Since becoming a gardener, I am constantly looking of ways to use every part of the vegetable. Over the years, I have learned that cauliflower, turnip, and broccoli leaves are amazing. See here for a recipe for greens to die for. Simple easy and addicting. I have even tried cooking sunflower leaves but when they are big, they are tough and I just don’t care for them.
This was my first year growing celery. What a beautiful plant. I have to admit, it was a reasonably easy plant to grow and stands erect and full. Since a hard frost is coming, I have to start pulling it. I don’t know if it is the seed that I chose or perhaps if I had a longer growing season, but the stalks were kind of thin. And what do I do with those gorgeous celery leaves?
Can I use the leaves for cooking?
As I was cutting up the stalks, I thought to myself, don’t toss the leaves in the compost. Find out what you can use them for? Have any of you used celery leaves for soups?
Always the curious one, I tasted a leaf. It tasted like celery (duh) but was a little bitter for me. In fact my celery was bitter too.
Bitter Home Grown Celery
In my process of looking to find out about the uses of celery leaves, I learned that I did not blanch the celery before I harvested it. What an odd term. How do you blanch celery? Thoughts of boiling water for three minutes, plunging celery in the water, and then cooling it on ice ran through my mind. Am I stupid? Why would I do that?
So, how do you blanch celery without making it wimpy?
Basically, a couple weeks before you harvest, you block the sunlight from the celery. See here for how you make garden celery sweeter Next year, I will make ready made trenches to make it easier to blanch. Heck, why not call it what it is. Bury the celery!
So, how can you use the celery leaf?
- 9 times out of 10 comments, I would see, use the leaves for soup.
- Use them in casseroles.
- Substitute for cilantro. I hate cilantro so this is easy idea. Do you think that this is a good substitution for cilantro?
- Use them in salad.
- Use them in soup or stock
- Check out this recipe, Mushroom Carpaccio with Pecorino Toscano from Epicurious, where they use 1/4 cup of celery leaves.
Storing celery leaves
Not making soup right now? Me neither. So, I decided to dry my leaves in the oven for 30 minutes at 200 degrees. (See picture of leaves ready to go into the oven.) The above article said you can freeze them too or dry them in a paper bag. The dried leaf was crispy like a potato chip. Not bad either. Less bitter than when it was fresh.
So, what have you used celery leaves for?
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Never even thought about celery… I need to put this in my garden and good looking out on the leaves being edible I would never have thought to even inquire about that! This was our first year doing a garden so all the tips I can gather the better.
David@ As Seen on TV´s last [type] ..Pasta Boat Review
Add them in pickle jars, for flavouring. Or simply use them fresh to garnish soups, instead of or along with parsley or cilantro.
Jolie, I like the pickling idea. Do you leaves for anything else? Anna
I add them into a lot of my smoothies. They are supposedly quite rich in Vitamin C!
http://blenderexperiments.blogspot.com/
(http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=14)
Johnny´s last [type] ..yum
“The Joy of Cooking” has a recipe for black eyed peas that calls for using celery tops while cooking the peas. You discard the leaves after the first phase of cooking, but they make the cooking liquid very flavorful.
Brian´s last [type] ..Figuring Out How Much Compost You Should Add to Your Garden
Brian, I wonder if you can get me that link. I grow black eye peas.
Anna@GreenTalk´s last [type] ..It’s Gardening Time! Roll out the Compost!
Anna,
I have an older edition, so I can’t give you the page number of the recipe in the newer book, but you can get it from amazon (or locally) and look up black eyed peas in the index: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743246268/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=howtogroaheag-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399353&creativeASIN=0743246268
Or if you poke around you may find a similar recipe online.
The best way to blanch celery is right from the start, cover each stalk with a box. I use orange juice or milk boxes, just cut the top off and put it over the celery. Also, you can just take the large black containers that you purchase veggie starts in, and place that over top. It works great
Awesome article! I wanted to know what to do with my celery leaves and found your site. I actually planted my celery last year and it frosted before I could harvest it…to my surprise it came back up full force this year and it’s HUGE! YAY! BUT I didn’t thin it out and so the stocks are a bit on the small side…I tried one today and it was bitter, but finding your article I am going to “blanch” my celery! Thanks for the tips! Do you know how to make celery salt? I might google that too
)
According to this article, celery salt is made from the celery root bulb. See http://www.modernbeet.com/archives/269. It is a different vegetable. I used it once to make mashed potatoes.
So, cool that your celery came back. What zone are you? Anna
Anna@GreenTalk´s last [type] ..AO Smith Hot Water Heaters- Where Being in Hot Water is a Good Thing
I am in Idaho. It’s amazing what we can grow here!
Birdeena, is it the soil, the temperatures? Anna
Celery leaves are poisonous! Do your research. You can eat the stalk, but steer clear of the leaves!
Celery leaves TEA lowers your cholesterol! I am desperately looking for celery leaves to buy and make my tea and they are so hard to find in the store. Does anybody know where I can buy them?
I have been drinking my celery leaf tea regularly and it is very refreshing. I really love it!! And if it helps me lower my cholesterol, I definitely want to continue wiht it.
Mariela, have you tried buying celery from a local farmers’ market. The leaves should still be on the salk. Do you dry the leaves to make tea? Anna
This is absolutely not true. Can you give me a cite. I eat them all the time and as you can see, I am still here.
What are your sources for this information? All research I have done say exactly the opposite. Celery isn’t a member of the belladonna family as widely believed and anyway just because belladonna is poisonous doesn’t mean other members of that family are!
Shandrissima, I agree. In fact, I just dried a bunch of leaves in the dehydrator from this year’s crop. Am again, I am not dead.
