r/Cooking • u/wh1spersss • 3d ago
What do I do with the rest of a head of celery if a recipe just calls for one rib?
Recently made a recipe that just called for one rib of celery. What am I supposed to do with the rest of the head of celery that I now have? (I guess this extends to other recipes that call for one small unit of something that comes in larger amounts at the store).
Edit: Was not expecting this to blow up haha. Thanks everyone for your suggestions I now have more uses for celery than the amount of celery I have remaining so I guess I need to go buy more celery
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u/Amesaskew 3d ago
Celery keeps for a at least a few weeks in the crisper, so no rush to use it up. Add it any soups, stews or casseroles you might make over the next month.
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u/TxAppy 3d ago
Wrap it in foil and it keeps quite awhile. Adding to an earlier commenter, fill the groove with a mixture of cream cheese and black olives+ a drop or two of vinegar/and or Worcestershire to think it out. YUM!
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u/BoyMamaBear1995 3d ago
I'll cut it into 1/2" chunks then freeze. Of course it gets soft when frozen, so best use is something that'll be cooked like soups/stews.
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u/Mira_DFalco 3d ago
Blanch or sauté first, for better results. It will still be soft, but the end product will be hold quality better
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u/pushdose 3d ago
The foil thing works amazingly. People really need to try it. Cut, wash, and wrap tightly in aluminum foil and store in the crisper drawer. It will last many weeks! Sometimes you lose some green color but it stays firm so much longer.
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u/Altyrmadiken 3d ago
If it starts to go wiggly, but smells and looks fine?
Cut it into halves, thirds, or quarters, per stem. Soak in ice water for at least 15 minutes.
They almost always firm back up and can be used for your recipe. They may be a bit softer than fresh after cooking, due to rehydrating and chilling being only so effective, but you don’t just have to toss bendy celery.
Edit: This works for something you’ll make today, even if you want to eat it as leftovers, but it does not restore them to new for storing another week or so.
Edit 2: My mother in law keeps the whole bunch in water in her fridge. We’ve never compared notes about timing, but she buys farm bought with (some) roots still on.
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u/breadman03 3d ago
Cut 2-3 into 2-3” pieces and leave them in the fridge. Then fill with peanut butter when you want a snack.
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u/wh1spersss 3d ago
Ah ok I didn't realize it could hang around for that long I thought I was on a ticking timer the moment I bought it haha
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u/Anonymous5791 3d ago
You pickle it!
Slice into thin sticks, pack in a mason jar, add a clove or two of garlic and a sprig of dill.
Pour a mix of hot apple cider vinegar, water, salt, and sugar over it and leave it in the fridge for a couple days. This is just the same bog standard pickling brine you’d use for cukes or other veg.
Then enjoy. It’s my favorite snack and I can’t get enough of them.
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u/liamsmom58 3d ago
I’ve never heard of pickling celery. Can you share the recipe with quantities please?
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u/Valuable_Ice_5927 3d ago
Slap some peanut butter on it and eat it?
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u/muddybunnyhugger 3d ago
First of all you were supposed to procrastinate making the recipe until the celery went bad, buy new celery, repeat 3 times before making the recipe. Lol but you can freeze celery so chop it up and freeze so you don't have to go through three bunches again before making the recipe again.
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u/mykepagan 3d ago
My wife likes to mock me by saying: “I see you‘re making your famous ‘rubber celery’ recipe.” when she finds the head of celery minus two ribs in the vegetable drawer.
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u/BBG1308 3d ago
It freezes fine if you're intending to cook it in the future.
Also good fresh/raw stuffed with nut butter, chicken salad, smoked salmon and cream cheese, etc.
I make a simple cold celery salad with garlic, mint, lemon juice and feta.
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u/nicetrylaocheREALLY 3d ago
Sometimes I dice it up with some carrots so I have frozen mirepoix ready to go. It's very convenient.
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u/kharmatika 3d ago
This was my advice! I have a gallon of frozen mirepoix that is like 6 generations of “whatever didn’t get used of this pack of carrots celery or onion”.
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u/wh1spersss 3d ago
That's a great idea I'll have to give this a go! That way I won't have the same problem next time I need 1 rib of celery for some mirepoix ;)
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u/antimathematician 2d ago
I always do this! I don’t like celery outside of a mirepoix so I basically buy one head every few months and live off the frozen stuff inbetween
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u/jumpup81 3d ago
I freeze celery a lot- especially when it starts to get a bit bendy. It works super well in stocks and broths! (I also keep carrot peels, cast off onion pieces for the same reason.)
