Celery soup

Good celery soup is built on two parts of the same plant: celery root gives body, a nutty sweetness and a velvety texture, and the stalks bring the sharp green aroma. One potato holds it all together, and in the fennel version you get a gentle touch of anise.

Pot calculatorOrder Celery soup

VeganGluten freeDairy freeParveAllergens:Celery

Updated

Celery soupIllustration
Time1 h 5 minCook 45 min
Pot6 bowls2.1 litres
Per bowl162 kcal3.5 g protein · a 350 ml bowl
Cost of the pot₪22for the pot, about ₪3.6 a bowl

The story of Celery soup

Celery root and stalk celery are the same plant, bred in two directions: one for the swollen base below ground, the other for the stalks. In French cooking and the kitchens of Central Europe, celery root is a respected winter vegetable that reaches the table as a cream, a purée or a grated salad. In most of the world's soups celery works behind the scenes, in the base of a stock, and only here is it the star.

In Israel celery root is familiar to anyone who grew up on Friday chicken soup; it is a fixed part of the bundle of soup vegetables. The markets sell two kinds of celery: thick stalk celery, and the thin, fragrant leaf celery of Iraqi and Kurdish kitchens. As a soup in its own right, celery is mostly a winter cream soup, alone or with zucchini, potatoes or fennel.

What makes Celery soup itself

The secret of celery soup is the balance between root and stalk. Root alone gives a gentle, slightly sweet but flat soup; stalks alone give a sharp, green and stringy one. At roughly three parts root to one part stalk you get a soup with both body and aroma. The stalks are peeled of their strings before cooking, the root waits in lemon water so it does not darken, and the salt goes in only at the end, because celery is naturally a little salty.

Celery soup for any number of people

Change the number of people and the bowl size, and every ingredient updates in grams, with the cost, calories and protein per bowl.

Bowl size
Units
2.1litres in the pot
3Pot to use, litres
₪22Cost of the pot
₪3.6per bowl
162kcal per bowl
3.5g protein per bowl
IngredientAmountCost
The base
Olive oil40 ml₪2.1
Onion, chopped200 g · 1 pcs₪1.2
Garlic cloves, sliced10 g · 2 pcs₪0.4
The celery
Celery root, peeled, in 2 cm cubes700 g · 1 pcs₪10
Celery stalks, strings peeled, sliced250 g · 5 pcs₪4.9
Potato, diced250 g · 1 pcs₪1.5
The liquid and seasoning
Water1.2 l
Bay leaf1 g · 1 pcs₪0.4
Salt10 g₪0.0
White pepper1 g₪0.3
Grated nutmeg0.5 g₪0.2
Lemon juice10 ml₪0.2
Celery leaves, chopped, to serve10 g₪0.4
Send on WhatsApp

Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026. Nutrition from the ingredients in grams, before cooking.

How many calories in Celery soup? Nutrition facts and calorie calculator

Change the amount of any ingredient, drop one, or pick a lighter version, and the numbers per serving update at once: calories, fat, carbs, protein, sodium and fibre.

Celery soup has 46 calories per 100 ml. A 350 ml bowl made with our recipe has 162 calories: 3.5 g protein, 6.7 g fat and 20.3 g carbohydrates. A 250 ml cup has 116 calories.

Lighter

Ingredients, for the whole recipe

  • 40 ml54 kcal per serving
  • 1 pcs13 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs2 kcal per serving
  • 1 pcs51 kcal per serving
  • 5 pcs7 kcal per serving
  • 1 pcs32 kcal per serving
  • 1 pcs1 kcal per serving
  • 10 g0 kcal per serving
  • 1 g0 kcal per serving
  • 1 g0 kcal per serving
  • 10 ml0 kcal per serving
  • 10 g0 kcal per serving

What each add-on adds to Celery soup

Values for the amount in the row, from the national food database.

Add-onCaloriesProtein, gFat, g
A tablespoon of oil122013.8
A slice of white bread792.50.5
A slice of challah12641.1

How to make Celery soup

In cook mode the screen stays on, tap a step when it is done, and the timers run next to each step.
  1. Peel the celery root with a knife, including the hollows around the rootlets, and cut it into 2 cm cubes. Keep the cubes in a bowl of water with a little lemon juice until cooking.
  2. Peel the strings from the outer side of the stalks with a vegetable peeler and slice them. Dice the potato and chop the onion.
  3. In a 4 litre pot, warm the olive oil over medium low heat and sweat the onion with a pinch of salt for 7 minutes, until soft but not browned. Add the garlic for a minute.
  4. Add the celery stalks and sweat for 5 minutes, then add the drained root cubes and the potato and stir for 2 minutes so they are coated in oil.
  5. Add the water and bay leaf, bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes, until the celery root is very soft and crushes easily.
  6. Remove the bay leaf and blend for 3 minutes until completely smooth. For a perfect texture, push it through a sieve to catch any remaining strings.
  7. Taste before salting, and only then season with salt, white pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice. Heat for 2 minutes, and if the soup is too thick, thin it with boiling water.
  8. Serve with chopped celery leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.

