This cream of celery soup is healthy, easy, fresh, delicious and light. It’s naturally vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free (thanks to a little coconut milk).
It’s a good thing holidays are spaced out fairly evenly…so I have time to pile on the greens between the mounds of chocolate. Welcome to my version of balance. And so far, it seems to work.
With Valentine’s Day down (well, technically in a few hours) and St. Patricks Day looming on the horizon, I thought I’d retreat to this clean, green, fresh and light soup. Truth be told, I was also itching for a soup to batch cook, so I could fill up my little apartment freezer with ready-made, reheat-able meals. I thought this creamy celery soup sounded perfect.
Yes, it’s a cream of celery soup, but don’t let the creamy part fool you because I’ve kept it dairy-free. A lovely can of full-fat coconut milk is to thank for that. But really, this celery soup is just a bunch of sliced and diced celery, leek and onion. Talk about palate and gut cleansing.
But the best thing – it’s super easy. Just sauté those diced up veggies with garlic for 10 minutes, then simmer with chicken or vegetable stock to let all the flavors meld. If you have some fresh herbs on hand, toss those in as well. Once that’s done, you can either transfer the soup to a high-powered blender, or use a hand blender to mix right in the pot. For soups like this, I usually opt for the latter (because I’m a total klutz). A hand blender also gives you the option of how creamy or chunky you’d like to make it.
If you watched my Instagram stories this week, you saw my little pressie from KitchenAid in the mail – a brand new, cordless Pro Line Hand Blender. Excuse me while I swoon. I’ve always had a regular corded hand blender, but now that I have my fancy cordless hand blender, watch out. In fact, I’m so excited about it, it’s also likely to appear on a Facebook live demo – homemade mayonnaise anyone?
But I digress. Back to this cream of celery soup. It’s simple, fresh, delicious and light – and topped with celery leaves and a sprinkle of black pepper and paprika. It’s a perfect starter soup paired with a hearty meal, or a complete meal if you’re looking for lighter fare. Delicious either way.
Enjoy!
Cream of Celery Soup (dairy-free) Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion diced
- 1 leek cleaned, with white and light green parts diced
- 8 stalks celery diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup full-fat coconut milk
Garnish
- Celery leaves black pepper and paprika
Instructions
- Heat the oil in large pot on medium heat. Add the diced onion, leek and celery and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another minute or two, until fragrant.
- Add the stock and salt to the pot. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove the soup from the heat and add the coconut milk. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup, making it as creamy or chunky as you'd like. Alternatively, you can transfer the soup in batches to a high-powered blender to blend until creamy.
- Serve the soup and garnish with celery leaves and a sprinkle of black pepper and paprika.