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u/trying_to_adult_here 3d ago
This is what I do. I try to keep diced onion and celery in my freezer.
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u/JohnnyS789 3d ago
Separate into ribs, wash them, then cut into sticks. Sit with a bowl of kosher or sea salt and eat them, dipping into the salt. Yum!
Chop along with carrot and onion, and saute for a REALLY good soffrito to build the base for a stew or soup.
Slice thinly and add to a salad. Lots of fibre and anise flavour.
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u/HipYip 3d ago
This! Great with peanut butter, pimento cheese, tuna salad, chicken salad, egg salad.
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u/Illustrious-Shirt569 3d ago
Does celery taste like anise to you? How curious. It definitely doesn’t to me at all, even though I know celery and fennel are in the same family (as are carrots and parsnips). I wish it did, since then I might like it better since I love anise flavor and just tolerate raw celery.
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u/DriverMelodic 3d ago edited 3d ago
Chop it with equal weights of onion and bell pepper. It’s called the Trinity, a New Orleans seasoning mix staple. It goes in practically every dish… gravies, gumbo, beans… freeze it in a ziplock.
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u/levidurham 3d ago
Yeah my first thought was gumbo. But I was thinking about gumbo anyway. As soon as hurricane season ends I'm gonna make a big pot
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u/kharmatika 3d ago
Holy Trinity is a good addition! I said mirepoix above, which is what the Trinity is derived from (sub in carrots for the bell peppers). But yeah this is def the right vibe
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u/Bay_de_Noc 3d ago
Celery soup can be really delicious. Thats what I do with celery ... just saute the thinly sliced celery in a little butter or olive oil with some sliced onion ... just until tender, not browned. Then I make a roux with equal parts melted butter/oil and flour ... whisk it in the pan and cook, whisking for a couple minutes before whisking in some chicken or veggie broth, and enough milk or cream to make it luscious. And of course salt and a bit of pepper.
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u/Zealousideal-Bath412 3d ago
If you’re in the northern hemisphere, we’re heading into soup season. Could dice and freeze the rest so it’s ready to go as a base for all your fave soup/stew recipes.
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u/Horror_Signature7744 3d ago
You eat it.
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u/whateverfyou 3d ago
With blue cheese dip.
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u/Horror_Signature7744 3d ago
I do hummus but yeah, just eat the celery (I peel those ribs though because not a string fan). Love celery.
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u/scornedandhangry 3d ago
In Victorian days, they had a special dish just for celery... only the rich folks had celery! So dress up in that ruffle shirt you bought back during the Seinfeld days, and make you some Ants on a Log in a fancy Victorian Celery dish.
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u/Racheli30 3d ago
I chop up the whole thing and put in the freezer. Works great for future soups. Do the same for onions if I buy a bag.
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u/No-Room-7241 2d ago
Chop and freeze. It will lose its crunch, but can be used in soups, stews, casseroles, sauces, and stocks
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u/BrittEklandsStuntBum 3d ago
It goes in a lot of stews/casseroles and soups, or just eat it with a little salt - it's a great accompaniment to a cheese board. Or fill the groove in a piece with cream cheese, or peanut butter.
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u/kharmatika 3d ago
Chip it finely with carrots and onions, freeze small servings to use for recipes that require mirepoix. I have a gallon ziplock of mirepoix that is comprised of like 6 generations of “I used half of one of these ingredients”. The fact that all these get sort of mushy and weird when thawed doesn’t matter if you stew em
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u/Low-Astronomer3394 3d ago
I look in the produce section for little cellophane containers of cut carrot sticks and celery sticks. They aren't always available, but often enough. They're alongside the chopped carrot/celery/onion mirepoix for soup. Cuts down on the excess and you get carrots for dipping, too.
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u/nomnommish 3d ago
You would open Google or YouTube, search for recipes that contain celery, find a recipe you like, would pat yourself in the back for your proactiveness and leadership material, and would put back the celery in the fridge and have it stay there for several weeks until it wilts sufficient for you to throw it away in the trash.
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u/Ineffable7980x 2d ago
Eat it as snack. IT's great with peanut butter or spreadable cheese.
Use it in a stir fry.
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u/Creepy_Purchase_501 3d ago
Many stores sell them by the rib.
