Coconut green soup with celery, kale and ginger is creamy, comforting, and restorative with a touch of spice. Delicious and super healthy.
This happens to me every other week or so. I buy celery to use as a base component of recipes, like in a soup, vegetable stock, or grain pilaf. Then, inevitably, I get a decent amount of limp celery stalks just sitting in my crisper with no real end purpose. I usually take that as my cue to make even more vegetable stock. But why not do something where celery gets a chance to shine a bit? I had some equally non-vibrant greens hanging around and knew that I needed a comforting coconut green soup with celery, lots of spices, and hearty garnishes.
Other clues that I needed this glowing green soup: we had a super busy weekend that gave way to lots of snacking and a few takeout boxes. We’re getting a new patio put into our backyard and, because of some last-minute scheduling, we realized that we needed to rip out our existing deck and some shrubs ASAP. I stayed within a comfortable caffeine high for about 3 days straight, and was kind of thinking about pizza whenever I wasn’t actually eating pizza haha.
I knew that I needed a bit of a reset day to just eat really colourful and simple things. Smoothies, tons of water, hot tea, and this vibrantly green and gorgeous soup! We’ve been having some cool and damp nights, so a warm bowl of this loaded up with toppings felt so good.
I think this coconut green soup is open to plenty of interpretation. You could use radish/carrot tops, nettles, or ramp greens. Fennel instead of celery. Maybe purée some soaked cashews or pistachios in the mix. Use cashew milk or a thick homemade almond milk instead of coconut. And garnish it however you like to really make it your own! These are my favourite kind of recipes because they’re adaptable and always within reach, no matter what kind of week you’re having.
Some other simple blended soups that you might like: fennel walnut soup with turmeric and leeks, kabocha squash and chestnut soup, and this carrot ginger soup with tahini cream.
Coconut Green Soup with Celery, Kale & Ginger
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
Soup
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 1 large shallot, chopped (about ¾ cup diced shallot)
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped
- 1 small bunch of celery, chopped (about 4 cups chopped celery)
- 1 medium apple, peeled, cored and chopped
- 3 inches fresh ginger, peeled and chopped (roughly 2 tablespoons)
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 cups chopped and packed greens (I used kale and a bit of chard)
- 1 14-ounce can full fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
For Topping/Garnishing
- cooked brown rice
- cooked lentils or chickpeas
- sliced ripe avocado
- extra coconut milk
- olive oil or chili-infused olive oil
- chopped basil or chives
Instructions
- Heat a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the cumin and coriander seeds to the pot and toast in the dry pot until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove the spices from the pot and grind them to a powder. Set aside.
- Drop the coconut oil into the pot and let it melt/heat up for 30 seconds. Add the shallots to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the zucchini, celery, and apple to the pot and stir. Add the ginger, ground cumin and coriander to the pot and stir to distribute the spices among the vegetables.
- Add the vegetable stock to the pot and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the vegetables and broth to a boil and then simmer, stirring here and there, until the zucchini is very tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add the chopped greens and coconut milk to the pot and stir to mix. Keep simmering and stirring until the greens have wilted and are bright green. Remove the vegetables and stock from the heat.
- Purée the soup with a stick blender or in batches using an upright blender. Return the puréed soup to the pot and bring it to a boil. Stir the fresh lime juice into the soup and adjust any other seasoning. Serve coconut green soup hot with any garnishes you like.
Notes
- I cook a diced zucchini in this soup to make it a little extra bit creamy, but if you have cooked white or navy beans on hand, you could throw 3/4 cup of them into the soup right before you purée it for a similar texture and extra protein.
We are having the wettest/rainiest weather right now and this soup is going to happen to fix all of those problems! I don’t know what it was about last week, but I also fell into a hole of pizza/cookies/coffee as a diet, so I felt BLAH after it too. Cheers to resetting!
Since we’re total experts, we should write a book about the pizza cookies and coffee diet! :D
xoxo L
Nothing better than a fresh, clean soup after a weekend of takeout ;) And I love that you let the celery shine in this recipe… so often it’s just in the background in a stock. But I love that fresh celery flavor!!
Hi, if you want to use beans do you delete the zucchini that’s listed in the ingredients list or was the zucchini you added in addition to the one in the ingredients list? Thanks, I LOVE< LOVE< LOVE your site and recipes….
Thanks so much, Monica! I kind of suggest cooked beans in place of the zucchini, but you COULD use both if you want! Just add a little extra vegetable broth if you do :)
-L
Hey Laura! Wow that soup looks so beautiful. I love celery so much I used to be the same and it’d just sit there but now I eat it every day, as crudité and in green juices. I love its saltiness. It’s so beautiful in soup though isn’t it :)
Love this soup. Love the photos. Love everything about it! I’m feeling you with the whole garden thing. I spent the last week pulling weeds, planting shrubs, etc. and we’ve had a constant supply of pizza in the fridge for snacking. I’m in real need of some wholesome eats. I saw some pics of your new patio on snapchat. Love it. Looks like the ultimate chill zone.
