown onion, or a few shallots would also work well here.
- Olive oil & butter – for sautéing the vegetables, I find a mix gives a more rounded flavour and means the butter is less likely to burn.
- Stock – vegetable or chicken – you can use a cube or stock pot
- Celery salt – celery salt is salt mixed with ground celery seed. It is my secret ingredient to give an extra burst of flavour to the soup, though if you can’t find any, you can just add a little salt.
- Double / heavy cream
How to make cream of celery soup – step by step
Before you start, read my step-by-step instructions, with photos, hints and tips so you can make this cream of celery soup recipe perfectly every time.
Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.
Step One – Prepare the ingredients – as this is a blended soup so you do not need to be too accurate about chopping.
Celery – trim, removing any thick fibres, then cut into 5 cm / 2″ lengths. Chop up the root end, it is packed with flavour. Reserve some of the leaves for garnish.
Helen’s Pro Tip
If the celery is older, with more strings, then de-string before chopping. Younger celery can simply be chopped. Even short pieces of tough string can wind themselves round the blades of a blender as they blend.
Potato – dice – as long as the skins are thin and in good condition, you do not need to peel.
Leek – trim the tough outer leaves, cut in half lengthwise and then slice. If it is muddy or sandy it will need a good rinse. I usually give it a quick spin in the salad spinner to dry it off.
Onion – Peel and dice
Garlic – Peel and chop
Step Two – Heat the butter and oil (I find tis gives a better flavour than just using either one) in a medium saucepan or pot with a well fitting lid.
Sauté the leeks and onion, over a medium heat, stirring all the time, until they are fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Step Three – add the celery, potato and garlic and saute for another few minutes.
Step Four – Now add the stock cube (no need to dissolve it, just throw it in) and celery salt, and top up with water so that the vegetables are not quite covered. This will be about 2 1/2 cups of water, or 600ml. Put the lid on and simmer on the lowest heat for 15–20 minutes.
Helen Pro Tip
When making soup always add less liquid than you think you will need. It’s always easier to add some more at the end of cooking to thin a soup that is too thick than to try and thicken one that too watery.
Step Five – Check to see that the potato is cooked through. It should be soft and fall apart when poked with a knife.
Step Six – Remove from the heat and blend until smooth and velvety. By far the best way to do this is with a simple stick blender.
Step Seven – Finally, swirl through the cream, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Helen’s Fuss Free Tip
A cheap stick/immersion blender is the simplest and best way to blend soup. I have had mine for years.
If you do use a jug blender with hot soup, never use the central bung. As you blend, it will generate steam which can blow the lid off and send scalding soup everywhere.
Instead, cover with a folded piece of kitchen paper, then a tea towel over the top. Lift from time to time between each blend to allow the steam to escape.
Serving suggestion
This soup is delicious served straight away, garnished with some celery leaves and a chunk of rustic homemade bread or savoury cheese scones
This celery soup is quite light in colour and a garnish of fresh celery leaves or herbs lifts the way it looks.
Variations
- Swirl with a little more cream or a dollop of yoghurt
- Crumble a little Stilton or other blue cheese on top when you’re ready to
- Experiment with your favourite herbs, such as thyme or lovage.
- Add a generous handful of baby spinach before blending.
- Add a pinch of chilli
- Thicken your soup by making a “slurry” with two teaspoons of cornflour and two teaspoons of water, mix to make a paste and then add to the soup for the last few minutes of cooking at step 5. Read more in my ultimate guide on how to thicken with cornflour.
Storage
This cream of celery soup recipe will serve four as a meal with some hearty bread, or six as a starter. I’m normally cooking for two, but prefer to batch cook soups to save time and washing up.
Fridge – Once the soup is cool, cover and store in the fridge, where it will keep for up to three days. Reheat in a pan on the stove or in the microwave.
Freezer – Allow to cool to room temperature. Transfer the soup to airtight containers and freeze for up to three months.