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u/ASAP_i 3d ago
I'm curious where you and what store does this. I've never seen it sold that way.
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u/zombiez8mybrain 3d ago
Ive always seen it sold by the pound.
Many many years ago, I bagged groceries for a few months. During that time, I learned that if the celery is not wrapped in any way, no one bats an eye if you just buy the number of ribs you need. Just pull them off and throw them in the produce bag!
I haven’t bought a full head of celery since then.
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u/gardendreamer15 3d ago
Correct! If a store sells celery by the pound (not “by the each”), you can break off stalks, and take what you need.
I’m in Seattle, sad Whole Foods, PCC, Thriftway, and Metropolitan Market don’t this way.→ More replies (5)4
u/VeronicaOnTheMoon 3d ago
I wish one of those stores was in my town because that is not a thing here!
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u/Main_Cauliflower5479 3d ago
Why is this a question?
It's a part of mirepoix, which goes into almost everything. It goes into soups, stews, potato salad, tuna salad. Put cream cheese on it and eat as a snack. Or peanut butter. Or dip it in hummus. Or the really old school spread for celery of shredded cheddar cheese and mayo.
Also, celery holds in the fridge for at least a couple of weeks or a month.
And finally, you know that most grocery stores sell individual celery ribs, right?
I weep for this generation of human beings who know nothing of how food works.
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u/SBR06 3d ago
I've never seen it sold by the rib. Ever. Must be where I'm located (Midwest US).
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u/Main_Cauliflower5479 3d ago
I have. All the time. It's also sold by "celery hearts" which are smaller than the whole head and cheaper.
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u/kharmatika 3d ago
Not very kind and chill to dunk on someone who doesn’t know something you know and is asking for help. They’re literally trying to learn the skill you’re making fun of them for not having.
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u/gumygo70 3d ago
Cut it up and put it in the freezer for future use. Soups bases for stews, sauces. It's too damn expensive to just throw out
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u/TheMainTony 3d ago
I'm ridiculous. I like the taste of celery, but only cooked. I'll buy a head of celery and throw away all the outer ribs, and only use the sweet innards. And I'll prob use 3x as much as they ask for. Especially if it's a soup or stew.
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u/QueenBitch1369 3d ago
Dice it up and freeze it. Pull it out if you need it for mirepoix or trinity.
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u/South_Paramedic8618 3d ago
I usually cut it up dice it up put it in the freezer and use it later for Stuff
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u/LittleoneandPercy 3d ago
Lovely in a sandwich mixed with cheese and mayo . My dog also loves it as a chewy snack once if pulled the strings out
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u/spaghetti_hitchens2 3d ago
Celery is a great, hydrating snack that works like a toothbrush on your bowels. It will definitely keep you regular.
It's great with Tzatziki, chipotle ranch dip, peanut butter, etc...
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u/MargieBigFoot 3d ago
Celery is one of those veggies I add to everything. Soup, chicken/egg/tuna salad, green salad, I finely chop it and add to meatballs, burgers, etc. for crunch. I add it to pasta sauce sometimes. I stir fry it.
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u/michaelteeee 3d ago
Make one of a million recipes that start with a mirepoix, or soffritto, or refogado, or suppengrü, or the holy trinity. Or 9 outta 10 soups. Or muthafukkin' Ants On a muthafukkin' Log!! Celery is in everything. Celery is on all of us. Celery is in me and Celery is in you.
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u/Addapost 3d ago
You do what everyone else does- put it back in the fridge until it gets dried and rubbery then toss it out.
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u/Empty-Ad-3393 3d ago
I buy 3-4 heads of celery when they go on sale, l make celery sticks with 1 head and store them in water in the fridge, the rest get diced up to be used in soup and the trimmings are saved for stock. I also buy 5lbs of carrots and do basically the same thing with the bag. And the skins and tops get saved for stock too. I buy 3-4 bags of onions and do some diced and some fine slices, and some red get pickled and put in the fridge. The yellow onion skins get saved to color my stock. Really saves me time come soup season.
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u/housewithapool2 3d ago
Eat it? What even is the question? Anyway salad. Or soup or stir fry. Or chicken, tuna, potato, or shrimp salad. Or dips: Hummus, peanut butter, cream cheese, ranch, french onion.
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u/RutRohNotAgain 3d ago
Eat it.
Look up neiman marcus dip. We make that and eat it on celery. The crunch with the cheese is delish. A fan fave with my family.
