Cream of Celery Soup

When I was a kid, my favorite canned soup was cream of celery soup, but sadly it’s been many years since I’ve had it. I wanted to take advantage of the cooler weather and make a batch of this easy recipe for cream of celery soup I found on Simply Recipes. I absolutely LOVED how this soup turned out and so did my kids when I served them a bowl after school. Both of my kids deemed this soup really delicious and my son said it was really soothing on his sore throat. I have a feeling this one will be a regular in my house during cold and flu season.

Cream of Celery Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp butter, divided
• 5 ½ cups of celery chopped + 1 cup celery, finely diced (1 large bunch)
• 1 ½ cups sliced leeks white and light green parts only, sliced
• ½ yellow onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• ¼ cup of heavy cream
• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

How to Make Cream of Celery Soup

Make the celery soup by adding two tablespoons of butter to a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the 5 cups of celery,  leek, and onion to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Add the chicken broth and bay leaves. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer until the veggies are very tender, about 30 minutes.

Braise the remaining celery, by heating the last tablespoon of butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the finely diced celery and cook, stirring often, for 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup of the soup liquid to the pan to allow the celery to braise while the soup is simmering. Reduce the heat to simmer.

Blend the soup when the veggies are very tender. Remove the bay leaves from the soup and blend in batches with a very high-powered blender until creamy and smooth.

Add the cream to the soup and taste. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste. Add the braised celery and stir to combine. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately. Enjoy.