This easy recipe for Creamy Celery Soup has no cream, making it a low-fat, vegan version of cream of celery soup that’s healthy & delicious.
Serve this delicious recipe with Homemade Garlic Bread for a simple comforting meal.
A Thick, Creamy Celery Soup that’s Healthy and Delicious
Now that the weather is cooling down, it’s time to spend more time in the kitchen! When the weather gets cooler, I want comfort food, and I crave soups in particular!
This phenomenal recipe is a healthy vegetable soup that’s silky, thick and creamy, just like when it’s made the traditional way, but this soup has 90% fewer calories!
To cut calories, I’ve found a way to make beautiful creamy soups that don’t have a bit of cream. The trick – adding a potato which adds to bulk as well as adding a creamy constancy.
Why this recipe works:
- Using large quantities of celery that cooks it in stock with a touch of garlic, makes a soup that is full of flavor without the need of complicated ingredients.
- The use of potato to thicken the soup gives it more body and silky consistency.
- Pureeing the soup with the potato results in a creamy soup without the added fat.
This one is my go-to recipe when I’m craving soup I love how quick it comes together. The only tedious part is chopping up the celery, garlic, onions and peeling one or two potatoes. It’s really is simple to make.
Choosing the Best Celery for Celery Soup
- Choose light-colored, crisp celery with firm, tightly packed stalks.
- Always buy celery with the leaves still attached. The leaves are packed with flavor.
- Celery leaves should be should be a bright, pale green color. They should also be firm, not wilted or browning.
This is a lovely soup. I have friends that absolutely love it even though they don’t normally like celery.
How to make Creamy Celery Soup:
Start with cutting the celery into roughly the same-sized pieces, about an inch – 1.5 inches, don’t worry about precision as the soup is going to be puréed anyway. You just want it to cook evenly. In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat.
Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
Add the celery.
Pour in the stock.
Add the salt, pepper, potato, and parsley.
Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
Cover and lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the celery and potatoes are soft enough that they can be easily pureed (But don’t let them get mushy).
Remove the soup from heat and remove enough stock so that the celery just covered by the remaining stock. Set the reserved stock aside.
Then Remove some of the chopped celery and set aside.
This will be added back into the soup to give it some texture.
Purée the soup with a stick blender in the pot adding the reserved stock little by little until the soup reaches the desired consistency.
If you don’t have a stick blender a food processor or blender would work too.
Add the reserved celery, mix to combine, serve hot and enjoy!
Other Soup Recipes You’ll Love
- Pasta Fagoli
- Potato Leek Soup
- Homemade Lentil Soup
- Yellow Split Pea and Bacon Soup
- Split Pea and Ham Soup
Want something a little different? Try this Best Ever Tom Kha Gai Soup recipe from 40 Aprons
Celery Nutrition Facts
Celery is mostly made up of water (about 95%), making it very low in calories, carbohydrates and fat, but not terribly high in many vitamins or minerals. Celery is a good source of Vitamin K (one cup contains 30% of the daily recommended value of the US FDA).
Celery is a good source of potassium, molybdenum folate and fiber. It also contains small amounts of vitamins A, C, and some B vitamins.
Cook’s Tips:
- To avoid stringy celery, use the more tender celery stalks that are closer to the middle of the head. Lighter colored celery is less likely to have though strings.
- To test if your celery is stringy (which for some can be unpleasant), before cutting the celery, break it in half by hand. If you see the strings sticking out of the break (see photo above), peel the celery to remove the strings.
- To remove the strings from the celery, clean and peel the back of the stalk with a vegetable peeler (for more detailed instructions, you can see this video on YouTube) or just by snapping your celery into sections and pulling out the exposed, stringy ribs.
- Want a low carb variation? Replace the potato with cauliflower. I’ve done it and it works really well.
I truly adore this recipe and would just love to know what you think if you try it. 🙂 And I’d love to know what YOUR low-fat secrets are for healthy eating!
Do you have a secret ingredient or technique? Please share in the comments section below!
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Let's Make Creamy Celery Soup
Ingredients
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
- 2 lbs fresh celery cleaned and chopped (see post for removing strings)
- 1 qt chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 lb potatoes peeled the potato and cut it into quarters
- a good handful of fresh parsley roughly chopped, including stems
- salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Chop the celery into roughly the same-sized pieces, about an inch - 1.5 inches, Don't worry about precision as the soup is going to be puréed anyway. You just want it to cook evenly.
