This tasty celery and lentil soup is rich, hearty and filling. Use whatever vegetables you have in the fridge and add leftover cheese rinds for extra flavour.
My Celery and Lentil Soup
Post is being updated Spring 2023. Please follow the method in the recipe card, which has been tweaked. The body of the post may not reflect the updated recipe!
Celery works very well in soup and stews, its bright, sharp character tamed and mellowed by cooking. If you have a veg box I expect you will know the spring time celery glut well!
I am not a great fan of celery as a snack, but I do think a good celery soup is delicious. Here, I have combined it with hearty lentils and some green vegetables for a substantial and nutritious lunch dish.
I will confess that this is one of those dishes born out of the need to use things up. It is no less good for that, however. I used a whole head of celery for this recipe. I also used up the remnants of two bags of lentils, (or you can use just one type), plus some lonely veggies from the bottom of the fridge.
Make a big batch of this soup at the weekend for easy lunches. It will freeze and can be reheated on the hob or in the microwave. I have allowed for eight portions but you can halve the recipe if you have no space in the freezer.
Waste Nothing with Flavour!
Any chef will tell you that in a professional kitchen nothing that tastes good ever goes to waste. One of my secret ingredients is the cheese rind pot in the freezer. All the cheese rinds get stashed in there ready for soups, risottos and stews!
How to Make Celery and Lentil Soup
Step one – Fry the celery and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes in a large saucepan.
Step two – Add all the other ingredients. Stir and then cover with boiling water.
Step three – Simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes, until the lentils are soft.
Step four – Blitz in the liquidiser or with a stick blender. Then season to taste, adding more water if needed. Serve your celery and lentil soup with fresh bread.
Hints, Tips & Variations
- Make soup in larger quantities to last for a couple of days and provide extra for the freezer. Freeze by the portion in microwave-proof containers and take it to work frozen to save any leaks in your bag!
- I used a mix of lentils when I made this, but any type would do.
- Vary the vegetables. Use cauliflower, leafy greens (add at the end of cooking), celeriac or a wedge of swede for that all important extra veg!
This soup goes well with my root vegetable loaf or this easy beetroot bread. For another simple and tasty soup, try this pea, potato and lemon recipe.
More Easy Soup Recipes
- Good soup often starts with a soffritto recipe. Make a big batch, freeze and use every time you make soup.
- Carrot and lentil soup
- Pumpkin and sweet potato soup
- Swede Soup
- Slow cooker vegetable soup
- Butternut squash soup
- Tomato and lentil soup
- More easy soup recipes
Summer Soup Recipes
Celery & Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 head celery (roughly chopped)
- 4 cloves garlic (peeled and roughly chopped)
- 200 g (1.0 cups) red lentils (Note 1)
- 1 litre (4.0 cups) stock
- ½ head (2 cups) broccoli (or other vegetables) (Note 2)
- 30 g (1 cups) finely grated hard cheese (Note 3)
- salt and pepper ( to taste)
Instructions
- Fry the celery in the olive oil & butter for a few minutes in a large saucepan. Add all garlic and lentils and fry for another minute or two.
- Add the stock, simmer with the lid on for about 20 minutes, until the lentils are soft.
- Add the vegetables, cook for another 5-10 minutes until they are soft.
- Blitz in the liquidiser or with a stick blender. Add some more liquid if needed.
- Stir through the cheese, season to taste.
Notes
Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in August 2011, but was rewritten and republished with step by step instructions and hints & tips in February 2020.
Krithi
I love celery soup.. Nice addition of lentils!!
JohannaGGG
I feel a bit the same about celery – I did find a great celery salad recipe a few years back with cauliflower and watercress but generally love it for soups and stews – in fact I don’t buy it because I don’t like it much and then I find myself longing for it for soup.
Lauren
I often have trouble using up celery, as well. Thanks for the recipe!
Jacqueline
Nice soup. Thanks for submitting it :)
Nic
If only I liked celery, lol! I do love lentils though, great photo.
Ren Behan
I’ve never actually tried celery soup but it looks really delicious! Thanks for entering it into Simple and in Season. Ren x
Leila Horsey
I think the liquid amount of 500ml must be wrong. That would barely feed two people let alone 8! I’m making it with a litre of stock and hope that will work out ok.
Helen
Great catch, not sure what happened there!
David
I used the celery, garlic and lentils as a guide and stuck in parsnips, radish, chilli. Tasted really good.
Helen
delicious! I love a good soup to use up all the veggies