Do you enjoy celery salt but would prefer to just have plain celery salt without all the junky ingredients that are in many of the store-bought brands? This easy recipe for homemade celery salt is just what you need.
I love making my own homemade seasoning blends like taco seasoning, curry powder, vegetable broth, chili powder, cinnamon sugar, chat masala, and even DORITO® seasoning.
But why would one want to make homemade celery salt, you ask? And how do you use it?
Well, before you just move on from this post thinking, “What’s so great about celery salt?”
Don’t.
I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll like.
Reasons to Make Your Own Celery Salt
1. Control over your ingredients
2. Save money (remember, Homemade Seasoning Blends always cost a TON less than buying them pre-blended)
3. You just can’t get enough of “Make Your Own” stuff
4. You are craving my Special Seasoning Popcorn (you know, the totally addictive stuff) and you don’t have any celery salt in the house :-).
5. Your resulting blend is super fresh.
6. You buy fewer things. No need to buy the whole spice and the blend.
Now, about #1.
What? You mean there’s more in celery salt than just celery and salt? Well, yes and no.
Of course, unless you are buying specialty celery salt, then the salt in your celery salt could have any of the following in it:
Possible Ingredients in Store-Bought Celery Salt
Here are things that might find their way into store bought versions of celery salt.
- sugar
- sodium silicoaluminate (ugh – aluminum??)
- dextrose (why is there sugar in salt??)
- sodium bicarbonate
Not things I really wanted in my celery salt.
So aside from all of the other reasons to have a DIY version of this spice blend (thought I do love saving money and making things myself), that’s enough for me right there.
How to Use Celery Salt
1. Of course, you really have to try my Surprisingly Good Popcorn Seasoning | All Purpose Seasoning. It’s loaded with celery salt. You’ll love it. Guaranteed!
2. Use as a seasoning anywhere you might use salt (just not in baked goods :-)!) Think – baked potatoes, vegetables, sausage, dips, soups, etc. It’s especially good for dishes like cold salads (egg, potato, pasta, etc.)
3. In some areas of the U.S. it is used as a hot dog topping. I’ve read it is a must on Chicago Hot Dogs. You might want to buy only the no antibiotic, no nitrate hot dogs should you try this, however.
4. As a Celery Substitute: Have a recipe that calls for celery but don’t have any? Save a trip to the store and use celery salt. Just make sure to cut back on the amount of salt you add to the recipe. Substituting this way saves tons of time and money.
5. Beverages. Celery Salt is typically used in Bloody Marys (I’ve never had one personally, however) and it’s a great seasoning to add to vegetable juices.
6. Pork – Celery salt is used to crisp up the rind when roasting.
7. Cole Slaw – I’ve read it’s THE go to spice for Southern Cole Slaw
8. With Quail’s Eggs – Celery salt is apparently the perfect pairing for Hard Boiled Quail’s Eggs.
9. Salads – celery salt is particularly good on potato salads or keto potato salad
10. Stews
11. In Old Bay Seasoning – it’s the primary ingredient in this popular seasoning, so if you’re making a completely DIY version, you will need a lot of this.
Bet you had no idea there were so many ways to use celery salt. I sure had fun digging up these ideas and will be using it more as a result.
Oh, in case you are wondering where to buy spices, I mainly recommend Frontier Brand but Starwest Botanicals is also a great option.
What You Will Need
- Celery Seed (or fresh or dried celery leaves)
- Salt (I recommend Real Salt or Himalayan Salt)
- Grinder
More Homemade Pantry Staples:
– Pumpkin Pie Spice (a must for this time of year as fall rushes in)
– Homemade Taco Seasoning
– Mild Curry Powder
– Best Cinnamon Sugar
– Powdered Egg Replacer (compare to Ener-G)
– Herbes de Provence (this is a key ingredient for one of our favorite popcorn toppings)
What Spice Grinder is Best?
There are loads of spice grinders on the market. Many people use a coffee grinder for grinding spices. It’s really best to use a grinder that has a washable grinding cup.