The science of Celery soup

Kitchen science

Where the aroma of celery soup comes from

Celery's characteristic smell comes from a group of compounds called phthalides. They do not only smell of celery; they also make a soup taste rounder, sweeter and deeper, which is why celery goes into almost every stock. With cooking, the fresh green notes of raw celery fade and give way to cooked aromas, so stalks added later keep more freshness.

Kitchen science

Why celery root darkens after cutting

Celery root cells contain an enzyme, polyphenol oxidase, which meets phenolic compounds and oxygen when you cut and produces brown pigments. Water limits contact with oxygen, and lemon lowers the pH to a range where the enzyme works slowly. Once the root is cooked, heat deactivates the enzyme and the darkening stops.

Kitchen science

The strings in the stalks

Tough fibres run along the outside of a celery stalk: transport tubes made of cellulose that do not soften with cooking or break in a blender. That is why soup made from unpeeled stalks feels stringy even after long blending. One pass of a peeler over the outer side, or a sieve at the end, solves it.

Kitchen science

Why the salt goes in last

Celery is relatively rich in natural sodium for a vegetable, and some of the water evaporates during cooking and concentrates the taste. Anyone who salts at the start out of habit ends up with a salty soup. Taste after blending, and only then season.

Kitchen science

What fennel does to the soup

Fennel's scent comes mainly from anethole, the same compound that gives anise its aroma. Anethole is volatile, and with cooking it fades from a sharp sweetness to a gentle hint. So cooked fennel blends quietly with celery, and raw fennel fronds on top bring the fresh scent back.

Celery soup in every kitchen

Celery and zucchini

Replace the potato with 400 g of sliced zucchini and use 200 ml less water, because zucchini release liquid. The soup is lighter and greener.

Celery and potato

Double the potatoes to 500 g and add 200 ml of water. The soup comes out thick and rustic, and it is good finished with chopped dill.

Celery and fennel

Replace the stalks and 200 g of the root with two sliced fennel bulbs, about 500 g. Serve with the chopped fennel fronds and a little orange zest; the gentle anise of fennel softens the celery.

With apple

Cook a tart green apple, peeled and chopped, with the root. It is a classic French pairing: the apple adds sweetness and a soft acidity, and you can skip the lemon.

Dairy

Sweat in butter instead of olive oil and finish with 100 ml of cream or a spoonful of grated hard cheese. The soup is richer, and it is dairy.

Common Celery soup problems and how to fix them

My celery soup is stringy

The stalks were not peeled of their strings. Push the soup through a fine sieve with the back of a spoon. Next time run a peeler along the outer side of each stalk before slicing.

My celery soup is bitter

Too many leaves or dark outer stalks went in. Balance with another cooked, blended potato, a cooked apple or a little lemon, and in a dairy version with a spoonful of cream.

The soup came out greyish, not pale

The celery root darkened before cooking, or the stalks cooked too long. Keep the cubes in lemon water, and add a small handful of blended leaves at the end for colour.

The soup is too salty

The salt went in at the start and the celery added its own. Boil a potato separately in unsalted water, blend it into the soup and thin it slightly with boiling water.

The celery taste is too strong

There were too many stalks for the amount of root. Add more root or a cooked potato, and next time keep to roughly three parts root to one part stalk.

Storing, freezing and reheating

3 days

In the fridge

3 months

In the freezer

2+4

To cool

Bring it from 60 to 21 °C within two hours and down to 5 °C within four more. Split a big pot into shallow boxes.

75 °C

Reheating

Reheat over low heat, stirring, and thin with a little water because the soup thickens in the fridge. After thawing, blend for a few seconds to bring back the velvet, and add fresh leaves only when serving.

Nutrition of Celery soup

From our recipe, per bowl and per 100 g, next to the national food database.

ServingkcalProtein, gFat, gCarbs, gFibre, g
Our recipe, a 350 ml bowl1623.56.720.34.5
Our recipe, 100 ml461.01.95.81.3

What the ingredients of Celery soup cost

What each ingredient costs in one pot, and where to buy it.

