This homemade celery salt is made in the oven and has a robust flavor and is the perfect seasoning to sprinkle on top of your favorite protein sources, add to soups, or add to your regular veggies.
This past summer I became enthralled with making my own spice blends. I was on a limited diet and had minimal spices that were allowed. So it only seemed natural to create my own from the safe foods on my list. I started with dehydrated leeks and leek powder. It was easy to do and I found myself using it in EVERYTHING.
Homemade celery salt seemed like the next best option since it was already a thing, and I always had some celery in the refrigerator. But when I looked up how to make homemade celery salt, it called for the leaves and seeds to be ground in with the dehydrated celery. I didn’t have any seeds on hand, so I went with what I had — the stalks and leaves. (Plus the seeds weren’t part of the “safe list” of foods that I was allowed to have.)
I decided to try it with 2-3 stalks of celery at first, just in case it was a huge bust. So I washed and prepped the celery and then let it sit out to dry overnight, figuring it may help to cut out some of the in-oven time.
Next day, I preheated the oven to the lowest possible setting (mine gets down to about 170°F/80°C). I placed the celery on a silicone lined baking sheet and put it in the oven. It took about 6 hours for it to get to a good crunchy consistency with 2-3 stalks. (I have since done it with a whole bunch of celery and it took closer to 8 hours). Once it was out of the oven, I let the celery cool completely before moving on to the actual making of the celery salt.
The final step — and the one where I actually got to make the homemade celery salt — was combining equal parts dehydrated celery and salt in a high speed blender or spice grinder and processing it until the celery pieces were quite small.
I am thrilled with how it turned out and find myself using it just about every time I cook. Especially when making chicken in the Instant Pot or sautéing chicken in a pan. Adds such a great flavor to it all.
Have you ever made your own dried herbs or spices? I’d love to know what your favorites are!
Homemade Celery Salt
Ingredients
- 2-3 large stalks of celery feel free to do more!
- salt amount depends on the amount of celery you end up with
Instructions
- Wash and chop 2-3 large stalks of celery. You can always do more (I’ve done the entire bunch), just depends on how much you want to make. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with paper towels and pat dry. Let it sit overnight to help get rid of some of the water, otherwise it will take 8+ hours of oven time.
- The following day, preheat the oven to the lowest possible setting (mine gets down to about 175°F/80°C). Place celery on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet and place in the oven. Cook for 5-6 hours, until the celery is dry enough to crunch in your hand. It will shrink down significantly. Let celery cool completely before moving into the next step.
- To make celery salt: Combine equal parts dehydrated celery to salt (1/4 cup celery + 1/4 cup salt, 1 cup celery + 1 cup salt, etc) in a high speed blender or spice grinder and pulse until there are no large chunks remaining. Store in a lidded jar.