I am so excited to see what is in store for your new deck girl! Loving your snaps of the process too, so fun that you have all that space to play with. And this soup, so clever and comforting. Perfect for lazy veggies and damp, spring nights. And this color, **dreamy** – xo
I am totally feeling you on that rainy Ontario spring! Butttttt to be honest I kind of love the cozy factor of it all. Just sipping some tea indoors or splashing around outside in a raincoat are some of my favourite spring activities ;) This soup looks so bright and tasty!
This made me smile in recognition about the celery!!! This recipe sounds wonderful, and I will try it later…I probably have almost everything at home already too, which is even better. I love your recipes and beautiful photos. One tiny suggestion, and I don’t know how you do it, but when I receive an email telling me there’s a new post, both the sender and the subject line is just The First Mess. It would be great if you could put the title of the post in the subject line instead, so I have an idea what it’s about. I usually look anyway, but just a suggestion, as with other similar mails I often just delete them without reading, as we all get so much mail in our in-boxes these days. Off to print the recipe and celery coconut soup will be on the menu very soon. Thank you.
Thanks so much Cesca! I really appreciate your feedback on the emails. I’m about to switch over the blog’s email service, so hopefully the subject line thing will be easy to change :)
-L
Oh, this sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try it!!! :) xxx
What a beautiful recipe! I love the addition of the apple too. I can’t wait to try it out. Thank you so much for sharing
I wish you would post calories and nutritional content. Love your site . Told my doctor to check it out and he is hooked!
Hey Gabriele! I appreciate this feedback and your compliments on the site. I don’t usually do the calorie and nutrient counting thing myself, but understand that it’s valuable for plenty of people. Under consideration! ;)
-L
Story of my refrigerator’s life! I rarely, rarely ignore fresh food so long that it goes bad, but pretty often I’ll keep it around till it’s too soggy to eat raw (guess I’m always waiting for some perfect way to use it, which more often than not, doesn’t come to mind). I was just wondering what to do with my zombie celery and this soup looks like just the thing.
I know that feeling all too well. We’ve just recently moved across the country and after a few days in the car, and moving into a new kitchen with only a bag of oats and a jar of harissa, my body is craaaaving a big bowl of something green like this soup. I love this in between season where the days are warm and the nights are chillier, salads for lunch for soups and dinner. Happy days. Good luck with the outdoor renos – loving (addicted?) to all the snapchats x
Oh girl, I hear you on the celery situation and on needing a reset day. I’m totally stealing this.
Delicious! I think that cooking your own broth at home is incredible for reducing food waste and making healthier alternatives than the store-bought products! I would love to try this–does the coconut taste really sweet in this soup?
Hey Cassie! I totally agree with you on the broth thing. The coconut milk really just provides a touch of creaminess I find. Once it’s mixed with the spices, the spicy ginger, and all the vegetables, it’s total savoury harmony :)
-L
Laura, really amazing soup. I am a celery fiend, which all too often presents the dreaded stacks of celery asses in my refrigerator. It doesn’t get prettier than this, woman. xo
This is delicious! I pressed a little garlic in at the end– I just felt the need.
Also, this soup is great cold (well room temp).
Thanks!
I can’t wait to make this…I know I will love it. Thanks for sharing uses for celery, I too always have them on hand for my stock—love me my stock!
Laura, I love that you gave humble ol’ celery a chance in the spotlight versus being a backup dancer all these years. Well done! Love that crunchy soup topping idea :)
I totally agree that celery is underused and I’ve started cooking with it a lot more. But this soup… this striking soup… well, I never could imagine that something so beautiful could come from celery.
Amazing! Made this tonight and it may have been my baby girls favorite meal yet. I topped it with roasted black chickpeas (that we grew) and olive oil. Delicious!
Just made a big batch of this soup and I had to comment. The flavor is so bright with the celery, apples and lime juice. Love the flavor and colour. Thanks for sharing!
Hello! Can’t wait to make this! If I don’t have whole cumin and coriander seeds on hand, can I substitute 1 tsp ground? Thanks!
Yes of course!
-L
Yum! Does this soup store well in the refrigerator? I have all day classes 4 days a week so I’m trying to find a soup I can cook on a Sunday and just heat up and take in a thermos with me the rest of the week!
Yes, it holds over great! The flavour actually increases as it “marinates” in the fridge. The brilliant green will fade a bit as you reheat though, just so you know!
-L
The soup was delicious. I couldn’t get it as smooth as the photos show with an immersion or the blender. I topped it with lime, basil and roasted chickpeas.
This is just lovely! My toddler devoured it – I’ve actually rarely seen him eat something so happily as this – bowl after bowl! I puréed it to very very smooth in my vita mix. Topped with nothing at all – was wonderful exactly as is! A definite keeper and felt very nice on this rainy spring night.
If I don’t have cumin seeds I can just use cumin powder right? Same amount? Love all your recipes. Your whole site is inspiring!! Xoxo
Yes, the powder is totally fine! Thank you so much :)
-L
Made this soup today w navy beans and their cooking liquid and it was divine! So fresh and flavorful. Thanks Laura!
We’ve made this twice in as many weeks and I can’t get enough of it. My toddler eats it faster than I’ve seen her eat anything. Ever. Thank you for this recipe, we especially love making it with our backyard chard, kale and zucchini.