You might have stumbled upon recipes that talk about “half a cup of sliced celery” or one whole cup of chopped celery”, but many celery stalks would you need to actually fill a cup? To help you understand how much celery you will actually have to buy, we did some experiments and found the exact answer to this question.
To figure out exactly how many celery stalks will fit in a cup, we took matters into our hands and went to the closes grocery store, looking for the produce section. In the vegetable section, we found the needed celery and noticed that each bunch of this vegetable contains around 8 to 9 medium-sized, ribbed stalks, weighing about 1 pound. We went for one celery stalk (one medium rib) and measured it. It was roughly 2 ounces in weight.
Moving on to the tests performed in the kitchen, based on our math, we found that you would get about half of a cup of sliced or chopped celery from every celery stalk. This means that if you were to need a full cup of either chopped or sliced celery, you would have to use 2 whole stalks. If instead, you need a whole cup of finely minced celery, then be prepared to use 3 stalks to fill the cup. A simple calculation will tell you that a bunch of celery can be turned in about 4 to 5 cups of sliced or chopped vegetables.
As a general piece of information, you should know that celery comes from the vegetable family that has parsley, fennel, dill, cumin, and carrots. You will notice that celery seeds are very small. You will be able to cultivate a full acre of celery with just one small hand of seeds. You might have heard the stories that in Ancient Greece winners of important events received bunches of celery instead of today’s flowers.
If the information provided up until now is not enough for you to know exactly how much celery you will need for your recipe, then you can always use our conversion tool from below to get clear numbers.
What Exactly Is Celery?
Many people have not even heard about celery, much less tried it in a recipe. Celery can be used in a whole lot of recipes, being a very versatile vegetable from the parsley family.
A lot of people all around the world consider celery a very important ingredient, that gives flavor to all kinds of stocks and soups. This versatile vegetable is also a staple in appetizer trays and pairs well with many sour cream-based dips.
Is Celery a Fruit or a Vegetable?
Celery is not only a vegetable but it is even said to be among the most popular and highly used vegetables around the world.
Although it is considered a vegetable, for some reason, most stores will still place the cut celery stalks right next to cut grapes or apples in the fruit and vegetable trays.
What Are the Types of Celery?
Celery can be found in one of the three types.
The first, and most common type of celery is the traditional long-stalked one that you can find in the market. It is usually called Pascal celery or green stalk celery. You can eat these cooked or even raw.
The second type is the yellow leaf celery, also called self-blanching, which grows in a thin stalk. This type of celery is usually grown for the seeds that can be used as an ingredient in different recipes, or its aromatic leaves.
The third type is the celeriac, which grows in large ball-shaped roots instead of the usual stalk. Regardless of how you eat it, either cooked or raw, you will first need to peel it completely.
What Does Celery Taste and Look Like?
You will notice that celery grows in long, light green stalks, and has a pretty unique look. The top of the stalks usually grows small, green leaves. This vegetable will easily grow to 25-30 inches tall.
Out of the three types, the celeriac will be the only one to grow into a large bulb and not a normal stalk.
Their crunchiness is one of their most distinguishing features. If you pull off any of the stalks, you will see its hollow interior that has a shape similar to a canoe.
Celery isn’t for everyone. In fact, the pro-celery and against it camps are pretty evenly divided. Some people like the taste of this vegetable and the strong aromatic smell, while other people dislike celery for basically the same reason pertaining to its taste and smell.
When eating celery, you should know that all its parts can be consumed, from leaves to stalks and even the roots. If you’re only intending on using the stalks to make a soup or some other dish, don’t just throw the roots and leaves away. Keep them in the freezer instead for future usage when a recipe calls for these parts.
What Should You Use Celery In?
Celery is high in vitamins and potassium and low in sugar, which makes it a great vegetable to be juiced for health benefits. It is also very low in calories. It has plenty of benefits, making it a “superfood”, great for healthy eaters.
You can use this vegetable raw in appetizers, salads, or even juices. Celery will often be used as a seasoning by itself and will add a strong flavor when cooked and added to stews, stocks, or soups.
Any Good Substitutes for Celery?
The hardest part of replacing celery is to find a vegetable that can offer a similar flavor and crunchiness.
If you’re looking for the same crunch, then vegetables like cucumbers with no seeds, scallions or onions, sweet peppers, green apples, or diced carrots can surely do the trick.
You might also like our articles about sweet potatoes, lemons, or bread.
On the other hand, cooked carrots, leeks, cooked fennel, or cooked cabbage can add a similar flavor to celery.
Can I Feed Celery to My Pet?
The short answer is yes, you can feed celery to most types of pets, including dogs. There is one recommendation, and that is to cut the celery in smaller pieces so it doesn’t become a choking hazard and to feed it to your pet in moderation.
Celery is safe for cats as well. The recommendation remains the same, to cut the celery in smaller pieces so that you avoid any choking hazard. Some cats like eating celery leaves along with normal cat food, as these leaves are small and easy to consume. As with all types of food, moderation is very important, as too much of this vegetable can, in some instances, cause diarrhea.
A great aspect of celery is that it will fresh up the pet’s mouth and breath.
Can Celery Give You Gas?
If you know yourself with a really toxic digestive tract or stomach issues, then celery can in fact cause excess gas in your particular case.
This is due to the fact that the juice from celery has high amounts of FODMAPs. These are known to cause stomach issues especially in people having issues with digesting some types of sugars or carbohydrates.
How Should You Store Celery
The biggest challenge when trying to store celery is to protect it from water evaporation because it has high water content.