Reheating – Defrost your soup in the fridge overnight, or on the kitchen counter for a few hours. Reheat in a pan on the stove top, or in the microwave in a microwave safe container. When using the microwave, I like to use a Pyrex-style jug as you can easily lift it out one handed and pour the soup.
Hints and tips
- There’s no need to chop vegetables too carefully when making a blended soup, but it does help to cut the celery quite small. Otherwise longer fibrous strands can survive in the soup and then get caught around the blender.
- If you are blending this soup in a jug blender, then don’t use the central bung in the lid. Cover the hole with a piece of kitchen paper, and hold that down with a clean tea towel/dishcloth. If you blend hot soup with the lid sealed, it will explode and cover your kitchen with scalding soup.
- If you are making this soup to freeze then use about half of the liquid to make a soup concentrate. Add the cream and extra liquid when reheating to serve.
FAQs
Lovage will intensify the celery flavours, while thyme brings an earthy balancing note. You could also try cool, fresh dill with it’s hint of aniseed
Celery salt is salt flavoured with ground celery seed. It is used as a flavouring but also sometimes as a food preservative, as celery is a natural source of sodium nitrate. It’s one of my secret ingredients in many recipes.
More Soup Recipes
- Gloriously golden and lightly spiced, my delicious sweet potato and carrot soup
- Broccoli soup is creamy smooth and deliciously flavoured and can be made with either fresh or frozen broccoli.
- All my soup recipes for further inspiration
Cream of Celery Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 300 g celery (1)
- 200 g potato (2)
- 100 g leek (3)
- 1 small onion (about 60g)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 stock cube / pot (vegetable or chicken by preference )
- water (see instructions)
- 1 tsp celery salt
- 4 tbsp double / heavy cream
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetablesCelery – trim, removing any thick fibres, then cut into 5 cm / 2 inch lengths. Chop up the root end, it is packed with flavour. Reserve some of the leaves for garnish.Potato – dice – as long as the skins are thin and in good condition, you do not need to peel.Leek – trim the tough outer leaves, cut in half lengthwise and then slice. If it is muddy or sandy it will need a good rinse. I usually give it a quick spin in the salad spinner to dry it off.Onion – Peel and diceGarlic – Peel and chop300 g celery, 200 g potato, 100 g leek, 2 cloves garlic, 1 small onion
- Heat the butter and oil in a medium saucepan or pot with a well fitting lid and sauté the leeks and onion, over a medium heat, stirring all the time, until they are fragrant, about 5 minutes.1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp butter
- Add the celery, potato and garlic and saute for another few minutes.
- Now add the stock cube (no need to dissolve it, just throw it in) and celery salt, and top up with water so that the vegetables are not quite covered. This will be about 2 1/2 cups (about 600ml) of water. Put the lid on and simmer on the lowest heat for 15–20 minutes.1 stock cube / pot, 1 tsp celery salt
- Check to see that the potato is cooked through. It should be soft and yielding when poked with a knife.
- Remove from the heat and blend until smooth and velvety. By far the best way to do this is with a simple stick blender.
- Finally, swirl through the cream, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.Serve garnished with celery leaves
Notes
- Celery – 1 small head – if you remove about 4 sticks from a regular celery head it is about the right amount. I use celery all the time as an ingredient so it gets used. Otherwise use it all and add a bit more of everything else.
- Potato – a smallish potato that will fit comfortably in the palm of your hand. Adding more potato without scaling up the other ingredients can result in a thick gloopy soup, so don’t be tempted to add a massive spud here.
- Leek – 1 small trimmed leek – I removed most of the green to keep the soup a pale colour, but it doesn’t matter that much, a larger leek will just make the soup taste more strongly of leek.
- If you do not have celery salt just add a pinch of salt in its place.
- If you are making a batch for the freezer, use 500 ml stock for a slightly more concentrated soup that takes up less space. You can thin it and add the cream when you come reheat it.
- Do be careful when blending soup and don’t use a jug blender with the bung in place!
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