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It’s National Celery Month and April is National Fresh Celery Month, both celebrating a vegetable that most of us don’t pay much attention to.
Yet celery, an unsung hero, is one of the most versatile “workhorse” vegetables in the kitchen.
According to the California Celery Research Advisory Board, U.S. per capita consumption of celery is about 9 to 10 pounds per person annually. That means that even if you don’t think you eat much celery, you do—in one way or another.
While it may be best known as healthy munchie (alone or with carrot sticks) and as stuffed celery (from Ants on a Log to fancier fillings like crabmeat salad), it’s famously the star of Ants on a Log (stuffed with peanut butter and raisins), its most popular uses are actually foundational to global cooking.
To give celery it due, we have a number of “food for thought” suggestions below, including:
> Fancy stuffed celery recipes (photo #8).
> Beyond the Bloody Mary, other cocktails that like a celery stick garnish.
Elsewhere on The Nibble:
> The history of celery.
> The two different types of stalk celery.
> The year’s 7 celery holidays.
> More ways to use celery.
> 35 celery recipes from Bon Appetit.
[6] Cheesecake-filled celery sticks for a sweet-and-crunchy snack. Here’s the recipe (photo © Duda Fresh).
1. AROMATICS
Before we proceed, a tip: Don’t throw away the celery leaves. They are:
A tasty garnish: Use on anything savory, from deviled eggs to grain bowls to mashed potatoes to soup. You can even add them to a sandwich, with or without lettuce. They have a celery-parsley flavor.
An aromatic ingredient: Toss into broths or consommé (the different types of soups) or to chop into salads. You can freeze them until you make soup (use them fresh for other applications).
Convertible to celery salt: Dry the leaves and pulverize them in an a spice grinder with sea salt to taste.
Onto the main body: the celery stalk.
Bunch Technically, the whole bunch is called a stalk or head.
Individual pieces are called ribs or sticks (although in common usage and most recipes, a “stalk of celery” usually refers to just one individual rib.
As part of the flavor foundation of many Western recipes, celery is a critical component of major vegetable bases used to start most soups, stews, and sauces. The “big three”:
The Holy Trinity (Cajun/Creole): Celery, onions, and green bell peppers—the base for Gumbo and Jambalaya.
Mirepoix (French): A mix of celery, onions, and carrots sautéed in butter or oil.
Sofritto (Italian): Similar to mirepoix, often used for Bolognese or hearty bean stews.
2. MAYONNAISE-BOUND SALADS
Because of its high water content and satisfying crunch, celery is the primary way to add texture to salads that bind the ingredients with mayonnaise. Celery provides the essential “snap” in:
Protein salads: chicken, egg, tuna, seafood.
Sides: macaroni salad, potato salad, slaw.
Specialty salads like Waldorf Salad (apples, celery, grapes, and walnuts in a mayo dressing).
3. SNACKS, SIDES
Buffalo Wings: A key component served raw with blue cheese dressing to cut the heat of the spicy wings.
Crudités: A staple on a raw vegetable platters.
Stuffed Stalks: Beyond peanut butter, an hors d’oeuvre when filled with herbed cream cheese, pimento cheese, and others. See our pairings below.
4. SOUPS & STOCKS
Stock & Broth: Celery stalks and leaves are essential for making chicken, vegetable, or beef stock.
Cream of Celery Soup: Popular as a standalone soup or a base for casseroles and sauces.
5. DRINKS
Bloody Marys: A whole stalk is the classic “edible stirrer” for this cocktail.
Other Cocktails: Check out the list below.
Juicing: Celery juice (often blended with green apple and ginger) is a popular and refreshing health drink.
[7] Cheesy celery gratin is an unexpected but special side. Here’s the recipe.
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[1] It’s a Celery Caesar: Caesar salad with a base of celery instead of romaine. Here’s the recipe (photos #1 and #4 © Bon Appetit)
[2] Top grilled fish with shredded celery hearts or ribs (photo © King Restaurant | NYC).
[3] Instead of peanut butter and raisins, these “ants on a log” use cream cheese and other toppings (photo © Cava).
[4] A sophisticated upgrade: lady bugs on a stick tops the celery with guacamole and cherry tomatoes (photo © Calavo Avocado).
 Thai Celery Salad[/caption]
[5] You don’t need lettuce for a green salad. This Thai salad combines celery, peanuts, chiles, and cilantro. Here’s the recipe.
[6] If you like cream of celery soup, this easy recipe cooks in just 25 minutes (photo © Taste Of Home).
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[8] Fancy stuffed celery (Gemini Photo).
FANCY CELERY STUFFINGS
Start with uniform lengths: cut all the stalks to exactly 2.5 or 3 inches.
Peel the strings on the outside of the celery stalks before filling, using a vegetable peeler. This makes the texture refined and elegant.
Pipe the filling using a piping bag with a star tip. Even simple cream cheese filling looks expensive when it’s fluted.
You don’t need a piping bag: a Ziploc bag works fine. If you don’t have piping tips, that’s fine too. Here’s a video that shows you how to do it.
