Creamy celery soup is smooth, velvety and ready in well under an hour. Made with celery, potato and a splash of cream, it turns a few cheap ingredients into a comforting bowl.
Creamy celery soup is one of the cheapest blended soups you can put on the table, made with celery, onion and potato simmered in stock and puréed until silky. The potato does the thickening, so you only need a small splash of cream at the end for richness.
This healthy and nourishing celery soup comes together in around 30 minutes in one pot, which makes it a sensible choice for a quick lunch or light dinner. It is filling, easy to adapt, and a genuinely good way to use up a tired bunch of celery before it wilts.
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Ingredients for Creamy Celery Soup
This celery soup is built from everyday ingredients, with each one doing a clear job. There is room to swap things to suit what you have in.
- Celery – Brings a fresh, slightly peppery base flavour and plenty of fibre.
- Onion – Adds a savoury depth that rounds out the celery.
- Potatoes – Thicken the soup naturally and give it that velvety body without much cream.
- Cream – Stirred in at the end for richness; swap for coconut milk to keep it dairy-free.
- Olive oil – Used to soften the onion and celery and start building flavour.
- Vegetable or chicken stock – Carries the flavour; plain water works at a push if you season well.
- Spring onions – A fresh, sharp garnish that lifts the finished bowl.
- Toasted almond flakes – Add crunch and a gentle nutty contrast on top.
How to Make Creamy Celery Soup
Here are quick instructions on how to make this soup:
- Step 1: Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and sauté for about 5 minutes, until softened and fragrant. Season with a little salt and pepper.
- Step 2: Add the cubed potatoes and pour in the stock, making sure the vegetables are fully submerged. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10–15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- Step 3: Blend the soup until completely smooth, using a hand blender in the pot or working in batches with a countertop blender.
- Step 4: Stir in the cream for extra richness and season again with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm, topped with toasted almond flakes and fresh spring onions for crunch. It is lovely with crusty bread, croutons, or a drizzle of infused oil.
How to Serve and Store Creamy Celery Soup
Serve creamy celery soup hot, ladled into deep bowls with a scatter of toasted almond flakes and sliced spring onions over the top. A few celery leaves and a good grind of black pepper finish it nicely, and a slice of warm crusty bread or a handful of croutons turns it into a proper meal. A drizzle of olive oil or chilli oil works well if you want a bit more depth.
Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the hob over a low heat, stirring now and then, and loosen with a splash of water or stock if it has thickened. It also freezes well for up to 3 months — leave the cream out before freezing and stir it in when you reheat for the best texture.
More Easy Soup Recipes You Might Enjoy
If you liked this one, here are a few more blended soups from the blog worth a try.
For another smooth, mellow root-veg bowl, take a look at my Celeriac Soup Recipe — nutty, creamy and naturally thickened with potato.
If you fancy something light and green, my Asparagus Soup Recipe is velvety, fresh and made in one pan.
For a cosy, golden bowl with deep flavour, try my Roasted Root Vegetable Soup Recipe — made with oven-roasted veg and sweet roasted garlic.
When you want something hearty and filling, have a go at my Chunky Lentil Soup Recipe — earthy, warming and brilliant the next day.
For a sweeter, gently spiced option, my Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup Recipe is smooth, cosy and easy on the budget.
How Much Does Creamy Celery Soup Cost to Make
One of the best things about creamy celery soup is how little it costs.
- In the UK, a whole pot works out around £2.00–£2.50, or roughly 50p a serving across four bowls — celery, potatoes and onion are some of the cheapest veg in any supermarket, with celery often on promotion at Tesco, Aldi or Lidl.
- In Ireland, expect about €2.80–€3.50 for the pot, or under €0.90 a serving, with celery easy to find at Dunnes, SuperValu or Aldi.
- In the USA, a batch lands around $3.00–$4.00, or roughly $0.80 per serving, with celery a staple at Walmart, Kroger or Trader Joe's.
- In Australia, you're looking at about AUD $4.50–$5.50 a pot, or just over $1 a serving, with celery widely stocked at Woolworths and Coles.
- And in Poland, where celery feature heavily in everyday cooking, the pot comes to around 8–11 zł, or roughly 2.50 zł per serving, with celery cheap at Biedronka or Lidl.
Whichever country you're in, this is a genuinely low-cost, filling meal.
