Several months back, I shared my beloved Dairy-Free Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe. It is JUST LIKE CAMPBELL’S, and is so fast, easy, and cheap to make. But I’ve received several inquiries on other options. So today I’m sharing my Campbell’s Copycat for Dairy-Free Condensed Cream of Celery Soup, which is also from Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook. It’s very similar, with just one little extra step. And like the canned version, you can use it as is, in recipes, or add water to make it a light creamy soup, like this.
Dairy-Free Condensed Cream of Celery Soup (Campbell’s Copycat!)
This condensed soup is so wonderfully versatile. You can use it to make recipes like Creamy Dijon Chicken with Rice, Classic Tuna Noodle Casserole, or Mini Pot Pies. You can use it as a creamy pasta starter. Or you can even use it in lieu of other “cream of” soups. It’s a great option if you aren’t a fan of mushrooms!
Ingredient Tips & Substitutions
- Oil: Use a neutral-tasting oil like grapeseed oil, rice bran oil, extra-light olive oil, non-GMO canola oil, or vegetable oil. You can use another medium-heat oil, but it could affect the flavor.
- Milk Beverage: Each milk beverage performs differently and tastes a little different. I recommend using your favorite go-to unsweetened milk alternative for cooking purposes. We’ve enjoyed this recipe most with unsweetened rice milk, cashew milk, and coconut milk beverage. For our tastes, almond milk was too pronounced, but I know some of you will like it. However, I would use caution with milk beverages that have added protein. Most added protein brands separate when cooked or thicken overzealously.
- Flour: All-purpose will produce the most seamless results. You can use wheat flour, it will just be a little more rustic in taste. White rice flour is the gluten-free flour we’ve found works best. You might adventure another gluten-free flour, but I can’t guarantee the results without testing. And do not use coconut flour. It does not substitute 1:1 for all-purpose flour – not even close!
- Starch: If you have issues with corn, you can substitute arrowroot starch. It doesn’t perform quite as well in my opinion, but it generally gets the job done.
Special Diet Notes: Condensed Cream of Celery Soup
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, optionally gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian.
- 1 cup diced or thinly sliced celery
- 1 teaspoon + 1 tablespoon oil, divided
- 1¼ cups unsweetened plain dairy-free milk beverage (do not use one with protein added)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or white rice flour (for gluten free)
- 1 tablespoon non-GMO cornstarch
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon onion powder
- Generous pinch garlic powder
- Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan over medium-low heat. Add the celery and sauté for 3 minutes, or until tender. Remove from the heat.
- Put the milk beverage, flour, starch, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder in your blender. Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Pour the soup mixture into a small saucepan over medium-low heat and add the celery. Cook for about 10 minutes, whisking often. It should reduce to about 1¼ cups of very thick “condensed” soup, weighing roughly 10¾ ounces.
- Use in recipes as you would Campbell's.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze it to enjoy later.
For More Essential Everyday Recipes, Get Go Dairy Free!
18 Comments
Is there any chance I could just use gluten free flour instead of rice flour?
Just kidding, I looked at the ingredients of my gluten free flour and see it’s just rice flour, silly me
This condensed soup tastes delicious! I love that I can make it with ingredients from my frig and pantry, and that it does not call for coconut milk. Thank you.
Happy you love it too Laurie! Thank you for the feedback.
I’ve recently discovered I have an extreme intolerance to garlic, so will need to omit. Can you suggest a seasoning that can replace it without altering the taste too much?
You can simply omit it.
What about Tapioca or Potato Starch instead of Corn Starch or Arrowroot?
Those will functionally work. I’m not a big fan of tapioca starch in cream sauces, but it’s just a preference. I’ve actually only used potato starch in baking, not to make cream sauces. But potatoes make great cream soups, so I imagine the starch would work well. Potato starch just tends to be a little heavier than corn or arrowroot.
Hi! I want to try this tonight. Can I used canned coconut milk? And is the blender part completely necessary? Can I just keep it all in the skillet?
If you use canned coconut milk, it will be thicker, richer, and will have a coconut taste. You also might not need as much thickener. I would just keep the thickness and flavor in mind, when determining if that will suit your meal. You can whisk the ingredients together. Definitely use cold milk beverage and make sure everything is fully dissolved before heating. I just find the blender much quicker, easier, and more seamless with this recipe.
Delicious! I used this recipe in a dairy free corn casserole for Thanksgiving. Everyone loved it. I used Almond Milk and it worked very well. Thank you for creating this wonderful recipe.
Fantastic! Thank you for your feedback Katie.
Thank you for the gluten free option. I am both lactose intolerant and must be gluten free, 100%. It is so much easier now than it used to be.
Happy to help!
I usually use madadamia milk or coconut milk. Both do list 1g protein on the label. Can I use them?
Yes! That’s naturally occurring protein. By added protein, I mean brands that have a lot of pea protein or other protein extracts added. Not all, but many of those tend to perform poorly in sauces. In general, if it’s a milk beverage that you cook with already, it should work well.
Hi. How long will this last in the freezer?
To be honest, it’s so fast and easy that I’ve never frozen it. If you’re used to freezing sauces and soups, it would be similar to a roux sauce or other cream of soup.