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!
Hi. I’m just wondering if you really feel as though organic celery has better flavor than non-organic? I never heard anyone say organic is better flavored than non for any vegetables, etc. just curious, I will pay more attention in the future.
Celery soup, homemade, is one of my very favorites. I like to use about twice as much celery, after it is softened I take out about half and set aside. Then I take a stick blender and liquefy it right in the pan, add about a half cup of black olives, then blend again, then return the chunky celery to the pot, bring up temp and serve. (I also have a recipe for cream of black olive soup which is just fabulous)
Yum. Now I’m hungry. Thanks for your recipe, trying it tomorrow as my neighbor just gave me five “heads” of celery.
Hi Jill, that sounds delicious! I don’t buy most produce organic, generally only the few are the very heavily sprayed with pesticides (eg, kale, peaches, strawberries, etc) and in many cases no, the flavor is not better. When it comes to celery though yes, organic tends to have a more pronounced flavor. The stalks tend to be narrower with a more concentrated flavor. The good part too is that organic is often not much more than non-organic. I’ll often see organic celery for 99 cents a pound compared to 89 cents for regular.
I made the soup today, it is awesome! I added some minced carrots yummy. I too will not be using canned soups any more. This is so easy and I usually have all of the ingredients on hand. I like the japaleno idea, however my husband doesn’t so I sprinkled some dry red pepper flakes in my bowl,
Thank you for sharing.
Wonderful, Deb, thanks so much!
Thank you Kimberly, this was an awesome soup. I switched out the milk and cream for skim milk and it still came out very creamy. Great Recipe!!!
Fantastic, Paul, thanks for the feedback!
Thank you for the idea!!!
Where I went with it (see parentheses):
• ¼ cup butter (Half a stick)
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup) (2 to 1 ratio celery to onions, finely diced)
• 2 cups very finely chopped good quality, flavorful celery (about 5 large stalks, organic recommended for optimal flavor). (Fill to top of 2 cup measuring cup)
• 1 large clove garlic, minced (four, at least)
• ⅓ cup all-purpose unbleached flour (okay)
• 1½ cups good quality chicken broth (2 cups at least – watch how it is cooking)
• 1½ cups whole milk (or use ¾ cup milk and ¾ cup cream for even tastier results) (1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream)
• 1 teaspoon salt (artisan salt)
• ½ teaspoon sugar (okay)
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper to taste
• (1 jalapeño all seeds and veins removed)
• 2 large carrots finely chopped (1 cup)
• (8 oz chopped mushrooms)
• (2 bay leaves)
Instructions
1. Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and cook the onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms and garlic (with bay leaves) until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes (9 – 10 minutes until moisture is cut in half). 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 (15 minutes is too long). Add salt to taste.
2. AWESOME!!!!!!
Thank you for this recipe!!!!
So glad you enjoyed it, Jim, thank you! By the way, the 15 minute recommended cook time is based on if you’re using milk or a combination of milk and cream. You used all cream which thickens more quickly.
Kim, I just made this and I had to blend it due to the suspicious minds of my children thinking I am feeding them veggies. I sprinkled Parmesan cheese and it is fabulous!! Thanks!
That’s so awesome, Nicole! Your kids sound like mine and I do the same thing :) Thanks so much!
Hi Kim. I have made this amazing soup and it is sooo good. My husband couldn’t believe how different it is from canned soup. I forgot to write down the ingredients so I am back checking them out and have shared this with my friends on Facebook. You don’t need to change anything in this recipe. Perfect just the way it is. Hugs.
That’s wonderful, Mary, and thanks so much for sharing this with your friends! <3
Love this, a big hit with the whole family, even using 2% milk. I’m wondering if you could add a little more info, like portion size and how many the recipe should feed. Our little daughter is Type 1 diabetic and I am always looking for the nutritional info and carb counts whenever trying a new recipe.
Hi Ann-Marie, that’s wonderful, thank you! So this recipe makes roughly the equivalent of 2 cans of prepared condensed soup (meaning 2 cans soup plus the 2 cans of added milk). I looked up the condensed soup cans online and it says one can is 2.5 servings at 1/2 cup per serving. So this recipe would be roughly double that: Five 1/2 cup servings. 1/2 cup sure is a really small serving though :) For nutritional info there are several great sites like caloriecount.com and fitday.com that let you enter in all the ingredients and quantities in any recipe and they give you a complete nutritional breakdown. They’re great resources.
OMG! This soup is amazing! After a 40 year relationship, I am officially breaking up with Campbell’s… and I’m not even sad about it!
Haha, that’s hilarious, Charles! Congrats on having the courage to make a clean break of it once and for all ;) So glad you found something better and thanks for the feedback!