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Introducing Celery Root & Cauliflower Puree! Comforting food at its best!
Do you guys remember this Savory Thai Veggie Pancake recipe I released last week? Well, the recipe features a creamy celery purée that adds a ton of flavor to the whole dish. I thought the purée was so good it needed its own recipe, so there you go!
This recipe is easy and requires only 8 very basic ingredients. The base is celery root or celeriac, cauliflower, shallots, and garlic.
Why add cauliflower, you may ask? It not only gives the purée a better and creamier consistency, but it also helps balance the flavors, reducing a bit the strong celery taste.
Making the purée is quite easy. You peel and dice the celery and place it in a large pot along with the cauliflower florets, shallots, and garlic. Bring to a boil and let simmer until tender, about 20 minutes.
Next, drain and transfer to a food processor. You can use a potato masher for a more rustic texture if you prefer. Add some vegan butter, ground black pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, and process until smooth. I also recommend adding a tablespoon of nutritional yeast for even more flavor.
Butter is not optional here. It takes the purée from good to insanely good. Trust me on that. The addition of butter gives the purée a restaurant-style quality. Super rich, creamy, and SO buttery! For a vegan butter recipe, check out my Vegan Cultured Butter!
If you are looking for a twist on the boring mashed potatoes, look no further, this purée will surprise your guests in a good way!
This Celery Root & Cauliflower Puree not only makes a delicious side for your Holiday table, but it’s also a great addition to your buddha bowls for extra flavor (and carbs!). You could also serve the purée topped with mushroom gravy or green lentils!
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
Celery Root & Cauliflower Puree
Ingredients
- 1 celery root
- 1/2 head of cauliflower
- 2 shallots peeled and halved
- 2 cloves of garlic peeled
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- a pinch of nutmeg optional
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables: cut the celery root into 4 pieces to quarter it. Peel it and cut it into 2-inch cubes. Cut the cauliflower into florets.
- Place the diced celery, cauliflower, shallots, garlic, and salt in a large pot and cover with water.
- Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. You can test doneness by using a knife, the celery should be soft.
- Remove from heat and drain, discarding the cooking water.
- Transfer to a food processor, add the butter, nutritional yeast, ground black pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Process for 3-5 minutes, or until you get a smooth purée. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed (I ended up adding about 1/2 tsp salt).
- Serve immediately or reheat gently in a saucepan with some almond milk to prevent it from drying. You can also reheat it in a double boiler.
- Celery purée will keep for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Celery and cauliflower can be steamed instead of boiled if you prefer.
Nutrition
About the Author
Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.
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It was excellent! We ate it with the thai pancakes and by itself… will make this one again! Thank you again Thomas for another delicious and creative recipe.
Thanks for your feedback Cassandra! I’m happy to hear you liked both!
hi, this recipe looks exciting, I’ve started to make it and wanted to substitute the butter. what would you recommend- coconut oil or olive oil?
Hi Sarah,
I won’t lie, it tastes a lot better with butter. You can probably use oil instead of butter, just use a bit less (maybe 1/4 cup). I would probably go with the olive oil but it’s a matter of taste.
Most excellent!!!
Thank youuu!!
This one is a keeper! Super creamy, fragrant and so delicious. Easy and quick to make too. Thank you!
I’m happy to hear you liked this puree, thanks for the feedback Laana! 🙂
We made this to have with home-made vegan meatballs and gravy for Christmas dinner and it was absolutely delicious. Perfect taste and texture and our guests were fighting over the leftovers to take home.
So happy to hear it was a success! Thanks for your feedback Sherri!
We made this to have with vegan meatballs and gravy for our Christmas dinner and it was delicious. Perfect taste and texture that was so good our guests were fighting over who would get the last servings.
Thanks for the rating by the way 😉
This was very easy to make and decadent. I used in place of mashed potatoes for thanksgiving. It was very popular. I used a vitamix, which worked perfectly
Thanks for your feedback Kate!
Hello! Can’t wait to try this tonight but wondering can I also freeze a portion of it? Does it thaw and reheat well? Thanks a bunch!
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
I haven’t tried freezing it but I guess it will freeze well.
Celery root was one of my least favorite vegetables growing up. So much so, that I have not purchased any in the 40 plus years since. Not sure why I picked one up the other day, with no idea how to prepare it. My mother would ruin the almost weekly lentil soups with it. Cut in cubes it is rather “woodsy”.
Came across this recipe and gave it a try. I used my instant pot to cook everything and substituted a handful of olives and 2 TSP cashew butter, as I don’t buy vegan butters. Also used white pepper rather than black, just because I love it so much. Anyway, will buy another celery root tomorrow. It is so delicious!
Wondering, if it could be used as the base for a vegan cheese… Will have to experiment.
That’s awesome! 🙂 The celery flavor is a bit more subtle in this purée since it’s mixed with cauliflower, maybe that’s why you liked it 😉
Thanks for your feedback and rating Chris, really appreciate it.