BEST Cream of Celery Soup
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Leave the canned stuff on the shelf because NOTHING compares to homemade! This homemade cream of celery soup recipe is made from scratch, is easy to make, and the flavor will absolutely “wow” you!
Homemade Cream of Celery Soup
This homemade Cream of Celery Soup is fantastic as a stand-alone soup or used in any recipe calling for canned condensed cream of celery soup. Made from scratch and utterly delicious!
Most of us appreciate and enjoy the luxury of convenience from time to time, but we all know there is NO comparison between store-bought canned “cream of” soups and homemade. No comparison in flavor. No comparison in the purity and healthiness of the ingredients. And I would never even consider eating the canned stuff as an actual soup. Mixing it together with a bunch of other ingredients as part of a recipe is one thing (and still only something I have done on very rare occasions while turning a blind eye to the ingredients list), but mixing it with milk, heating it up and eating it plain? *gag* I still can’t fathom how my husband thinks that canned cream of chicken soup tastes good. Again, a very rare indulgence, but still. Ugh! I asked Todd if it’s okay if I reveal this fact about him to the world. His response, [laughing] “Sure, go right ahead, I’m not ashamed of that!” *sigh*
This cream of celery soup is sublime. I whipped it up to use as the base for a Creamy Cabbage & Kielbasa Soup I was developing for dinner that evening (oh so good and recipe to come!) but it was so good that I was really tempted to eat it plain and just make something else for dinner.
For best results, be sure to use good quality celery that’s very fresh and full of flavor. When it comes to celery, organic really is best. Non-organic commercial celery usually just tastes like a crunchy stalk of water with a “hint” of celery. So get the good stuff from your local farmer’s market. And there have been many times when I’ve been surprised to find the organic celery selling for the same price as, or not much more than, non-organic.
This recipe also provides an excellent base for many other “cream of” vegetables soups. Substitute mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, etc, for the celery.
Cream of Celery Soup Recipe
Let’s get started!
Very finely dice the onion and celery and mince the garlic.
Melt the butter in a Dutch oven and cook the onion, celery and garlic over medium-high heat until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes.
Stir in the flour and cook for another minute.
Add the broth and milk. For even richer results substitute cream for some of the milk.
Stir immediately to prevent the flour from clumping. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining ingredients, and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add salt to taste.
The end result is a perfectly delicious cream of celery soup you can enjoy on its own or use in place of bought condensed soup for any recipe calling for it.
Enjoy!
Be sure to also try my Cream of Mushroom Soup!
What’s the Best Dutch Oven to Use?
For this recipe, while you can use any heavy stock pot I like to use a Dutch oven because it seals in the flavors and heats evenly, ensuring consistent cooking results. I love this 6-quart, budget-friendly option from Lodge, which you can get on Amazon for around $80. Or, if you’re looking for a worthy splurge, I also have this one from Le Creuset, which sells for around $300.
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BEST Cream of Celery Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 small yellow onion ,finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 cups very finely chopped good quality flavorful celery (about 5 large ribs, organic recommended for optimal flavor).
- 1 large clove garlic ,minced
- 1/3 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
- 1 1/2 cups good quality chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk (or use 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup cream for even tastier results)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or heavy stock pot over medium-high heat and cook the onions, celery and garlic until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the flour and cook for another minute. Add the chicken broth and milk/cream and stir until the mixture is smooth. Increase the heat and bring it to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining ingredients, and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add salt to taste.This soup will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet April 3, 2014
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I loathe celery but got a big head of it in my CSA box this week and seemed to remember from childhood that I find cream of celery soup bearable – I was not wrong! Can’t stop going back for sneaky spoonfuls. Still have half a head of the evil vegetable left so I’m going to make a batch without the milk, as others have suggested, for freezing. Can’t wait to try this with some other veggies too – if I love it this much with celery, it’s going to be AMAZING with mushrooms. :)
Lol, Lorna! I’m glad you enjoyed this, thank you!
I just made this recipe exactly as the recipe calls with the exception of adding some chopped celery leaves toward the end of simmer for more celery flavor. it is an excellent replacement for store-bought cream of celery soup. After the third cup flour it was nearly condensed. Could be thinned out with more broth if you cut back on the salt. thank you for this simply awesome recipe!
Fantastic, Alexandra, thank you!
Is celery fresh from the garden good for this recipe? I know that garden grown celery can be more bitter tasting.
Hi Katelyn, I would think garden fresh celery would have an advantage because it has much more flavor. I think any bitterness will be tempered through the cooking process and addition of other ingredients.
Great recipe! I made it gluten free by using between rice flour instead of all purpose flour.
Fantastic, Felicia, thank you!
Have looked for months and months for this recipe. It is comfort food from my youth. My mother used to make it and this recipe is quite similar in flavor. Unfortunately, she died before I could get this and many other recipes. I did remember, however, that she used half and half instead of milk/cream. Thank you so much for putting me in touch with my lost youth.
Hi David, I’m so glad you found this and hope you enjoy your walk down memory lane. Kind regards, Kimberly
I was raised on cream soups 50’s.I won’t eat can soups anymore after reading on the cans that GMO is used in a lot of ingredients I even wrote them about the use of GMO they answered saying buy there all natural can soups, yea twice the price. Your cream of celery soup sounds delicious! My weekends will be busy making a lot of homemade soups. Thank you!
Thanks, Tracy! Yeah, great response from the manufacturer :( Their loss – we’ll make it ourselves, thank you very much, and it’s not only cheaper, it’s MUCH better tasting! :)
I used ciconut milk and I made a paste with cashew nuts instead of flour so it was dairy free and gluten free. It tourned out really good. Thanks for the recipe and hope u didn’t mi d me modifi g it! namaste Bronya
Hi Bronya, that’s awesome! Thanks for your tips on making this dairy and gluten free!
Hi Kimberly, I LOVE cream of celery soup and can eat the canned Campbell’s stuff like it’s gourmet food – but stumbled upon your recipe and yours was SO SO much better! Consider me converted! I’m not a skilled cook, so I love that your recipe was easy to follow (pics are super helpful and amazing!) and even I couldn’t mess it up! I basically ended up eating 90% of my first batch immediately, so going to make me another batch tomorrow and then trying it out with mushrooms after that. Thanks for this fabulous recipe!
Yayyy, I’m thrilled to hear that, Michelle! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and appreciate the feedback, thank you!