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
Theresa says
Love this simple recipe! Great for a large amount of leftover celery. We used heavy cream and it came out as thick and creamy as a rich clam chowder! Next time, I might lighten with half and half, and I want to try with non-dairy milk as well. It is wonderful how the flour really thickens this soup and the chicken broth adds so much flavor without additional herbs. We garnished with bacon! THANK YOU for the keeper!!
Kimberly Killebrew says
Fantastic, Theresa, thank you so much!
Kevin says
This was delicious. Wary of the potential blandness, I threw in some baby carrots and a package of sauteed sliced mushrooms. I also added a dash of celery seed and a little cayenne pepper. It was fantastic.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Awesome, thanks so much for the feedback, Kevin!
Rich Woznicki says
Very gritty. Celery must be cooked much longer than 5 minutes or use old soft celery. Also 3 cups of liquid is not enough, makes a doughy consistency. However, flavor was good.
Steve says
Made this and for some reason it taste bland and a bit gritty ??
Rinsed the celery before cutting it, also pulled strings off.
Didn’t taste like celery, even put some celery salt hoping it would taste better.
Any advice ??
Josie says
I’ve made this a few times it’s absolutely delicious and I’ve frozen it as well, not sure how long it will last in the freezer, as I’ve only had mine in for approximately two months at the most and I froze it in freezer bags, enough for two servings each bag
Laura Maloney says
Made this today and it was delicious! I added more garlic because I only had a small onion and it had plenty of flavor. I will definitely make this recipe again.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Awesome, Laura, thank you so much!
Jimmy Jones says
Made this soup today per directions. It is delicious! A keeper recipe for sure. The flavors are rich and the soup is hearty. My wife and I LOVE it.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Fabulous! Thank you so much, Jimmy, I’m thrilled you both enjoyed it!
Diane Jennings says
I made this for my 82 year old mother, she was so excited and loved it! I followed the recipe exactly with one exception, I added a pinch of white pepper. Thank you!
Kimberly Killebrew says
I am SO happy that your mother enjoyed it, Diane, thank you for sharing your experience! <3
RockinRic says
Well I must thank you for the best cream of celery soup recipe I have ever eaten. I made this tonight and served it with a foot long sub sandwich with coho salmon lettuce and topped with garden fresh picked tomato. It is awesome I did have to substitute the milk for 1 1/4 c whipping cream and 1/4c water as I didn’t have any milk on hand and it still turned out very creamy and fresh. Thanks again really enjoyed this soup tonight and some left over for lunch tomorrow.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Fantastic, RockinRic, I’m so thrilled you enjoyed it, thank you!
Doris Dallaire says
This is a very delicious soup. I used leeks instead of onions and put more milk in because I had some I had to use up. It was simply marvellous. I will freeze some although I know it will look kind of curdly when I first thaw it out but as Kimberley says, it warms up nicely on the stove top and becomes creamy once again. I’ll be making this recipe again and again because I love cream of celery soup! Thanks for the recipe!
Kimberly Killebrew says
Thank you so much for the feedback, Doris, I’m thrilled you enjoyed it!
Georgeianne says
Hello. Has anyone ever canned this soup? It is delicious by the way!!
Anonymous says
This was really good but I thought perhaps a little bland so I followed another readers spice suggestions and it came out great. I do think next I might use a little less onion. I thought it was competing with the celery too much. I did make twice the indicated amount so doubled everything which may account for it.
Lara says
What spices did you add?
Bev Seymour says
Delicious. I added a couple of artichoke hearts and brocolini stems. So hearty, tasty and fulfilling. Thank you.
Kimberly Killebrew says
That sounds yummy, Bev, thanks so much for the feedback and I’m happy you enjoyed it!
Jazz says
I doubled the recipe except for the onion and a little less milk because I like thick soup. Between 4 of us, there is nothing left! This is going into the family cookbook. Incredibly good! Thank you.
Kimberly Killebrew says
Fantastic, Jazz, thank you so much!
Tom Sellers says
I plan to use this recipe today and as suggested, I’ll combine some celery, brocolli and asparagus and go with the higher cream to milk ratio. Just a head’s up on the salt, anyone preparing the recipe should be mindful the 790mg is accurate for one serving. According to Google, 1 tsp of salt would be about 2,300 mg. According to the label on the chicken stock I currently have, 1.5 cups would contribute 900 mg of salt. So if you are like me and likely to personally consume all of this in one day you’d be above your recommended daily intake of salt. You may want to consider the use of no-sodium chicken broth, or alternatively, adjust the teaspoon of salt if your concentrated chicken broth contains a fair bit of it and you are watching your salt intake.
Anonymous says
WOW SO AWESOME LOVE IT
USED ONE CUP CREAMO AND HALF CUP WATER