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!
Fantastic as a stand-alone soup or used in any recipe calling for canned condensed cream of celery soup. Â Clean, pure, 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. Â No comparison in flavor. Â No comparison in the purity and healthiness of the ingredients. Â And I would never even consider eating the canned stuff as an actual soup. Â 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? Â *gag* Â I still can’t fathom how my husband thinks that canned cream of chicken soup tastes good. Â Again, a very rare indulgence, but still. Â Ugh! Â I asked Todd if it’s okay if I reveal this fact about him to the world. Â His response, [laughing] “Sure, go right ahead, I’m not ashamed of that!” Â *sigh*
This cream of celery soup is sublime. Â 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. Â
For best results, be sure to use good quality celery that’s very fresh and full of flavor. Â When it comes to celery, organic really is best. Â Non-organic commercial celery usually just tastes like a crunchy stalk of water with a “hint” of celery. Â So get the good stuff from your local farmer’s market. Â 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. Â
This recipe also provides an excellent base for many other “cream of” vegetables soups. Â Substitute mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, etc, for the celery.
So without further ado, let’s get started!
Cream of Celery Soup Recipe
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.
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Stir in the flour and cook for another minute.
Add the broth and milk. Â For even richer results substitute cream for some of the milk.
Stir immediately to prevent the flour from clumping. Â Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a simmer. Â 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 our Cream of Mushroom Soup!
BEST Cream of Celery Soup
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.
- If using as a base for other recipes, this soup will keep in the fridge for at least 3-4 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Danny says
This turned out really good. I followed the recipe almost exactly. I made my own chicken broth, used cream instead of milk, and cooked the onion and celery mixture for a lot longer. And I ran about 2/3rds of the soup through the blender. It’s fantastic. I added celery salt and one bay leaf, I’ll probably skip those next time.
Pam says
I was wondering if one could make a big batch of this soup and can it. I was given a lot of organic celery and I don’t want it to go bad before I get it used.
Dani says
All I can say is wow. I didn’t even have all of the ingredients, but the soup tasted great. No butter so I used olive oil. Didn’t hand chop the celery, I put it in the food processor (it’s around 9:30 and raining cats and dogs and I wanted soup!). Used vegetable broth, no sugar. No yellow onion, used red. Only had 2% milk. Added a roasted jalapeno, cayenne, cumin, celery seeds (no organic celery) and coriander. Used an immersion blender. The soup was so good! Definitely need some rustic crusty bread with this soup! Delish!
Jocelyn says
I’ve made a few different recipes before but this one is absolutely THE BEST. Left out the sugar and halved the garlic, as I know my own tastes! I can see this as the base for so many other things, too….will have to get my thinking cap on!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s absolutely terrific, Jocelyn, thank you so much!
Kristen Castiglione says
Cream of Celery soup was always a favorite of mine growing up. Of course I bought the name brand and prepared with milk. Since we had an abundance of celery in our fridge I thought I’d try this recipe and an so glad I did! It was delicious snd so simple to make! It tasted great immediately unlike some dishes that tend to taste better the next after the flavors and spices infuse together. I did not use organic celery yet it was still so flavorful. I used mostly cream and a small amount of 2% milk as I was trying to use up ingredients in my fridge. My husband loved it to saying it tastes almost like a chowder. Not sure if that was the cream that I added or if it’s that thick even using only milk. In any case it’s a winner! Thanks for sharing!!! 😊
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, Kristen, I’m so glad you both enjoyed it! :)
kamoon says
Hi, I was wondering if anyone has tried to make this gluten free? I will try it with general purpose GF flour although I would love omit flour altogether, maybe I will try that and just blend it up to thicken. Sounds delish and can’t wait to try (just got a ginormous bunch of celery in my Misfits box!)
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi kamoon, yes, you can omit the flour and then at the end just stir in a cornstarch slurry to thicken it.
Sarah says
Or xantham gum, like I did, to make it keto friendly. :)
Heather says
I just made this GF with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 baking flour. Worked almost perfectly, only tweak I had to do was add a bit more chicken broth as it was a bit thicker than desired. Soup was delish!
Ross says
This soup was amazing! It was the perfect meal when we landed home after a four-day road trip. I only had skim milk, but I added cream at the end to make up for it.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much, Ross, I’m happy it was a hit!
Jennifer says
My husband was less than enthused when I told him I was making cream of celery soup, but he quickly changed his tune when he tasted it! I followed the recipe to a T, only using leek instead of onion, and it is fabulous! I did use an immersion blender at the end, blending up maybe half of the celery. It’s a little thick, so I may add some milk or broth to it tomorrow. Thank you for this recipe, it really is SO good!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad you both enjoyed it, Jennifer, thank you for the feedback!
Yol says
Kimberly,
A lovely recipe and the results were absolutely delicious!
Thank you,
Yol
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you so much, Yol!
Bummy says
delicious!!
Donna Martorella says
I am going to make this recipe but don’t see anything about blending it after all boiling everything together? Should I use a immsersion blender or regular blender to make it creamier?
Thanks
Donna
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Donna, this soup doesn’t call for blending/pureeing it but you’re certainly welcome to do that if you prefer. You can use either an immersion blender or regular blender.
Dan says
Kimberly. This is fantastic. Made froze then vacuum sealed, no problems. For Jack’s remark Jack don’t be afraid to add more milk I had to as well and very flavourful. Thanks Kimberly.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Excellent, Dan, thanks so much for the feedback!
Jack says
I made this and with some extra seasonings I thought it tasted pretty great. There’s just one thing I was really confused about. After preparing this, it really was more like condensed soup texture, and after refrigerating and eating next day, it was completely gelatinous just like in the can. I’m wondering if maybe I accidentally added too much flour? I really want to get this right, but I’m just not sure what the consistency should be. I also wasn’t able to simmer it for 15 minutes, because it thickened almost immediately as I increased heat and stirred it.
Cat Race says
I found it really thick too the 1st time. I added more oat milk the second time and it was fab.
Joanna says
Do you think this recipe would freeze ok?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Joanna, I haven’t tried that but have had several readers report that they’ve frozen it with success.
Michelle says
I had lots of celery tops from 4 bunches of celery and love celery and always wanted to make a celery soup. I used this as a base recipe, left out sugar, used less amount half and half instead of milk, lots more celery and emulsion blundered it. First time at this site and will be back for sure.
Steve McCoy says
Delicious! I substituted evaporated milk, dried minced garlic and onion flakes instead of fresh. No sugar.
MaryCarol Chapman says
Well, you answered my question about evaporated milk. Thanks, Steve!