Celeriest Celery-Potato Soup Recipe on Food52 (2024)

One-Pot Wonders

by: Eric Kim

December30,2018

4.3

36 Ratings

  • Prep time 5 minutes
  • Cook time 25 minutes
  • Serves 1 (for the week)

Jump to Recipe

Author Notes

The thing I love most about this recipe is that it lets me use up all that leftover celery sitting at the bottom of my crisper drawer. Because: Raise your hand if you've ever bought an entire head of celery, only to be asked by a recipe for two measly ribs? (A stalk of celery is always so much cheaper than any of the pre-chopped, pre-sticked packages you can find at the store these days, which is why I never buy the latter.) Here's where you can put the other seven to eight ribs to use, finally, and enjoy a solo night of endless not-chewing. —Eric Kim

Test Kitchen Notes

Featured in: This Simple, Perfect Potato Soup Will Feed Your Soul All Weekend. —The Editors

  • Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients
  • 4 tablespoonsunsalted butter
  • 7 to 8 ribs celery, roughly chopped
  • 1 pound(usually 1 or 2) russet potatoes, roughly chopped
  • 1 large onion, roughly chopped
  • 3 cupswater, plus more as needed
  • 1 tablespoonchicken broth concentrate (such as Better Than Bouillon)*
  • 1 teaspooncelery seed, crushed in the palm of your hand
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
  1. Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven. Sauté the celery, potato, and onion until slightly softened, 4 to 5 minutes.
  2. Add the water and chicken concentrate (*or 3 cups of your favorite stock), bring to a boil, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
  3. Sprinkle in celery seed. In a blender or with a stick blender, puree soup until smooth, adding more water or stock as needed for desired thickness. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Tags:

  • Soup
  • American
  • Celery
  • Potato
  • One-Pot Wonders
  • Entree
  • Appetizer
  • Dinner
  • Lunch

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Anne

  • Jill Tennent

  • Lena Mon

  • Beverly Holley

  • Cheryl

Eric Kim was the Table for One columnist at Food52. He is currently working on his first cookbook, KOREAN AMERICAN, to be published by Clarkson Potter in 2022. His favorite writers are William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway, but his hero is Nigella Lawson. You can find his bylines at The New York Times, where he works now as a writer. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @ericjoonho.

Popular on Food52

21 Reviews

Anne November 29, 2022

This is deflicious and easy soup. I added some garlic powder, a healthy bit of pepper and cubed up a ham steak to add at the end. I used an immersion blender and left it chunky. Yummy!

Jill T. November 28, 2022

Love this soup so much - it’s so easy and delicious and non-dairy (I can handle butter) yet still creamy! I make it all the time. Celery seed is a great addition but honestly not required - don’t let that scare you off.

Linda D. July 10, 2020

I have made this soup at least a half dozen times by now! We love it! So easy and delicious. Like Linda K., I didn't have celery seeds so took her tip about using the celery leaves. Yum! Thank you so much, Eric.

saraagol9 April 8, 2020

made this soup! Absolutely delicious! Substituted gold potatoes for russet potatoes just because I prefer them. Have made twice this week!

Lena M. March 30, 2020

I just happened to have all the ingredients for this soup. Made it according to this recipe. My family loved it! They asked me to include it in our favorite recipe rotation!

Beverly H. March 29, 2020

Just made this. In times of the CV-19 pandemic you work with what is on hand. I searched for a recipe for "old celery" and this came up. I didn't have regular potatoes but I had white sweet potatoes and the worked out just fine. Delicious soup under any circ*mstances!

Beverly H. March 29, 2020

Also used homemade turkey broth I had made and frozen earlier.

teenykitchenlife December 2, 2019

This is so good, and so easy! It's maybe 45 minutes from start to finish. It's one of only a handful of recipes that I haven't modified to make it more to my taste!

Cheryl March 29, 2019

This was good. I used homemade vegetable broth and used about 1-1/2+ lbs potato. Next time I'd stick with 1 lb.

Linda K. January 28, 2019

This is a great soup - did not have celery seeds so chopped up the fresh celery leaves, made it with shallots, added water and cut strips of fresh spinach! So yum! Thanks Eric!

Alyson C. January 28, 2019

This soup is wonderful with the recipe exactly as written! Lovely and rich and it’s terrific to get that result without having used milk or cream.

Renee B. January 21, 2019

I made this today fully expecting to modify it since there were so few ingredients and virtually no spices. That notion vanished the moment I tasted it right from the pot. So delicious! I did not have celery seed but had dried celery leaves long ago and made celery salt so used that instead. Fantastic. I've already shared the recipe with friends via email and on Facebook. This might be the easiest soup I've ever made—and it took just shy of 40 minutes from start to finish. Thanks so much for sharing it.

Eric K. January 25, 2019

That makes me so happy; thank YOU for sharing it.

robin L. January 20, 2019

I just made this. Delicious!

Eric K. January 25, 2019

Kewl.

lin January 19, 2019

his soup food my clan four hor weedkens.

Eric K. January 25, 2019

Awesome!

Lune January 15, 2019

What a great simple soup recipe! Luscious without using any cream. I added a dash of curry just to zang it up, but it was stunning just the way it was. Merci Eric for a recipe I can do on a week night and have leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Eric K. January 25, 2019

Merci, Lune.