Tips and Notes for the Best Creamy Celery Soup
- Slice the celery thinly before sautéing. Celery is fibrous, and thinner pieces soften faster and break down more evenly in the pot. This gives the onion and celery a proper head start before the potatoes go in. It also means the blender has an easier job producing a truly smooth finish with no stringy bits.
- Don't rush the initial sauté. The five minutes of softening the onion and celery is where a lot of the flavour is built, so keep the heat at medium and let them go translucent rather than browning. Browning the celery too hard can make the soup taste slightly bitter. Soft and fragrant is the goal, not coloured.
- Use floury potatoes for the smoothest texture. Varieties like Maris Piper or Rooster break down better than waxy potatoes and give the soup its velvety body. Waxy potatoes can leave a slightly gluey texture once blended. If floury potatoes are all you have, you'll still get a good result, just blend a little longer.
- Cover the vegetables with stock, but no more. Pour in just enough stock to submerge everything, around 750ml, so the soup isn't watered down. You can always loosen a thick soup afterwards, but you can't easily fix one that's too thin. Adding liquid gradually keeps you in control of the final consistency.
- Blend longer than you think for a silky finish. A full minute or two with a hand blender makes a real difference to how smooth celery soup turns out. Celery has fibres that need time to break down completely. If you want a restaurant-smooth bowl, pass it through a sieve after blending.
- Add the cream off the heat or on a low simmer. Stirring cream into soup that's boiling hard can cause it to split. Take the pot off the boil first, then stir the cream through gently. This keeps the soup glossy and smooth rather than grainy.
- Season at the end, not the start. Stock cubes vary a lot in saltiness, so it's safer to season lightly at the sauté stage and adjust properly once the soup is blended and the cream is in. Taste, then add salt and pepper in small amounts. This stops you over-salting a soup that reduces as it cooks.
- Save the leafy celery tops for garnish. The pale inner leaves at the top of a celery bunch are tender and full of flavour, and they look lovely scattered on the finished soup. Don't throw them out with the trimmings. They give a fresh, slightly peppery note that ties the bowl together.
Creamy Celery Soup FAQ
Why is my celery soup stringy?
Stringiness usually comes from celery fibres that haven't fully broken down. Slice the celery thinly before cooking, simmer until everything is properly tender, and blend for a good minute or two. If it's still not smooth enough, pass the blended soup through a fine sieve for a silky finish.
Can I make celery soup without cream?
Yes, easily. The potato gives the soup most of its creaminess, so you can leave the cream out altogether and still have a smooth bowl. For richness without dairy, stir in a splash of full-fat coconut milk, or simply finish with a drizzle of olive oil instead.
Can I freeze celery soup?
Celery soup freezes well for up to 3 months. For the best texture, freeze it before adding the cream, then stir the cream in when you reheat. Cool the soup completely first, freeze it in portions, and defrost overnight in the fridge before warming gently on the hob.
How do I make celery soup thicker?
The easiest way is to use less stock at the start, or add an extra potato to the pot. You can also simmer the blended soup uncovered for a few minutes to reduce it down. A spoonful of cream or a knob of butter stirred in at the end adds body too.
Is celery soup healthy?
Celery soup is low in calories and high in fibre, with a good hit of vitamins from the celery and onion. Keeping the cream light, or swapping it for coconut milk, makes it lighter still. It's a wholesome, filling option, especially served with wholemeal bread on the side.
Creamy Celery Soup Recipe
This creamy celery soup is light, comforting, and packed with flavour. Made with simple, budget-friendly ingredients, it’s smooth, velvety, and perfect for a cosy meal. Serve it with crunchy almond flakes and fresh spring onions for a delicious contrast in texture.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch celery, chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 100ml (⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp) cream, or coconut milk for dairy-free
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 750ml (3 cups) vegetable or chicken stock, or water
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Spring onions and toasted almond flakes, for serving
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and sauté for about 5 minutes, until softened and fragrant. Season with a little salt and pepper.
- Add the cubed potatoes and pour in the stock, making sure the vegetables are fully submerged. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10–15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- Blend the soup until completely smooth, using a hand blender in the pot or in batches with a countertop blender.
- Stir in the cream and season again with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm, topped with toasted almond flakes and fresh spring onions, with crusty bread or croutons on the side.