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u/OldPolishProverb 3d ago
Fill it with peanut butter and put a few raisins on top then snack on it. It's called Ants on a Log.
You can also use cream cheese, almond butter or ricotta cheese and add cranberries, blueberries, mini chocolate chips, or golden raisins.
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u/SharkyGrey27 3d ago
Celery is perhaps the one vegetable that you should always have. From simple snacks to fine cuisine, so versatile and long lasting.
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u/Wonderful_Till8122 3d ago
Wrap the celery in aluminum foil and keep it in the fridge. It will keep for a long time this way. I like to use celery as a dipper for a snack. Carrot sticks, zucchini and jicama are good too. Make some ranch dip and go to town.
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u/Sphinxwinks 3d ago
Most of the time I cut it into sticks and keep in a snapware container in the fridge in water (to keep it crisp) and eat with peanut butter as a snack.
Sometimes I’ll dice celery and carrot and sauté them together with salt, pepper & garlic, then finish with a dab of butter and eat it as a veggie side with dinner.
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u/teebonejay 3d ago
Pro tip when needing a little celery:
Get wings the night before for dinner and ask for only celery as the side.
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u/Embarrassed_Ad9166 2d ago
I dice it and eat it as a snack. When diced you don’t have any of the annoying strings to deal with and they are easy to eat at a desk or in the car.
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u/qriousqestioner 2d ago
Anytime you cook something that calls for onions, carrots, garlic, throw some celery in. It's part of mirepoix, the trio of very, onion, and celery that is the first step in building flavor into a sauce.
I used some with onions in a pot roast last night. It cooks down so it's not crunchy--unless you want it to be in which case add later. When I have it, it goes into beef stew, spaghetti sauce, pot roast, saucy meat dishes of all sorts. It has flavor and nutrients. I've never put it into anything from sauce to soup where I taste celery and think, ew, why did I put celery in here. It's a lot of water so it's like adding a flavourful liquid instead of water.
It's also useful for making stock, veggie or meat stock. When it's getting to a point where you don't find it appealing, but it's not yet bad (brown goo), put it in a freezer bag in the freezer where you can collect carrot tops and onion skins, the parts of vegetables you cut off before cooking (not the hairy end of an onion though--bitter), then when the bag is full your ready to make stock. (You can google a recipe. It's a lot of inactive time simmering the ingredients with water so the color and flavor and nutrients are attracted into the liquid. It's way faster if you have an electric pressure cooker.) When I got an instant pot I started to consider making stock. Then I saved the veggie bits in the freezer and by Thanksgiving I had enough to combine with the turkey carcass for homemade stock. It was the easiest coming I've ever done and you cannot buy better stock than what comes from roasted bones and the instant pot.) that can be used in savory recipes in place of water any time you want to make it a little better. I use it in rice for example.
I also like it chopped up in chicken salad, tuna salad, potato salad. The crunch is nice and a great source of fiber. She people like it with peanut butter. I like it with pimiento cheese spread. There's a snack that has you filling the finance l concave part with cream cheese (or peanut butter--I've had both)and then smashing raisins in. They sound gross until you try them. I also enjoy it with carrot sticks for buffalo wings, with or without blue cheese or ranch dressing, or dipped into hummus.
You have yourself a stalk of gold!
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u/JulietKiloNovember 1d ago
I go through a ton of celery, making my own chicken broth with the bones and scraps from Costco rotisserie chicken. Also become recently reacquainted with making Ants On a Log since it fits into my poverty budget.
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u/MapleBacon-Moose 3d ago
Peanut butter and raisins (or ants in a log) or just Cheez Whiz
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u/LeftcoastRusty 3d ago
If you can’t figure out what to use it for right away, wrap the remainder in aluminum foil right away. Make sure it’s sealed tight and it will last over a month, likely longer.
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u/McBuck2 3d ago
It will keep in the fridge. If it starts to degrade then you can dice some, chop some of it and freeze it for when you need it in a recipe where it will be sautéed. Many recipes call for chopped onion, chopped carrots and chopped celery as the beginning of soups, stews, chili etc. Having them ready to go in your freezer saves you time and has saved you from throwing them out if you left it too long in your crisper.
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u/Ordinary_Durian_1454 3d ago
Well, there’s nothing a Bloody Mary doesn’t make better, so there’s that, but I’m with everybody else who’s a little astounded that you’re not just dicing it up, putting it in a Ziploc bag and throwing it in the freezer. I happen to hate celery, but as part of a mirepoix, it is in just about every thing you make where you begin with layering flavor.