IngredientPriceIn this potWhere to buy
Celery root, peeled, in 2 cm cubes₪15 per kg₪10Greengrocer
Celery stalks, strings peeled, sliced₪6.9 each₪4.9Greengrocer
Olive oil₪53 per litre₪2.1Supermarket
Potato, diced₪5.9 per kg₪1.5Greengrocer
Onion, chopped₪5.9 per kg₪1.2Greengrocer
Bay leaf₪360 per kg₪0.4Supermarket
Garlic cloves, sliced₪34 per kg₪0.3Greengrocer
Celery leaves, chopped, to serve₪6.9 each₪0.3Greengrocer
White pepper₪250 per kg₪0.2Supermarket
Grated nutmeg₪398 per kg₪0.2Supermarket
Lemon juice₪20 per litre₪0.2Supermarket
Salt₪2.1 per kg₪0Supermarket

Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026, VAT included. Vegetable prices change with the season.

Make Celery soup a meal

Shabbat

Ready Shabbat food

Soup, hamin, mains and sides, with a quantity calculator and prices.

Plan Shabbat
Hosting

Hosting trays

9 trays to go with the soup, with a planner by number of guests.

Tray planner
Events

Catering

A whole menu in grams per guest, with a reheating table.

Menus

What to serve with Celery soup

Serve with croutons of country bread, a drizzle of olive oil and chopped celery leaves. A slice of toasted rye bread beside the bowl suits the earthy taste of the root.

Celery soup in large quantities: events, offices and communities

How much of everything by number of guests, at a 350 ml bowl. For institutional pots, catering and community kitchens.

GuestsLitres30 l potsCost of ingredients
258.81₪91
50181₪182
100352₪363
200703₪726
5001757₪1,816

Every ingredient for any number of guests is in the calculator above: type the number of people.

Order Celery soup

A ready pot for Shabbat, an event or the office, ordered ahead.

  • Cooked to order, for Shabbat, an event or the office.
  • Tell us how many people and when, and we send a quote.
  • Delivery in Tel Aviv from ₪35, free over ₪750.
Ask for a quote for Celery soup

Order Celery soup for a large event

Large orders in Israel and abroad: events, offices, synagogues, communities and institutions.

  • In Israel: cooked in Tel Aviv and delivered to events in the area, and to large events anywhere in the country on a quote.
  • Abroad: for communities, events and restaurants. Tell us where, how many and when, and we come back with a quote and options.
  • Institutional quantities and a shopping list for any number of guests, in the calculator above.
Ask for a large-order quote

Frequently asked questions

How do you make celery soup?

Sweat onion and garlic in olive oil, add peeled celery stalks, cubes of celery root and a potato, and simmer in water for 30 minutes. Blend until smooth and season at the end with salt, white pepper, nutmeg and lemon.

Should celery soup be made from the root or the stalks?

Best from both. The root gives body and velvet, and the stalks give aroma. The ratio that works is about three parts root to one part stalk.

How do you make celery and zucchini soup?

Replace the potato with 400 g of zucchini and use 200 ml less water. The zucchini go in 15 minutes before blending, and the soup comes out lighter and greener.

How do you make celery and potato soup?

Double the potatoes to 500 g and add 200 ml of water. The soup comes out thick and filling, and it is still parve.

How do you make celery and fennel soup?

Replace the stalks and 200 g of the celery root with two sliced fennel bulbs. The fennel cooks in the same time, and its green fronds are kept for garnish.

Is celery soup parve?

Yes, this recipe is parve and vegan. A version with butter, cream or cheese is dairy, and a version made on chicken stock is meat and has no dairy.

How do you peel celery root?

Cut a slice off the top and bottom so it stands steady, and take the skin off with a knife from top to bottom, a few millimetres thick. Cut out the hollows around the rootlets with the tip of the knife.

How many calories are in Celery soup?

A 350 ml bowl of Celery soup made with our recipe has about 162 calories and 3.5 g of protein. Per 100 ml: 46 calories.

How much does it cost to make Celery soup at home?

A pot of 6 bowls costs about ₪22 at Israeli shelf prices in October 2026, about ₪3.6 a bowl. The calculator above works it out for any number of people.

Every soup in Israel

75 soups, each with a pot calculator, a price list and the science. Search by community, time, calories or cost.

All the soups

More soups

Root vegetable soupIllustration
Israeli, Ashkenazi

Root vegetable soup

Root vegetable soup at its most wintry is this white one: celery root, parsley root, parsnip, kohlrabi and…

Zucchini soupIllustration
Israeli

Zucchini soup

Zucchini soup is the fastest soup an Israeli fridge can produce: zucchini, an onion, one potato and dill, and…

Potato soupIllustration
Ashkenazi, Israeli

Potato soup

Potato soup is the simplest soup there is, which is exactly why it is easy to ruin. Half blended and half in…

Leek soupIllustration
French, Israeli

Leek soup

Leek soup is gentle and sweet, and all it needs is leeks, potatoes, olive oil and patience: sweat the leeks…