This hearty vegan cream of celery soup tastes just like the classic, yet without dairy. It’s rich, creamy, and pure vegan comfort food! Using a few simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen; this easy soup is a family favorite! Rich creamy classic comfort food like mom used to make... only made vegan!
This vegan cream of celery soup is gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and can be made soy-free too.
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🧾 Ingredients
- Broth - I like to use the Not Chick’n broth cubes because my family likes that flavor, but any vegetable broth will work.
- Celery - Because it's cream of celery soup.
- Garlic powder - for flavor. You can also use onion powder or fresh garlic.
- Nutritional Yeast - For a savory slightly cheesy flavor (optional). You can learn more about nutritional yeast in this detailed post.
- Salt and Pepper - to season the soup. I like to add a dash of red pepper flakes for more flavor and a little heat.
- Turmeric - For color and nutritional benefits.
- Plant-Based Milk - Any plain flavored plant-based milk will make it creamy. You also may want to use unsweetened milk if you don’t want it too sweet. I like to use soy milk or oat milk in this soup since they are thick and creamy, but you can also use almond milk or any other you prefer.
- Fat - Any neutral-flavored oil or vegan butter or margarine will work to make a vegan roux.
- Flour - Regular all-purpose flour will work well to make a vegan roux to thicken the soup. If you need it to be gluten-free, I find the gluten-free flour mix from Trader Joe's works the best for making a gluten-free roux. You can also omit the roux method and make your soup fat-free and gluten-free by using corn or potato starch to thicken it.
🔪 Helpful tools
- 2 soup pots - One for making the broth and 1 for making the roux.
- A ladle - For scooping up the broth.
- Whisk - For stirring the roux.
🥄 Instructions
- Heat the broth and some spices in a soup pot.
- Add chopped celery to the pot and simmer.
- Once the celery is soft, add the plant-based milk of choice.
Thicken the soup by making a roux.
- Heat oil or soy margarine in a separate soup pot.
- Add flour to the oil and stir the mixture with a whisk until smooth. It will start to bubble and thicken slightly and look like the picture below.
- Skim off ladles full of the broth out of your soup, leaving large pieces of celery behind.
- Add the hot broth from the celery soup one ladle at a time, stirring well between each scoop.
- Add the remaining soup with the celery once most of the broth has been incorporated into the roux.
👩🏻🍳 Pro tips
- When you first add the broth to the oil and flour mixture, it will become very thick at first and look like a paste. (Like the picture below). Don’t worry, it will thin out and be the right consistency once you add all the broth.
- Be sure to stir it well between each ladle of broth to keep it smooth.
- Use a spoon to scrape the bottom corners of the pan to make sure to get any of the roux that has stuck to the corners.
❓Frequently asked questions
You can make a roux using gluten-free flour instead of wheat flour. Just be sure to use a gluten-free flour mix that does not contain sorghum flour. When I have tried it using any mixes with sorghum flour, it has had a weird slimy texture. I usually use the general gluten-free flour mix from Trader Joe’s and it works well for me every time.
If you want this soup to be fat-free, simply thicken it with cornstarch (or potato starch) and water. (Use ¼ cup cornstarch dissolved in ½ cup cold water and then add it to the hot broth at the end once all other ingredients have been added. Then heat it until it bubbles and thickens). This is still a delicious soup made this way, just not quite as rich and creamy as the roux method.
I haven’t found a person yet who doesn’t love this soup! It tastes great the next day too, so make a big pot and enjoy it in lunches too!
🥘 Serving suggestions
Serve it with some vegan Caesar salad, vegan cheddar bay biscuits, vegan focaccia, or gluten-free vegan breadsticks, and make it a meal!
🥡 Storage and reheating
Refrigerator: The vegan cream of celery soup will keep well in the fridge for 3 - 5 days in a sealed container.
Freezing: This soup can be stored in the freezer for later, just be sure to use an airtight container or freezer bag and it will keep well up to 3 months in the freezer!
Defrosting: Allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Reheating: Reheat one serving at a time in the microwave for 3-4 minutes or in a pot on the stovetop until warm. You may want to add a few tablespoons of water if reheating on the stovetop to account for evaporation.
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
A rich and creamy vegan cream of celery soup that tastes just like the classic, without dairy.
- 6 cups water
- 2 cubes Not Chick'n Broth Or other veggie bullion or use vegetable broth instead of water
- 4 cups celery chopped (2 large celery hearts)
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 cup plain soy milk or other plain plant-based milk
- 1/2 cup vegan margarine or oil
- 1/2 cup white flour or GF flour mix without sorghum flour
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Bring the water or broth and spices (turmeric, garlic, salt, nutritional yeast) to a slow boil in a medium-sized soup pot.
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Add the chopped celery and simmer at a slow boil for about 8 minutes until celery is tender.
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Add the plant-based milk of choice and turn heat to low to just keep warm.
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Heat the margarine or oil over medium-low heat and sprinkle in the flour.
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Stir with a whisk until it mixes completely and starts to bubble.
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Add celery soup one ladle at a time and stir well with the whisk between each ladle full. (Carefully try to scoop out the broth leaving the chunks of celery in the original pot until most of the broth has been added and the thickened broth is smooth and creamy).
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Continue to ladle a small amount of the soup into the roux stirring well between each scoop until all of the soup is now in the pot with the roux.
- To make this fat free you can also use 1/4 cup of corn starch mixed with 1/2 cup of cold water and add it to the soup at the end of cooking.
- The roux method is a little labor-intensive, but well worth it for what it does for the richness and taste of the soup.
- Do not try this with gluten-free flour mixes that contain sorghum flour. For some reason, it gets a slimy consistency.
Note- to make this lower fat, you can reduce the oil in the roux to 1/4 cup.
*This recipe was originally published on May 16, 2018. It was updated on February 25, 2022, to include new images and more detailed information.
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