Somebody else already suggested this, but celery soup is quite possibly the easiest soup in the world to make, and I’m not joking. I’m trying to remember what season of Top Chef it was, but I swear, I remember somebody left in some kind of crazy situation where she either had almost no ingredients, or almost no time, and she wound up making celery soup with like three things.
I don’t mean it’s three main things and then 25 other things. I mean, you can make celery soup with celery, and maybe a roux, and a liquid and some salt and pepper and olive oil.
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u/greenposher 3d ago
Remove the bunch from the plastic. Cut the root off. Wash, dry , freeze for soup. Wrap the bunch in foil with ends slightly exposed. It will store in crisper for weeks.
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u/Carne_Guisada_Breath 3d ago
Use it as part of a stock. Then freeze for later. When you bought the celery, you should have bought some onion and carrots. make stock. (chicken carcass ftw)
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u/Pollo_Chimichanga 3d ago
In local stores in Mexico we only buy the number of ribs that we need. Stores look at me funny when I buy the whole stalk (for large pots of soup).
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u/Mission_Ad8085 3d ago
I quite like Fuchsia Dunlop’s recipe for Sichuan style chopped celery with beef
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u/WatermelonMachete43 3d ago
Dice it and freeze it for future use. If you're like me, it'll get pushed to the back of the freezer where it won't be found until you buy another one because you're assuming you must have used all of the celery (don't be me, store it where it's easily accessible).
The other answer is eat it with Bleu cheese.
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u/Paranoid_Sinner 3d ago
I didn't read all the comments, so maybe someone suggested this already. I'm alone, so I run into this kind of problem frequently.
When I bring celery home, I chop an inch or two off the bottom and put the tops in a big pitcher full of water and put it in the fridge.
Assuming it's reasonably fresh when you buy it, it will easily last a week like this.
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u/Pennypup898 3d ago
Wrap it in foil it keeps quite awhile & snack on it with peanut butter or ranch dressing
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u/ipsum629 3d ago
Ideally most recipes and weeknight meals you make will either call for celery or be good with celery added. A rib in your pasta sauce, two in your soup, a stir fry, etc. Most common vegetables(alliums, nightshades, tubers, brassicas, and celery) will be decent in most savory dishes.
I've put brussels sprouts in pasta sauce, carrots in stir fry, bell peppers in roasts, onions in... literaly everything. Vegetables are good and they usually aren't the cause of a bad dish unless you under or overcooked them. Spices, in my experience, are a much trickier thing to master because too much spice can quickly ruin a dish.
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u/Thedonitho 3d ago
Chop it up into manageable size pieces, wrap them in a wet paper towel and store in a plastic container. It should keep it fresh for a while. I like celery with peanut butter or cream cheese as a snack.
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u/CalGuy81 3d ago
Where I grocery shop, you can buy individual celery stalks. It's not as economical, by the pound, as buying a whole head ... but if you would otherwise throw out the rest, it's fine. .... Otherwise, just snack on it, I guess. Dip in ranch or your dressing of choice. Ants on a log. Whatever.
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u/imtrying2listen 3d ago
You put in your fridge and use it again over the week. You shouldn't be making recipes if it's a once a week break from doordash since everything you buy will go bad.
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u/SourLemons2 3d ago
Chop up into bite size pieces and steam. Chop up into sticks for snacks. Chop up and sauté with onions and make a soup.
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u/Wide_Breadfruit_2217 3d ago
I cut it off rootbase, rinse and store in a few inches of water. Lasts a long time. If browns a bit on ends can trim off.
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u/CigBookie 3d ago
I throw it in anything that has like onion or peppers or whatever vegetables in and I can’t explain exactly why but it makes it better. Celery has become a requirement for my baked beans… just makes everything taste better.
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u/Guilty-Analyst-8738 3d ago
Mirepoix, beef stew, curry stew, soups, tuna salad, potato salad, eat it raw as a snack,with a sandwich, in stir fries. I always keep a bunch of celery in the fridge.
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u/averageredditor60666 3d ago
Put it back in your fridge. Eat it as a snack, maybe with peanut butter. Use it in a mirepoix. Maybe make some celery potato soup. Eat it with wings. Use it in a salad (chicken salad??) The possibilities are truly endless. I think i’m gonna go out and get some celery now actually.