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.
Just in case you want to buy them, I sell them through Anna Lee Herbs. It is a hot item!
So, what have you used celery leaves for?
David@ As Seen on TV says
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.
Jolie says
Add them in pickle jars, for flavouring. Or simply use them fresh to garnish soups, instead of or along with parsley or cilantro.
Anna@Green Talk says
Jolie, I like the pickling idea. Do you leaves for anything else? Anna
Johnny says
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.....38;dbid=14)
Brian says
“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.
Anna@GreenTalk says
Brian, I wonder if you can get me that link. I grow black eye peas.
Brian says
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/produ.....0743246268
Or if you poke around you may find a similar recipe online.
Rachael says
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 🙂
Birdeena says
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 :o)
Anna@GreenTalk says
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
Birdeena says
I am in Idaho. It’s amazing what we can grow here!
Anna@Green Talk says
Birdeena, is it the soil, the temperatures? Anna
CeleryDeath says
Celery leaves are poisonous! Do your research. You can eat the stalk, but steer clear of the leaves!
Mariela Ravelo says
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.
Anna@Green Talk says
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
E says
you mentioned having a hard time finding celery for lowering your cholesterol…..
try also to use turmeric and fenugreek for the same cholesterol issue. You can google it and find alot, or maybe this website has something too
Mona martinez says
True… I do my celery tea too for hypertension…
Anna@Green Talk says
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.
Shandrissima says
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!
Anna@GreenTalk says
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.
Liz says
Really? Cause I’ve eaten them before and I’m still alive. I believe you’re getting celery confused with rhubarb there buddy.
Anna@Green Talk says
Liz, are rhubarb leaves poisonous? Anna
Nicki says
The leaves on rhubarb plants are quite toxic. You have to eat a LOT to achieve a lethal dose in an otherwise healthy adult, but it can still make you quite sick. The leaves have also been known to kill livestock, particularly back in WWI when feed stocks were scarce. Try a google search for rhubarb leaves and you’ll find a variety of sources on the dangers, symptoms and treatment of rhubarb poisoning.
Anna@Green Talk says
Thanks Nicki for sharing this information. Anna
Macrocompassion says
Celery leaves are NOT poisonous! I’ve been eating them for years, both cooked and raw and look at me…ah…
Linda says
How do you know that ??? I have been cooking with the leaves for years. Please answer back. Thank you.
Rainbow says
Research done. Celery is safe. Celery leaves are safe. Eat up me hearties, yo – ho!
On that note, I usually use celery leaves in my salads, soups, stir-fry, even pickles. It is tasty and nutritious! The inner leaves are usually sweet and tender while the outer leaves are tangy and bright! Delicious 💕
Kathryn K says
LMAO! Back up your comment with your source of where it states celery leaves are poisonous don’t be spouting something inaccurate!
Krystal says
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 🙂
Anna@Green Talk says
Krystal, sounds yummy. What is top ramen? ramen noodles? Do you have a link to your recipe? Anna
Sabrina says
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.
Anna@Green Talk says
Sabrina, sounds yummy! What a great way to use them. Anna
simon says
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.
Joel B says
Today I bought a celery leaf plant in Jerusalem thinking it was a new type of parsley. Thanks for the suggestions.
Farah says
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…:)
Crandolyn says
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.
Lani says
those bigger stalks are great for soups or juicing.
Anna@Green Talk says
Lani, thanks so much for the advice. What is your favorite juicing recipe? Anna
Lani says
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.
Anna@Green Talk says
Lani, sounds yummy! Thanks for the recipe. Anna
Lisa says
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.
Anna@Green Talk says
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
hank says
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 !
Holly says
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.
Anna@Green Talk says
Holly, I love your ideas. What a great idea. Do you have a recipe to share? Anna
moyra says
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
Jasmine Cruz says
Thank you for this article! This was really helpful!
Nobody in Particular says
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.
Anna@Green Talk says
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?
wesley stringer says
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.
Anna@Green Talk says
Wesley, I would never have thought of using celery leaves instead of sage. Hmm. That means it would be good with turkey.
Lisa says
Thanks for all the ideas everyone!