Anna@GreenTalk´s last [type] ..6 Reasons to Avoid Factory Farmed Turkey. Find a Locally Raised One.
I make top ramen and throw them in along with green onions & baby bok choy. They add a really nice flavor to the soup and they’re tasty when they’re cooked
Krystal, sounds yummy. What is top ramen? ramen noodles? Do you have a link to your recipe? Anna
I chopped them up finely and add them to my scrabbled eggs
… I’ve done this since i was 17. Haha
I don’t like eggs alone, without ketchup and was looking for a healthier alternative for flavour.
Sabrina, sounds yummy! What a great way to use them. Anna
Great idea – tried it today. Used to use parsley in my scrambled eggs for a bit of green, but celery leaves are much tastier. Thanks for the tip.
Today I bought a celery leaf plant in Jerusalem thinking it was a new type of parsley. Thanks for the suggestions.
i was looking for some ideas what to do with celery leaves..and ended up on your page…well great ideas…now i know what to do with them…:)
I prefer the inner, pale green leaves that grow on the inside small stalks of a head of celery. That’s a “secret ingredient” in my potato salad and apple salad. I just chop up 2-3 of the small stalks with all their leaves and put them in anything. My whole family prefers these to the large, normal stalks. I usually give away the big outer stalks as they are strongly flavored and have those nasty “strings” in them.
those bigger stalks are great for soups or juicing.
Lani, thanks so much for the advice. What is your favorite juicing recipe? Anna
I don’t really have a recipe, I just chuck stuff through the juicer. An orange, quarter of a beetroot (because I don’t like beetroot much), two or three carrots, a couple of celery stalks (more if it looks like they’ll go bad soon), a SMALL clove of garlic, a one inch slice of fresh pineapple.
Lani, sounds yummy! Thanks for the recipe. Anna
I made a pesto with the leaves and basil. I adapted this recipe from Cooks Illustrated.
MAKES 3/4 CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 POUND OF PASTA
Pounding the basil releases its flavorful oils into the pesto more readily. Basil usually darkens in homemade pesto, but you can boost the green color a little by adding the optional parsley. For sharper flavor, substitute one tablespoon finely grated pecorino Romano cheese for one tablespoon of the Parmesan. The pesto can be kept in an airtight container, covered with a thin layer of oil (1 to 2 tablespoons), and refrigerated for up to four days or frozen for up to one month.
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (or substitute almonds or walnuts-I used walnuts)
3 medium cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 cups packed fresh celery leaves
½ cup packed fresh basil fresh parsley leaves (optional)
7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4cup finely grated Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano (or leave out for vegan).
Ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Toast the nuts in a small, heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until just golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes; set aside. Add the garlic to the empty skillet and toast over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until fragrant and the color of the cloves deepens slightly, about 7 minutes. Let the garlic cool slightly, then peel, and chop.
2. Place the celery leaves and basil in a heavy-duty 1-gallon zipper-lock plastic bag. Pound the bag with the flat side of a meat pounder or rolling pin until all the leaves are bruised.
3. Process the nuts, garlic, herbs, oil, and 1⁄2 teaspoon salt in a food processor until smooth, stopping as necessary to scrape down the sides of the bowl, about 1 minute. Stir in the zest and lemon juice.
Stir in the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper to taste. (I didn’t put in the cheese and it tasted great- so it could be a vegan pesto without the cheese).
Serve over pasta or with cherry tomatoes, or crudite.
Lisa, that is amazing. I know you said to leave out the cheese for vegan, but will it not have that sharp pesto taste? I used nutritional yeast once and it was too bitter. Anna
Thank You so much for all the garden info you provide.
It’s the greatest thing to me to go out in the garden and pick a leaf of celery or parsley and chew it while checking the rest of the garden.
Appreciate your efforts ,advice and suggestions. I know it’s hard work, but that’s why we enjoy it because we get out what we put in.
Thank you very much !
I use my leaves in stuffing. Sometimes I feel like the fall taste in summer and just dice up my leaves and celery and saute in butter and throw it in my stuffing. Or I dry the leaves and put them in my Thanksgiving stuffing/dressing.
Thanks for all the great ideas. I think I’m going to try the celery pesto.
Holly, I love your ideas. What a great idea. Do you have a recipe to share? Anna
I am just experimenting with the same thing. I think soup sounds good and was just thinking that in stuffing it would be ace. I just braised them in a little olive oil, and put on some lemon juice, its not bad, but calls for pine nuts or spreading out somewhat as its a strong flavour. and as a leaf its quite tough to eat. am leaving it in the lemon for a while to see what happens.
I like the suggestion of orange cartons to blanch it. the leaves look so lush though, seems a shame to waste em. will try a soup
Thank you for this article! This was really helpful!
Jasmine Cruz´s last [type] ..The Adult World Laughter Span
I like to add the dried celery leaves (crunched up by hand) into mashed potatoes or any seafood dish at all. Celery salt (made from celery leaves) is a key component in Old Bay, commonly used to season crabs where I’m from.
Love the name…How much do you put in your potatoes? How do you think they would taste if I put them in as the potatoes are cooking?
when I was growing up my mom would use celery leaves in dressing when we did not have sage leaves. I could not tell the difference.
Wesley, I would never have thought of using celery leaves instead of sage. Hmm. That means it would be good with turkey.
Thanks for all the ideas everyone!
I cut up the leaves along with the stalks to use in soups, stir- fries, and tuna salad.
Lisa, never used them in tuna. How interesting.
I like to use them in cajun dishes for flavor. I melt them into the roux – you can’t do that with the stalks.
Mike, how do you melt them? Do you crumble then use them? Do you have a recipe of how you make the roux? Anna