by Kylie PerrottiPosted on August 19, 2022December 10, 2023
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This vegan roasted celery and potato soup is a great way to use up scrap veggies! This vegan soup recipe is a take on my favorite childhood soup.
Storytime! The first time I made this soup is when I was a teen. It’s my dad’s recipe, and he told me “JUST ONE CUP OF ELBOWS” before he left for work, but me being the carb monster that I am, decided that he was wrong and added the whole box. And that’s how I’ll never live down the cement soup tragedy where we couldn’t even get the spoon out of the pot.
This vegan version is much better than my first attempt 20 years ago! Usually, my dad would make it with potatoes, mushrooms, heavy cream, and elbows. To get big flavor plus creaminess without the dairy, I roasted celery first and then blended it with potatoes and some of the soup liquid and added it back to the soup. The finished product was SO good, and it’s such a great, cheap vegan soup recipe to throw together. If you aren’t vegan or dairy-free, you can certainly add a few splashes of cream at the end of cooking!
How to make this vegan roasted celery and potato soup recipe:
For this recipe, you need just a few ingredients:
A stalk of celery (about 10 ribs)
Yukon gold potatoes
Cremini mushrooms
Dry thyme
Water or vegetable stock
Elbow pasta
You can add more to this soup depending on your preferences. Try caramelizing an onion or adding minced garlic. This potato soup recipe would be great with carrots or sweet potatoes! You can add a can of beans to it for a bit of protein, too!
To make this recipe, simply roast the celery. Meanwhile, cook the ingredients for the soup in batches. Start by sautéing the mushrooms. Then add diced potatoes and dry thyme. Pour in water or vegetable stock and simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender.
From there, throw half the potatoes into a food processor along with the roasted celery and a bit of liquid from the pot. Blend until pureed. To finish it up, add bring the soup back to a boil and add the celery puree and the pasta. Boil until al dente. That’s it!
Cut the celery into thirds and arrange on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the oven for 30 minutes.
Cook the mushrooms and potatoes:
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot. Add the mushrooms and cook for 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt, and pepper, and add the dry thyme. Cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
Simmer the soup:
Pour in the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
Blend the potatoes and celery:
Once the potatoes are fork-tender, scoop out half them from the pot and transfer them to a food processor. Add roasted celery and a few spoonfuls of the hot broth and blend until puréed.
Cook the pasta:
Bring the soup back to a boil. Add the elbows and puréed celery and potatoes and cook until the pasta is al dente. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
To serve:
Ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish with dill, silk chili, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil if you like. Enjoy!
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.
Celery has a very distinctive flavour and I think it's one of those things you probably either like a lot or not at all. As part of a soffritto or in a large salad or vegetable mix, it remains more subtle, adding just a touch of sweetness, especially once cooked; raw there's a slight bitterness to it.
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.
Saute for about ten minutes or until the onions and celery soften a touch and expel some water. Stir in the garlic and add the stock. Bring to a simmer and let cook for another 10 minutes or until the celery, carrot and potatoes are just cooked through - resist the urge to over cook them into mush.
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.
Celery, carrots, and any other additions are meant to enhance the taste of the chicken, adding depth and variety. However, too many vegetables may change the taste entirely, turning it into vegetable soup with a side of chicken. Don't use too many vegetables when making the soup -- three or four is the sweet spot.
Celery is especially assertive, and it can give the both a bitter flavor if it's overused. Resourceful cooks can correct this error in several ways. Herbs are usually a better option, since many of them go well with chicken.
Herbs: Celery can be seasoned with a variety of herbs such as parsley, thyme, rosemary, and dill. Spices: Celery can be paired with spices such as black pepper, paprika, and celery seed. Nuts: Celery can be paired with nuts such as almonds, cashews, and walnuts for added texture and flavour.
The most tender and mild-tasting parts of celery are the inner stalks and leaves. The outer stalks and base tend to be tougher and more bitter. For a sweeter flavor, juice the inner 4-5 stalks and leaves of bunched celery.
Cornstarch is a very effective thickener, and a little bit can go a long way. Add cornstarch to a small amount of cold water or other liquid (wine or stock) and whisk into a thick slurry.
You can also add some grated cheese. I would use a hard cheese like Parmigiano or Romano. Now just season to taste. With a simple soup like potato, I would stick to salt and pepper only.
How do you keep potatoes from getting mushy in soup? Keeping the skins on your potatoes will help. Also key to remember is that when chopping the potatoes, the smaller they are the faster they will cook. So, don't be afraid to cut them a little on the larger side than you normally would.
It can provide polyphenols (can boost digestive and help protect again disease) and fiber and that may have prebiotic like effects, supporting the growth of good bacteria in our gut. Celery can also support our adrenals as a medium stalk contains around 30 milligrams of sodium.
Is limp, wilted celery OK to cook? Yes, you can cook and eat wilted celery, as long as it doesn't grow bacteria or smell revolting. Before you cook limp celery, though, you might as well try to revitalize it. You just need to chop the stalks off, fill your sink with some water, and set the limp celery in the sink.
Because celery is a source of phytonutrients, animal studies suggest it may suppress inflammation, potentially making it useful for those with chronic inflammatory conditions, like arthritis.
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.
Carrots, onions, garlic, celery, peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes are just some of the vegetables you can add to your bone broth to give it added flavor and nutritional value.
Celery is prized everywhere for its ability to add a tiny amount of bitterness to foods. Delicious food has a balance of all flavors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami (protein). If celery was left out of your turkey stuffing, vegetable soup, or potato salad, you would really miss it.
Introduction: My name is Patricia Veum II, I am a vast, combative, smiling, famous, inexpensive, zealous, sparkling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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