I cut up the leaves along with the stalks to use in soups, stir- fries, and tuna salad.
Anna@Green Talk says
Lisa, never used them in tuna. How interesting.
Mike says
I like to use them in cajun dishes for flavor. I melt them into the roux – you can’t do that with the stalks.
Anna@Green Talk says
Mike, how do you melt them? Do you crumble then use them? Do you have a recipe of how you make the roux? Anna
Sonia says
Hi Anna
have been growing celery for years. Live in a hot in summer and frosty in winter area. I don’t blanch mine and they taste fine. They do need to be watered well. I never pick the whole plant just stalks as I need them. I think speed of growing may have something to do with taste. If I need to feed I usually just do a foliar with seaweed (Sea sol) and fish emulsion. Sonia
Anna@Green Talk says
Sonia, what kind of seeds do you use? Anna
Judy Villers says
How long can you keep the celery leaves after you dry them in the oven…?
Can you freeze the dried leaves?
Anna@Green Talk says
Judy, I had mine over 2 years. I put them in a glass container away from the sun. I never freeze mine since it isn’t necessary. You could freeze them fresh and use them that way too. Anna
Jacki says
I dry the leaves in corning ware with only the pilot light for a few days then put in glass seasoning bottle and use the leaf for tuna, egg salad, etc. Good for the nerves.
Anna@Green Talk says
Jacki, I never thought of using them for tuna salad. Good to know that they are good for your nerves. Anna
Barb Melrose says
I do believe the crushed leaves would be fantastic in deviled eggs or egg salad spread (for sandwiches). How about making a veggie stock (broth) using celery leaves too???
Anna@Green Talk says
Barb, I bet you are right. If you use them in deviled eggs or egg salad, let me know how the food tastes with the celery leaves. Anna
Nell Wade says
I dry the leaves in my dehydrator. When crispy, I break them up and add sea salt to it. Put it in a spice jar and use it to season all kinds of food, but especially soup and eggs. Lasts for months. I’ve given it away and everyone enjoys it – says “it’s so fresh”!
Michelle says
I have a friend that dries out the leaves in the oven with a low temp and then crumbles it up and mixes with salt for homemade celery salt. I chop mine up when I make tomato sauce. I use all kinds of veggies and then use a stick blender to blend when it is all cooked. My husband does not like chunks in his sauce and my kids are picky so I get as many veggies as I can get. They never know the difference.
The other way I have used the leaves is just leaving them on when I have carrot and celery sticks. Dipped in humus or french onion dip you don’t notice the bitterness and you get the nutrients!
Kathleen says
I enjoyed reading your article and all the comments. I have read a couple of times from different sources that celery is also helpful in regulating blood sugar. I always use the leaves, thinly sliced, and prefer them actually, along with the short tender inner stalks. They are a wonderful addition to tuna salad, egg salad, potato salad. They give great flavor to all soups and stews, chili, dressings, potato soup, parslied potatoes. meatloaf, veggie drinks, and anything you think you would like better with a celery taste. Experiment and enjoy!
Anna@Green Talk says
Kathleen, I never heard of using them in tuna. I guess they would taste the same as using celery! Love your ideas.
Have you used them dried as well? Anna
Tracee says
Just ran across this as I was looking to freeze a bunch of celery leaves. My grandmother had a recipe that has been passed down for awhile now that uses chopped celery leaves in our Thanksgiving dressing. It is mixed in with butter and cornbread and regular stuffing(Pepperidge Farm) and onions… we bake it in a deep dish and serve it sliced. I have always loved it as my family does also!
Anna@Green Talk says
Tracee, sounds delicious.
Carmel says
My partner has 2 celery sticks with his lunch every day — with — wait for it – PEANUT
BUTTER spread in each. He used to have this in his school lunch box when he was a little kid (think he is still a ‘little kid’ sometimes!)
Natalie says
i use celery leaves in carrot and coriander soup along with either chopped celery or celery seeds!! the leaves are added later to coriander mix and what a difference the taste makes it brings all the flavours together lovely …..
kelvin says
I was searching on if the celery leaf and stalk can be eaten raw when i stumble on your page ,thanks a lot the video really helped