One-Pot Wonders
by: Eric Kim
December30,2018
4.3
36 Ratings
- Prep time 5 minutes
- Cook time 25 minutes
- Serves 1 (for the week)
Jump to Recipe
Author Notes
The thing I love most about this recipe is that it lets me use up all that leftover celery sitting at the bottom of my crisper drawer. Because: Raise your hand if you've ever bought an entire head of celery, only to be asked by a recipe for two measly ribs? (A stalk of celery is always so much cheaper than any of the pre-chopped, pre-sticked packages you can find at the store these days, which is why I never buy the latter.) Here's where you can put the other seven to eight ribs to use, finally, and enjoy a solo night of endless not-chewing. —Eric Kim
Test Kitchen Notes
Featured in: This Simple, Perfect Potato Soup Will Feed Your Soul All Weekend. —The Editors
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoonsunsalted butter
- 7 to 8 ribs celery, roughly chopped
- 1 pound(usually 1 or 2) russet potatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cupswater, plus more as needed
- 1 tablespoonchicken broth concentrate (such as Better Than Bouillon)*
- 1 teaspooncelery seed, crushed in the palm of your hand
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
- Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven. Sauté the celery, potato, and onion until slightly softened, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the water and chicken concentrate (*or 3 cups of your favorite stock), bring to a boil, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle in celery seed. In a blender or with a stick blender, puree soup until smooth, adding more water or stock as needed for desired thickness. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Tags:
- Soup
- American
- Celery
- Potato
- One-Pot Wonders
- Entree
- Appetizer
- Dinner
- Lunch
See what other Food52ers are saying.
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Anne
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Jill Tennent
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Lena Mon
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Beverly Holley
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Cheryl
Recipe by: Eric Kim
Eric Kim was the Table for One columnist at Food52. He is currently working on his first cookbook, KOREAN AMERICAN, to be published by Clarkson Potter in 2022. His favorite writers are William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway, but his hero is Nigella Lawson. You can find his bylines at The New York Times, where he works now as a writer. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @ericjoonho.
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21 Reviews
Anne November 29, 2022
This is deflicious and easy soup. I added some garlic powder, a healthy bit of pepper and cubed up a ham steak to add at the end. I used an immersion blender and left it chunky. Yummy!
Jill T. November 28, 2022
Love this soup so much - it’s so easy and delicious and non-dairy (I can handle butter) yet still creamy! I make it all the time. Celery seed is a great addition but honestly not required - don’t let that scare you off.
Linda D. July 10, 2020
I have made this soup at least a half dozen times by now! We love it! So easy and delicious. Like Linda K., I didn't have celery seeds so took her tip about using the celery leaves. Yum! Thank you so much, Eric.
saraagol9 April 8, 2020
made this soup! Absolutely delicious! Substituted gold potatoes for russet potatoes just because I prefer them. Have made twice this week!
Lena M. March 30, 2020
I just happened to have all the ingredients for this soup. Made it according to this recipe. My family loved it! They asked me to include it in our favorite recipe rotation!
Beverly H. March 29, 2020
Just made this. In times of the CV-19 pandemic you work with what is on hand. I searched for a recipe for "old celery" and this came up. I didn't have regular potatoes but I had white sweet potatoes and the worked out just fine. Delicious soup under any circ*mstances!
Beverly H. March 29, 2020
Also used homemade turkey broth I had made and frozen earlier.
teenykitchenlife December 2, 2019
This is so good, and so easy! It's maybe 45 minutes from start to finish. It's one of only a handful of recipes that I haven't modified to make it more to my taste!
Cheryl March 29, 2019
This was good. I used homemade vegetable broth and used about 1-1/2+ lbs potato. Next time I'd stick with 1 lb.
Linda K. January 28, 2019
This is a great soup - did not have celery seeds so chopped up the fresh celery leaves, made it with shallots, added water and cut strips of fresh spinach! So yum! Thanks Eric!
Alyson C. January 28, 2019
This soup is wonderful with the recipe exactly as written! Lovely and rich and it’s terrific to get that result without having used milk or cream.
Renee B. January 21, 2019
I made this today fully expecting to modify it since there were so few ingredients and virtually no spices. That notion vanished the moment I tasted it right from the pot. So delicious! I did not have celery seed but had dried celery leaves long ago and made celery salt so used that instead. Fantastic. I've already shared the recipe with friends via email and on Facebook. This might be the easiest soup I've ever made—and it took just shy of 40 minutes from start to finish. Thanks so much for sharing it.
Eric K. January 25, 2019
That makes me so happy; thank YOU for sharing it.
robin L. January 20, 2019
I just made this. Delicious!
Eric K. January 25, 2019
Kewl.
lin January 19, 2019
his soup food my clan four hor weedkens.
Eric K. January 25, 2019
Awesome!
Lune January 15, 2019
What a great simple soup recipe! Luscious without using any cream. I added a dash of curry just to zang it up, but it was stunning just the way it was. Merci Eric for a recipe I can do on a week night and have leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Eric K. January 25, 2019
Merci, Lune.
Mary January 13, 2019
Good base soup - a lot like cream of celery soup, but not as heavy. The celery is definitely the star here and there isn’t a whole lot else going on, and as such I found it a perfect starting point for something really fun. I mixed it up easily with lots of fun garnishes because who wants to eat the exact same thing every day... once with some dill, chives, parsley, and sour cream (think celery with ranch dip), once with some white cheddar, bacon bits, and sour cream (like a loaded baked potato), and once with some lemon zest and olive oil infused with garlic and thyme. Since celery goes with pretty much anything savory there’s a lot you can do here!
Eric K. January 25, 2019
That sounds so delicious, Mary.
