Gordon Ramsay Celery Soup Recipe 

Gordon Ramsay’s celery soup is a smooth, creamy puree of celeriac (celery root) and Cox’s apples with thyme, topped with crushed walnuts and extra virgin olive oil. No cream, no milk, ready in about 25 minutes.

The recipe appears as “Celeriac and Apple Soup with Crushed Walnuts” in Gordon Ramsay: Quick and Delicious (2019). Ramsay writes that “celeriac makes the most delicious creamy soup even without adding any cream or milk (great for vegans), but it can be very rich on its own.” He pairs it with sharp apples to balance that richness.

The technique that sets this apart: the celeriac itself provides all the body. Most celery soups rely on cream or potato to thicken them, but celeriac has enough starch and natural sweetness to puree into a silky texture on its own. The apples add acidity so it doesn’t taste heavy.

FAQs

Why does Ramsay use celeriac instead of celery stalks?

Celery stalks are mostly water. Blend them into a soup and you get something thin and stringy that needs cream or potato to give it any body.

Celeriac is denser and starchier, so it purees into a naturally thick, creamy texture without adding anything. It still has that celery flavour but deeper and more nutty, which is why Ramsay says it makes “the most delicious creamy soup” on its own.

Why add apples to a savoury soup?

Celeriac is rich and earthy, and a whole bowl of it pureed can taste flat without something to push back against that heaviness. The apples add a sweet, sharp acidity that lifts the whole soup.

Ramsay specifically says celeriac “can be very rich on its own” and that “adding sweet but sharp apples cuts through the richness.” It’s the same principle behind his butternut squash soup, where acidity balances a naturally sweet vegetable.

Why Cox’s apples and not any other variety?

Cox’s apples hit a specific balance: sweet enough to complement the celeriac but sharp enough to cut through it. A purely sweet apple like Fuji would add sugar without acidity. A purely tart apple like Granny Smith would make the soup sour.

If you can’t find Cox’s, Braeburn is the closest substitute. You want an apple that you’d enjoy eating raw, one that tastes both sweet and tangy in the same bite.

Why no cream in a “creamy” soup?

The creaminess comes entirely from the celeriac’s starch and fibre breaking down under the blender. When pureed thoroughly, celeriac produces a texture that genuinely mimics cream without any dairy.

This makes it one of Ramsay’s few naturally vegan soups. Most of his other blended soups lean on cream or butter for body. His mushroom soup uses cream to get that same silky finish, but mushrooms don’t have the starch content that celeriac does.

Why crushed walnuts on top instead of croutons?

Ramsay writes that he loves “the contrast between the smooth, creamy texture of the soup and the crunchy walnuts.” Croutons would add crunch too, but walnuts bring a bitter, earthy flavour that mirrors the celeriac underneath.

The walnut oil also adds richness in a different register from the olive oil drizzle. Together they give the soup two layers of fat on top of a dairy-free base, which is how it tastes indulgent without any cream.

How do you peel celeriac without wasting half of it?

Celeriac is knobbly and uneven, so a regular peeler takes off too little and a knife takes off too much. Cut the top and bottom flat first so it sits stable on the board, then work around the sides with a sharp knife, following the curves.

Expect to lose about a third of the weight to peeling. That’s why Ramsay specifies 600-800g, which gives you a window. His leek and potato soup has a similar prep challenge with leeks, where you lose the dark green tops and need to account for it in quantities.