This is the grinder that I have now. I like it, except the interior of the base gets pretty dirty and is hard to clean. It’s lasted for a long time so far, so in that sense, it has served us well.
This is the grinder that I had before. It was much easier to clean, but it didn’t have a really long life. Could have been an outlier, but it was disappointing, to say the least, when it died.
I would love to hear if you have a grinder that you love!
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
- Kosher Salt: You can also use kosher (coarse) salt. Just use twice as much salt and grind it together with your celery seed.
- Shelf Life: Celery Seed has a super-long shelf life – so you can go ahead and buy it in bulk. Whole spices typically have very long shelf lives, while ground ones lose their potency and freshness more quickly.
- AIP: For an AIP version (or simply another option) of this recipe, use celery leaves instead of celery seed. The proportions are up to you, but one option is about 1 tablespoon of sea salt to 6 tablespoons of celery powder.
Homemade Celery Salt--2 Ways (and how to use it)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup celery seed (or leaves--see notes)
- 1/4 cup salt
Instructions
- Put celery seed in grinder. See notes above about grinder options.
- Grind celery seed to desired consistency.
- Mix with salt.
- Store in a closed jar in a cool, dark place.
Notes
What is your favorite way to use celery salt?
If using fresh celery leaves do you have to use it right away so it doesn’t mold? I like to make things ahead so I can quickly make a meal. For dried leaves do you put them in the oven to dry? How long will this recipe store in cabinet? Thank you!
Hi there. You have to dry them first to make the salt. You can dry them in the oven or dehydrator. Dried celery salt will keep for quite awhile due to the salt content plus celery seed acts as a preservative as well.
Thank you, I’ll try it soon.
You are so welcome! Hope it works out well for you!
I use a coffee bean grinder & clean it with a few pieces of bread after each spice to keep it clean
Great tip! Do you “clean” it a few times I assume – putting a whole piece in at a time?
I use a coffee grinder, and when I’m finished grinding, then brush it out with a pastry brush with soft bristles. If I feel I have to get it more clean from using more savory spices and I want to use sweet spices, I put in 2 tsp of uncooked rice, grind that in the coffee grinder, dump it out, brush it out with a pastry brush, and it’s cleaned up and ready to use.
Great tip – thanks!
My Grandfather used celery salt all the time and he was a great cook. I love it in soups and salads or sprinkled on dumplings or cottage cheese. Thank you for the recipe!
You are so welcome!! Neat cottage cheese idea! What kind of dumplings – just plain? Haven’t had them in years. My mom put them on Irish Stew. Yum! They were made from Bisquick, however, so not very healthy ;).
We have dumplings in vegetable beef or chicken soup and stew. The recipe I use is one of my Grandfathers. He never had a written recipe for anything so I had to stand beside him as he cooked and measure everything to get it. The dumplings are 1 beaten egg, 1/4 c. whole milk mixed together. Then in another bowl 2/3 c. flour with 1 tsp baking powder mixed well then add the egg/milk and mix. The tricky part is you may need to slowly add more flour until the consistency is right. It takes from 2/3 c. up to 1 1/4 c. flour. To little flour and they fall apart, to much and they get hard. I make them enough that I have it pretty much down.
Sounds GREAT! Do you just use regular white flour? I wonder if I could do this GF but one of my kids can’t have egg.
Was there supoosed to be a link to click on regarding the grinder?
Hi there. I’m so sorry about that. We moved our recipes to a different program and a lot of the links were stripped. I just updated the post w/ more information that should help you. Let me know if you have any other questions and thanks for reading!
Cut all the talk and tell us how to make the (foul language deleted by blog owner) stuff!
Hi Don. First of all, thanks for reading. Second, I’m assuming you missed the handy “Jump to Recipe” button that I have at the top of my posts so that people who are in a rush / don’t feel like reading the other content can get right to the recipe.
I will add, however, that some of the information in the post is important to note for many people as often I have recipe tips and helpful substitutions, but you can always scroll back to see that.
