Every once in a while a recipe comes along that changes your life. For me, this happens every few days. My latest obsession? This creamy celery soup recipe with potato. I made it 4, yes — 4, times within the first 10 days of making it. It’s only fair I share it with you so you can get in on this goodness too.
I started making this soup in the summer, but now it’s October and my passion for it is still going strong. Something about creamy celery soup on a cold day (yes — we’re having cold days and snow here in Calgary already!) is just perfect. I look forward to eating this at least weekly throughout the winter….and you know the winter here lasts practically half the year!
Now onto to soup!
I recommend reading this blog post before going to the recipe, because I outline a lot of important info about the best way to make this soup. But if you want to skip right to the nitty gritty, here you go: Jump to Recipe
Buying Celery for Soup
To make this creamy celery soup recipe, start by picking really fresh celery! It should be crisp and without lots of “strings.” If there are strings on your celery, try to peel them off as much as possible. Using fresh, good quality celery really makes a difference in the taste of this soup! Celery should be a bright yet pale green when you buy it, without wilting in the stems.
Here’s more info on buying and storing celery if you want to find out more!
How to Make Creamy Celery Soup
To make celery soup, you don’t need a ton of ingredients. And if you use potatoes, you can make it really, really super creamy without actually adding cream, hence the addition of the potatoes! This is actually a good trick for several different soup recipes. Potatoes give a creamy texture without actually using cream. If you want to make a vegan soup recipe, potatoes can give it the creamy texture you wouldn’t get otherwise.
I recently posted a cheddar cauliflower soup recipe that I can’t wait to re-try with potatoes!
To make this soup recipe, you just:
- Wash and chop your vegetables
- Melt butter in a large soup pot or dutch oven. Cook celery and onions.
- Add garlic and potatoes.
- Add flour, and mix.
- Pour in the broth and add the sugar, salt, and pepper.
- Bring to a boil, and let simmer for at least 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft enough to put a fork through.
- Saute half a cup of diced celery while the soup cooks. Set aside.
- Let the soup cool for at least 5 minutes when it’s done cooking. Then, blend in small batches in a blender or use an immersion blender or hand blender.
- Add the sauted half cup of celery and some milk (if you want). Stir, and enjoy!
Blending Hot Soup
If you have an immersion blender, it’ll be your best friend for this recipe. Blending hot soup in a blender is totally possible, but it can get messy — and even dangerous if you’re not careful.
Read up on blending hot soup in a blender before trying it so you don’t end up with a big mess, or worse, a burn.
If you’re on the market for a new immersion blender, I have a KitchenAid version and it’s great!
What Else You Should Know
- The PERFECT topping for this soup is my homemade crouton recipe. Seriously. They’re so easy to make and the crunch and crispiness is perfect with a smooth soup!
- This soup freezes really well, but also stores well in the fridge. You can add a bit more milk when you reheat it if you find it’s thickened up too much.
- Adding milk is optional, depending on the consistency you’d like. Start by adding a little — you can always add more later if you want!
- This soup has flour and butter to make a type of “roux” which helps give the soup that thick and creamy texture we’re going for! If you’re seeking a gluten-free celery soup, you could do this without the flour.
Creamy Celery Soup with Potato
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 + 0.5 cups fresh celery, chopped set the extra half a cup of celery to the side to begin with
- 1 cup yellow or white onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 yellow or white potatoes peeled and chopped
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper use at least this much, or more, to taste
- ½ cup milk Or less, depending on how thick you want your soup
Instructions
- Wash and chop your celery, onions, and potatoes. The celery for the soup should be cut into approximately half-inch pieces, the onions should be diced, and the potatoes cut into eighths. The extra half cup of celery that you'll set to the side should be diced into smaller pieces than the other two cups of celery.
- In a dutch oven or soup pot, melt 1/4 cup of butter on medium heat. Add the celery and onions. Cook on medium heat for at least five minutes, careful not to let it burn. When they get fragrant and start to soften, add the garlic and potatoes. Stir for another 2 minutes.
- Add the flour to the cooking vegetables, and mix for another minute.
- Add 4 cups of vegetable broth, along with salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir. Bring to a boil, and let simmer for at least 20 minutes, or until you can easily push a fork through the pieces of potatoes.
- While your soup is cooking, heat a splash of butter or oil in a pan. Add the reserved 1/2 cup of diced celery to the pan, and cook on low heat for at least ten minutes, or until it's soft and fragrant.
- When the soup is ready, let it cool for at least five minutes. Then, transfer to a blender in small batches or use an immersion blender. Blend until smooth and chunks of vegetables are gone.
- Add up to half a cup of milk (optional) as well as the extra celery to the soup. Stir well. Do a final taste test to see if you need more salt and pepper, then serve and enjoy!
Notes
- This will make about 4 generous servings as a main course, or at least 6 servings of a side dish.
- Creamy celery soup freezes well, or you can keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days. It usually thickens up a bit once in the fridge — add milk if you want to thin it out.
- Be sure to use really fresh celery (see the rest of this post for why).
- An immersion blender is the easiest way to make this soup, but a regular blender can also work for sure.
Bada bing bada boom! Can’t wait to hear what you think!
xo – C!
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