Discover the best French cream of celery soup recipe that is velvety, aromatic, and deeply nourishing. Easy, affordable, and beautifully flavorful with classic French techniques.
After learning how to make celery soup, try these delicious soups: Watercress Soup, Easy Garlic Soup, or Colorful Creamy Pumpkin Soup!
It will keep in the refrigerator for several days, but if you do want to keep it to use later, don't add the cream until you need it. Instead, reheat the soup and then add the cream warmed just before serving.
Celery is not only good for making this soup, but it is also one of the vegetables to have ready when you need to make a good stock or soup, as it can be used with carrots, onions, and garlic to flavor many, many dishes. I always keep some in my refrigerator at the ready.
🍴Kitchen Tools
▶ Large soup pot with lid
▶ Dutch oven
▶ Sharp knife
▶ Cutting board
▶ Wooden spoon
▶ Blender or
▶ immersion blender
▶ Ladle
💁🏻♀️What To Serve With This Soup
If celery soup is your main dish:
- Serve it with French bread or crusty baguettes.
- A quick and easy salad like Lyonnaise Salad.
- For something different, Pissaladière, a pizza-like dish.
📖 Recipe
Prep Like a Pro
Before you start cooking, chop, measure, and prep every ingredient, and gather your tools.
This simple habit reduces stress, prevents overcooking, and instantly improves your meals. Mise en Place - "Everything in its place."
Easy Creamy Celery Soup Recipe
Equipment
- Large soup pot OR
- Dutch oven
- Sharp knife
- Wooden spoon
- Blender OR
- Immersion blender
Ingredients
- 1½ lb celery large bunch celery (about 10-12 stalks)
- 2 potatoes medium size
- 1 onion medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 oz butter
- 1 litre vegetable or chicken stock, warm
- ½ pint milk warmed
- 2 oz double cream warmed or crème fraîche
- ½ teaspoon Salt and pepper
- garnish celery and/or parsley leaves, croutons, drizzle of olive oil, dollop sour cream or crème fraîche
Instructions
- Prepare the celery by cleaning, trimming, and chopping small, including some of the leaves for added flavor, and setting aside some leaves for garnish.
- Peel and chop the potatoes into small pieces and place in a bowl of water. (to prevent them turning brown)
- Peel and chop the onion into small pieces.
- Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan, large enough to hold all the ingredients.
- Cook the onions and celery until soft, do not brown, should take no longer than 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic in the last minute.
- Add the stock, milk, salt, and pepper. Stir well and finally the potatoes.
- Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Do not boil hard or you will loose the beautiful bright, green color. When potatoes are tender when a knife blade is inserted, blend soup.
- Use an immersion blender in the pot to blend the soup until smooth, being very careful not to lift the blades above the soup surface, or you will splatter hot soup. Or fill a blender/liquidizer half full with hot soup, with lid on, starting on low and gradually working higher, blend it until the mixture is smooth. You can drape a kitchen towel over the stand blender as an extra precaution against the soup leaking out the top.
- Return to pan and gradually add the cream or crème fraîche, whisking gently to mix it in.
- Serve with the celery leaves sprinkled on top. (Parsley could also be used if preferred)
- Serve with a dollop of sour cream or my favorite crème fraîche, a squeeze of lemon juice, crusty bread, and croutons!
- NOTE: Stir sour cream in slowly to prevent curdling or use crème fraîche with no worries, as it is heat-stable. Get my homemade crème fraîche recipe below in the notes. It is cheap to make and so yummy!
Notes
- Sautéing the celery and onions (no browning) is the secret to deep flavor.
- Add a squeeze of lemon at the end to brighten the soup.
- If your celery is older, peel the tough outer strings for a smoother texture.
- For extra richness, add a small knob of butter right before blending.
- Celery leaves are liquid gold; don't omit them.
- A pinch of nutmeg makes the soup taste mysteriously "French."
- If you want a restaurant‑style finish, strain the soup through a fine sieve after blending.
- Warming the liquids first helps to prevent curdling when all ingredients are mixed together.
Caroline Enemark says
Your directions need correcting. You say add water when it should be stock. There is also no mention of adding the garlic. Haven’t tasted it yet. We’ll see as I’ve added the garlic with the final ingredients!
Judith says
Hi Caroline,
My apologies, the recipe is corrected now. Hope you enjoy it. It is one of my readers' favourite recipes! 🤩
Audrey Schonwalder says
When do you add the milk?
Judith Coates says
Hi Audrey
Thank you for considering one of my recipes! The milk is added near the end with the cream. I have made the change in the recipe. Please let me know how it turns out!