How Long Will Fresh Celery Last at Room Temperature?
You should refrigerate celery ASAP to avoid it getting limp. Nobody in their right mind would want to eat limp celery, so the best idea is to get it out of the grocery bag and into the refrigerator as soon as possible if you don’t want to eat it right there and then.
Rules to Keep Freshly Cut Celery
You have to make sure you store fresh-cut celery properly. The best way to do this is to place it in the refrigerator right after you cut it. You can keep it moist for a longer period of time by wrapping it in damp paper towels. The main thing to be careful about is to keep the water content inside the celery.
You shouldn’t let fresh-cut celery at room temperature for more than two hours even if you plan to eat it right away.
How to Keep Celery in Your Refrigerator
Before placing celery in your refrigerator, one of the most important steps is to actually take it out of the grocery bag, especially if it is a plastic bag.
It’s not uncommon for people to cut the root part of the celery and trim the stalks to no more than a mason jar size. They will then put the celery in the jar and add water and then put a cap on it.
In this way, you will always be able to see how much celery is left in the jar and you will always be reminded to eat healthy when you open the fridge.
You can store celery cut in shapes in the refrigerator as well. All you have to do is put them in an airtight container and add water to keep them crispy for a longer period of time.
You will also see people store their celery in a dry towel, wrapped tightly in a plastic bag or aluminum foil. If possible, it is a good idea to store this vegetable in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.
Can Celery be Frozen and How to do it?
The short answer is yes, you can and should freeze any uncooked celery, especially if you are not able to eat it within the first few weeks of keeping it in the fridge.
If you want to use celery in a stock, stew, or soup, then you can freeze it in stalks and keep it in a freezer bag.
You can spread celery on a baking sheet and then freeze it uncovered for a couple of hours, or until it is hard if you don’t want the stalks to stick together. As soon as the vegetable stalks are hard you can place them in the freezer, in a freezer bag, and use them when you please.
If you also want to keep its strong flavor, then you can even blanch the celery before freezing it.
How Should You Cut Celery
It isn’t all that hard to cut celery. The easy way is to just remove the leaves from the top and then break off each stalk.
When you have a bunch of stalks all individual from one another, you just cut them in any size you like.
The Proper Way to Clean Celery
You shouldn’t trust a label that says “Organic” and you should wash your celery as you should do with any other vegetable bought from a store. As celery is one of the vegetables that don’t have protective skin, it will usually have dirt and pesticides on it.
It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to wash celery. All you have to do is to run it under cool tap water and give it a rub with your fingers. If you have a vegetable washer, you can use it instead.
Should I Peel My Celery or is The Skin Edible?
The skin that covers celery is in fact edible. You might notice that some types of celery have strings on the peel, which might be a little off-putting, but those won’t cause any issues if ingested. Using a simple vegetable peeler or paring knife you can remove the stringy part pretty easily. The strings have to be cut as lightly as possible, so you won’t risk cutting through the stalk of the vegetable.
Does Celery Have Seeds? Are They Edible?
This vegetable has no seeds whatsoever. You will find culinary celery seeds in stores, but those come from celery plants that are different from the ones we eat.
Can I Eat Celery Greens?
It’s not only possible but recommended as well. They can be added to everything from soups to salads and other recipes and people say that they are actually really tasty.
How to Cube or Chop Celery
Cubing can prove to be pretty difficult due to this vegetable’s shape, but you will usually manage to chop it pretty easily.
All you have to do to chop it is to remove the leaves and cut the base and top of the stalk. You can then line up the pieces of celery and cut them as small as you like.
How to Slice Celery
You can slice celery either horizontally to get half-moon shapes, or lengthwise into long strips.
If you want to dip bite-size celery pieces in dipping sauce like hummus or sour cream, then it is best to slice it at an angle to get larger pieces.
Can You Zest Celery?
Celery doesn’t have a thick outer skin so it is usually not recommended to zest it.
How to Shrade or Grate Celery
You can shred and grate celery by using a food processor with a grating attachment.
How to Puree Celery
You can puree celery but trying to mash it could prove to be quite a challenge.
To prepare the vegetable to have it made into a puree, you will first have to cook the celery in liquid until it is tender and soft enough and then remove its outer skin by simply peeling it. All you have to do next is to place it in a food processor and pulse it until you get the desired texture.
How to Make Celery Juice
Using a high-power blender or a juicer to puree the vegetable until you turn it into juice is the easiest way to do it. Once you get the right texture you will have to pour the juice through a milk bag or a fine mesh to remove the stringy pulp.
How to Store Celery Stalks
If you want to re-crisp these vegetables, you will have to trim them and wash them and then put them in ice water in the refrigerator. After 2 to 3 hours you will have the celery crispy again.
Long Term Storage
Celery should never be frozen or canned.
If you want to use the leaves as herbs to give flavor to your dishes, then you will have to dry them and chop them, and then store them in an airtight container, preferably inside the pantry.
Short Term Storage
If you only need to store celery for the short term, then place it in the refrigerator inside a plastic bag. It is a good idea to sprinkle some water in the bag from time to time to increase humidity and prevent the vegetable from becoming willed or limp. Avoid keeping celery in colder areas of the refrigerator, like the back, because you risk getting it frozen.
Conclusion
Celery can be found in a few varieties with colors ranging from lighter to darker green. When buying celery in the United States you will most likely get the Pascal variety. Some recipes will call for celeriac and you will have to remember that this is a different type of celery than the one you usually get in stores.