Celery in the Kitchen

An image of fresh celery stalks on display in the grocery store produce section.

Celery is the jack-of-all-trades in the vegetable world—a crispy, crunchy, veggie that’s endlessly useful in the kitchen. You can enjoy raw celery, sautéed celery, braised celery, or stir-fried celery, making it a versatile side dish, salad booster, or flavor base in soups, stews, and casseroles. Whether you love the refreshing bite of raw celery sticks or prefer to cook celery into a cozy celery soup, this humble vegetable deserves a spot in every fridge.

When you want a quick snack or a veggie vehicle for dips like blue cheese or hummus, celery sticks are a top choice. This portable snack is an ideal way to boost your daily serving of veggies. Plus, chopped celery adds crunch and texture to chicken salad, slaws, and pasta salads. And, if you don’t particularly like the celery taste you can hide lots of celery in a dish by blending it into soups or smoothies—it’s a great way to mask the flavor and skip the stringy texture.

Celery is a foundational ingredient in many global cuisines. In French cooking, it’s part of the classic mirepoix (celery, carrots, and onions), which forms the base of countless soups, stews, and sauces. In Cajun and Creole cuisine, celery joins bell peppers and onions as the “holy trinity” of flavor, used in everything from gumbo to jambalaya. Celery and white wine are a classic culinary combination, forming the base of many meals (think seafood!) and celery is also perfect for flavoring chicken stock, which can be used as a base for countless dishes! Celery is a staple in so many dishes, making it worth keeping celery stalks on hand—whether you’re looking to use celery in new recipes or add flavor to old favorites.

If you have leftover celery you won’t use right away, chop it into 1–2 inch pieces and freeze in an airtight container to reduce waste. Having cut celery on hand can also help cut down on total time needed for meal prep on busy nights.

Celery Root, Leaves & Salt

Celery is more than just crisp stalks—its root, leaves, and even salt form all have flavorful and functional uses in the kitchen.

Celery Root (Celeriac)

Celery root (aka celeriac) has a milder, slightly sweet flavor with nutty undertones. It’s excellent raw in slaws or grated into salads. Or treat it like other root veg and roast, mash, or fry it. Celeriac also works well in soups and stews.

Celery Leaves

Celery leaves are edible and packed with flavor. They can be eaten raw mixed into a salad, blended into a smoothie, used as a fresh seasoning in cooking to add a mild spicy flavor (great in soups or stews), or the leaves can be dried first and then used as a seasoning. You can even try adding fresh leaves to your plate as a garnish!

Celery Salt

Celery salt is a mixture of ground celery seeds, roots, or dried leaves with salt (duh!). It’s usually used as a seasoning in cocktails like Bloody Marys, in Old Bay Seasoning, or famously on Chicago-style hot dogs. Combinations of celery powder and salt can also be used as an all-natural way to flavor and preserve cured pork and other processed meats. This is because the naturally occurring nitrates in celery work synergistically with the added salt to cure food. (Aside: While excessive consumption of nitrites [used to cure meats] increases risk of stomach cancer, increased consumption of nitrates decreases risk of stomach cancer. Celery contains mainly nitrates, but celery extracts used to naturally-cure meats has been treated with bacteria to convert much of the nitrates into nitrites.)