Otherwise, spread with a butter knife.
Seafood
Anchovy & Lemony Whipped Ricotta: Whip ricotta with some lemon juice until smooth. Pipe it into the stalk and top with a sliver of high-quality white anchovy (boquerones).
Crab Salad & Chives: Finely mince Select crabmeat (the different grades of crabmeat) with a tiny amount of lemon aïoli and minced chives. Top with a pinch of smoked paprika for color.
Smoked Salmon & Mascarpone: Blend mascarpone with a touch of lemon zest and dill. Pipe it into the stalk and top with a small ribbon of smoked salmon and a few capers.
Sophisticated Cheeses
Brie & Apricot: Remove the rind† of a ripe Brie and soften the paste to room temperature. Spread into the stalk and top with a sliver of dried apricot and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.
Goat Cheese, Fig, & Prosciutto: Fill the stalk with whipped goat cheese. Top with a thin slice of fresh fig (or a dot of fig jam) and a small garnish of crispy, pan-fried prosciutto bits. If you don’t want to fry, cut very thin strips and roll them up.
Gorgonzola Dolce & Toasted Walnuts: Use a creamy Gorgonzola Dolce (milder and sweeter than regular Gorgonzola). Garnish with a toasted walnut half, a small drizzle of honey, and a leaf of micro-arugula.
Roquefort & Celery Seeds: Whip the blue cheese with a bit of heavy cream into a pipeable texture, then sprinkle with toasted celery seeds—a great punch of aromatics.
Gourmet
Caviar & Sour Cream: Fill with sour cream and top with salmon caviar. If that’s beyond your budget, whatever you can afford is fine (types of affordable caviar).
Truffled Egg Salad: Use only the yolks for an extra-rich, yellow “mousse” style egg salad. Add a drop of white truffle oil and garnish with a tiny sprig of chervil.
[9] Three cocktails with celery garnishes: Celery Gimlet, Savory Gin & Tonic, and Dirty Martini (Abacus Photo).
CELERY STICK COCKTAIL GARNISHES
Celery is a surprisingly versatile garnish because of its structural integrity and its ability to provide a crunchy, vegetal contrast to a drink.
While it is the go-to partner for a Bloody Mary, here are several other cocktails where a celery stick (or a small celery heart) works beautifully.
It the stalk is too wide, use half of it, sliced vertically.
We’ll start with Bloody Mary’s “relatives” before moving onto drinks that are only related to her by alcohol.
Bloody Caesar: While very similar to the Bloody Mary with the substitution of Clamato juice (tomato and clam broth) for tomato juice. The celery stick is considered mandatory here, often used as a literal stir stick for the thicker, more savory juice.
Bull Shot: A relative of the Bloody Mary that uses beef bouillon or consommé instead of tomato juice. A celery stick is a natural garnish; it helps to help cut through the richness of the beef broth.
Michelada: This Mexican beer cocktail (lager, lime juice, hot sauce, and spices) is usually garnished with a lime wedge. But it calls out for a celery stick as well. Celery complements the salt-rimmed glass and the spicy profile, especially with the tomato juice based versions including Michelada Preparada, made with Clamato juice.
Red Snapper: A Bloody Mary made with gin instead of vodka. The botanical notes of the gin—especially juniper and coriander—pair even more naturally with the herbal, peppery crunch of celery than vodka does.
Now, for the “Way Beyond Bloody Mary” cocktails:
Celery Gimlet: This modern craft cocktail specifically calls for celery. It’s made with gin, lime juice, and either muddled celery or a celery-infused simple syrup. A small, leafy celery stalk is the standard garnish; it reinforces the crisp, garden-fresh flavor.
Dirty Martini: If you go “extra dirty” with olive brine, a small celery heart can be a great alternative to an olive (or have them both). Some bartenders use celery bitters in their recipes; but with or with it, a celery garnish is a perfect thematic fit.
Pimm’s Cup: This classic British drink is usually thought of as a “fruit salad in a glass” with cucumber and mint. Adding a thin stalk of celery provides a sophisticated, dry snap that balances out the sweetness of the lemonade and ginger ale.
Savory Gin & Tonic: A thin celery ribbon or a small stalk can replace the traditional lime or cucumber garnish (or, as we say, add to them). The flavor of celery complements the the tonic water. There are also a number of savory gins are making a G&T with a more “savory∏ gin (like Gin Mare, which has notes of rosemary and olive),
[10] Pascal celery, the most common type grown in the U.S. (photo © Good Eggs).
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*For drinks like a Celery Gimlet, savory G&T, or Dirty Martini with celery and olives, check out:
> Gin Mare (Spain), for explicit olive/rosemary/thyme synergy.
> Monkey 47 (Germany, Black Forest): 47 botanicals, with plenty of forest herbs and lots of green, herbal, and woody notes.
> Hendrick’s Orbium (Scotland), for a bitter, more amaro-adjacent Martini base.
> St. George Terroir (California), for lots of pine and sage.
> The Botanist (Scotland, Islay), for layered herbal complexity that’s still very mixable.
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