As for other “talk”–I’m a writer and not a site like “all recipes” and such. Part of my work is to connect with my readers and provide a story. It makes it a littler more interesting, but again, I’ve provided an easy way to get around that if you like.
Hope that’s helpful. In the future, if you have a concern or complaint I would appreciate your not using foul language on my blog. Thank you for your understanding.
Very classy answer by the way ?
Thank you so much! Love my (not rude) readers :). And I try to win the rude ones over.
Rude. There was tons of other sites why not just keep scrolling.
I’ve seen some recipes that use the celery leaves instead of seeds. What is your take on that?
You can do that as well–just different proportions and a slightly different taste.
Does the use of celery salt help in some way the urinary track. I am 80 and last year and I suffered from Prostitis . I told someone about it and that I had to get up three and four times at night. He answered, use celery salt. True or false?
I can’t speak to prostitis b/c that is a medical condition but I would recommend searching for “celery salt” and “prostate” to see what others say. I was interested in what I read when I did that. 🙂
Another reason to make your own celery salt, celery seed is pretty easy to grow yourself, and then you don’t even have to buy that 🙂
Great idea!
Perfect. I wanted to add more celery seed but as I taste it the celery fl comes out pretty strong . so left a is. Awesome.
Great!
Thanks for the information. My hubby & I are missionaries in Tanzania , East Africa & like to live holistically. We take our oils with us when we go back home because you never know what one might find in East Africa. I am also leary about what I find here in USA so your research is greatly appreciated. I have a question about edible oils. Do you know a safe edible oils company?
I also make most of my own seasonings. Your info on celery salt will come in handy. I make my own blend of Cajun seasoning which I use on almost any kind of foods. Most of those ingredients are readily found in Tanzania.
Thanks again for your posts.
Hi there! Basically for oils purity is what matters. I personally don’t recommend using essential oils internally unless you are under the care of a physician or aromatherapist. But aside from that purity is what you need to verify. This post should help w/ that. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/ Thanks for the kind words!
what is the difference between Himalayan Pink Salt and Real Salt mined in Utah?
There are several but most notably would be the sourcing – Real Salt is from the US and Himalayan comes from many far away sources and some would have better standards than others.
Thank you so much! I have a recipe that calls for “celery salt” and wasn’t quite sure what it contained. I have celery seeds and sea salt so I will follow this!
You’re welcome!
This is just great! I just decided to make tortiereand had lots od celery seed and no celery salt. Finding this site gives me access to to much more useful information.
Glad to hear it – welcome!
What about the people that are not allowed to have sodium in their diet anymore? can you use no salt? have you tried this before?
Hmmm…I think it would be pretty overpowering. Have you asked your physician if a natural salt might be OK? I have heard that some people who stop using table salt do fine with natural unprocessed salts, but of course I am not medically advising that.
Sadly, celery salt is my enemy right now. We just found out my 3 year old is allergic to celery. The fda doesn’t require it be labeled on food, they can just call it “spice.” Hopefully, he will outgrow it, and we can enjoy this source again.
Sorry, I meant spice, not source. You are a good source. 🙂
You’re too kind :). Hope to see you around again.
Terrible :(. I know what you mean about that labeling. We have had that issue on and off in our home too.
On your spices if you can’t have salt can you substitute no salt salt?
I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why not?
First sight I found that gave me a straight answer to my question. Excellent content, layout, vibe,etc. Great work Adrienne, and thanks for the recipe. My celery salt turned out perfect, using a combo of dried leaves, seeds, and Himalayan sea salt. Cheers!
I’m so glad!! Sorry for the delay – your comment got buried in a pile and I am just seeing it now. Thanks again!
This is just what I’ve been looking for. Thanks for the recipe! By the way, we also use celery salt on sub sandwiches.
Glad to hear it! Sounds very yummy!
If I don’t have a grinder how else can I get it ground up enough
Do you have a mortar and pestle? Here’s a link (affiliate one): https://amzn.to/1FShqG7 this one looks nice and not too pricey.