Mary January 13, 2019

Good base soup - a lot like cream of celery soup, but not as heavy. The celery is definitely the star here and there isn’t a whole lot else going on, and as such I found it a perfect starting point for something really fun. I mixed it up easily with lots of fun garnishes because who wants to eat the exact same thing every day... once with some dill, chives, parsley, and sour cream (think celery with ranch dip), once with some white cheddar, bacon bits, and sour cream (like a loaded baked potato), and once with some lemon zest and olive oil infused with garlic and thyme. Since celery goes with pretty much anything savory there’s a lot you can do here!

Eric K. January 25, 2019

That sounds so delicious, Mary.

Celeriest Celery-Potato Soup Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

Does celery make soup better? ›

i've made a celery soup with wild rice before and was amazed at the depth and earthiness that celery adds as a featured ingredient. I love how you did the celery drizzle with the celery leaves... I always end up discarding them, but now I'll think twice!

How to improve bland potato soup? ›

Try adding a little more salt. That's usually the answer to any issue of blandness, no matter the recipe in question. A basic Appalachian style potato soup uses only a handful of simple ingredients, leaning on milk and water and often bouillon to create the brothy soup base.

How to make baked potato soup thicker? ›

To thicken potato soup without creating lumps, you can use a roux made of equal parts butter and flour. Melt the butter in a separate pan, add the flour, and whisk until smooth. Slowly whisk the roux into the soup, and let it simmer until thickened.

Is celery salt good in soup? ›

Celery salt is good on buttered corn-on-the cob, green beans, in soups, in yogurt, sprinkled over eggs. It's great on things like macaroni salad, or egg salad, this shaved fennel salad, or this buttermilk farro salad.

When not to use celery? ›

Don't use celery if you have high or low thyroid levels or are taking medication for a thyroid disorder.

Should I saute celery before adding to soup? ›

While certain vegetables can work just fine added directly to simmering soups and stews (say, carrots and celery), other vegetables (onions, garlic, and the like) will almost always need at least a brief sweat in a fat-based liquid before adding the remaining ingredients.

What can I add to potato soup to add flavor? ›

Cheese: I recommend a good sharp cheddar cheese here for maximum flavor. Greek yogurt or sour cream: To make the soup extra-creamy. Salt and pepper: Add in as much as you need at the end to season your soup well.

How can I deepen my soup flavor? ›

Dried herbs and seasonings: homemade seasoned salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, and dried bay leaves lend flavor to the soup.

How do I increase the depth of flavor in soup? ›

Add acidic ingredients.

Foods that have a great deal of acidity, like lemon juice, vinegar, white wine, and tomato puree, can help liven up the flavor of bland-tasting bone and other broths. "The acidity of these ingredients works to complement and enhance the broth's flavors, not mask it.

Why isn't my potato soup creamy? ›

So what do you do if you've made the mistake of using starchy potatoes in your soup? One trick to make your potato soup a little less grainy is to add some form of dairy –- cream, milk, or even cheese. Because dairy is generally creamy in texture, that characteristic will carry over into your soup.

Will cream cheese thicken potato soup? ›

Cream cheese can be a delicious and tangy thickener for mashed potatoes so it stands to reason that it can also be used to add body to your favorite silky potato soup recipes — right? The answer is yes. It only works well if you do it carefully, though.

Does sour cream thicken soup? ›

Cream, crème frâiche and sour cream add a luxuriously rich flavour and silky texture to soups, but you need to wait until the soup has cooled a little first, or they will curdle. Remove the soup from the heat and wait for a minute or two after it stops boiling, then stir in the creamy thickener of your choice.

When should you add celery to soup? ›

But once those vegetables are exhausted, they're strained and switched out for a fresh set of thinly sliced celery and carrot. These are added for the final 4–5 minutes of cooking so that they're tender but nowhere near mushy. You get the sweet luxury of long-cooked vegetables and the freshness of crisp-tender ones.

What does celery do in soup? ›

Celery stalks often play a supporting (albeit crucial) role in comforting soups and holiday sides, but their sharp herbal flavor takes center stage in this cream of celery soup recipe. To coax the most flavor out of the veg, sauté the chopped celery with a potato and onion in plenty of butter until soft and tender.

What is the secret ingredient in celery salt? ›

The primary ingredient is table salt and the flavouring agent is ground seeds from celery or its relative lovage. It is also sometimes produced using dried celery or seed oleoresin.

What does celery do to soup? ›

Celery stalks often play a supporting (albeit crucial) role in comforting soups and holiday sides, but their sharp herbal flavor takes center stage in this cream of celery soup recipe. To coax the most flavor out of the veg, sauté the chopped celery with a potato and onion in plenty of butter until soft and tender.

What is the point of celery in soup? ›

Celery also is one of the holy trinity of vegetables, along with peppers and onions, found in traditional Cajun dishes, such as gumbo and jambalaya. Celery can enhance flavors and add texture to dishes, such as salads, soups and stews.

Why do we add celery to soup? ›

Mirepoix is an aromatic blend of ingredients made to bring flavors to foods like stews, soups, stocks, and broth. This trinity food is made by slowly cooking carrot, onion, and celery to “sweat” out the flavor and create a delicious base for other recipes to be built upon.

Why do people put celery in soups? ›

But once those vegetables are exhausted, they're strained and switched out for a fresh set of thinly sliced celery and carrot. These are added for the final 4–5 minutes of cooking so that they're tender but nowhere near mushy. You get the sweet luxury of long-cooked vegetables and the freshness of crisp-tender ones.

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