- In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft.
- Add the garlic and cook another minute before adding the celery, stock, potato, and parsley. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
- Cover, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the celery and potatoes are soft enough that they can easily be pureed (But don't let them get too mushy).
- Remove the soup from heat. If necessary, using a ladle, remove enough stock so that the celery is just covered. Set any reserved stock aside.
- Remove some of the chopped celery with a slotted spoon (1-2 spoonfuls) and set aside.
- Purée the soup with a stick blender in the pot - adding the reserved stock little by little until the soup reaches the desired consistency.
- Add the reserved celery, mix to combine and serve hot.
Tips + Notes
- If you don't have a stick blender, a food processor or blender would work just as well to puree the soup.
- To avoid stringy celery, use the more tender celery stalks that are closer to the middle of the head. Lighter colored celery is less likely to have though strings.
- To test if your celery is stringy (which for some can be unpleasant), before cutting the celery, break it in half by hand. If you see the strings sticking out of the break (see photo above), peel the celery to remove the strings.
- To remove the strings from the celery, clean and peel the back of the stalk with a vegetable peeler (for more detailed instructions, you can see this video on YouTube) or just by snapping your celery into sections and pulling out the exposed, stringy ribs.
Nutrition Information:
Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in 2014 but published again in 2018 to include step by step directions, nutritional information, new photos, and a video.
Chris Gilbey says
Great recipe! I made it with cauliflower instead of potatoes – really beautiful…
Erren's Kitchen says
That’s wonderful to hear! Substituting cauliflower for potatoes is a great idea if you’re looking to reduce the carb content in the soup or add a unique twist to the recipe. It’s fantastic that you enjoyed the result. Cauliflower can bring a lovely creamy texture and a subtle nutty flavor to the soup. Thank you for sharing your positive experience, and I hope you continue to enjoy this creamy celery soup with cauliflower in the future.
Jackie says
This recipe is delicious and so simple! I added a little French Provençal sea salt. Thank you for a wonderful dinner. 😊
Erren's Kitchen says
I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe! Adding French Provençal sea salt sounds like a great way to enhance the flavors. You’re very welcome!
Nina marie says
What ahhhhhh tasty treat🤗
Erren Hart says
Hearing that you enjoyed the recipe makes all the hard work worthwhile. Thank you for sharing your positive experience.
Dawn says
This recipe was fantastic. My first try and it was perfect. We had 6lbs of celery so I decided to try this recipe.
Everyone loved it even my husband who isn’t a soup person. Thanks
Erren Hart says
I’m thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the celery soup recipe! It’s great to hear that it turned out perfectly, especially considering the abundance of celery you had. It’s always a pleasure when a recipe can win over even those who aren’t typically fans of soup. Thank you for giving it a try, and I hope you continue to explore new and delicious recipes in your culinary adventures!
Linda Martin says
I have made this recipe with celery, broccoli, cauliflower, broccoli and cauliflower, and asparagus. My husband has really enjoyed each variation I’ve made. When I made it with asparagus I used 1 lb and just cut a 1 inch piece off the end of each spear. Using just one pound of asparagus still gave it a nice flavour. Thanks for the recipe it is now my go to creamy no cream vegetable soup
Erren Hart says
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe and for sharing your feedback, Linda! I’m glad you’ve adapted the recipe to different vegetables and that your husband has enjoyed each variation you’ve made. I make it with all kinds of vegetables too. We’re working on an asparagus version to post later this month! I’m so happy this recipe has become your go-to creamy no, cream vegetable soup! I hope you’ll continue to enjoy it and try out some of my other recipes. Thanks again for your support and for taking the time to comment!
Leslie says
This recipe turned out to be perfectly what I was looking for! love it
second time I made it I added a few chopped carrots to sweeten it a touch and loved that too
thanks for the recipe!!
Erren Hart says
Thanks for trying out our Celery Soup recipe Leslie and for leaving such a positive review. We’re so happy you enjoyed it! Adding carrots to the soup is a great idea. We’ll have to try that next time we make it. Thanks for sharing your suggestion!
Julia says
surprisingly nice! and my 2 year old enjoyed it so great recommendation there 🙂 I added walnuts on top for some extra protein which was a great combination
Erren Hart says
Thank you for the great feedback, Julia! I’m glad you and your 2-year-old enjoyed the recipe, and I appreciate you letting me know!