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?
OMG I went and immediately made some! Thanks for sharing!!!
Yea!!
About those extra ingredients in store-bought celery salt – I think I know what they’re for.
sugar, dextrose – why is there sugar in salt??
My guess is it’s because a little sweet brings out salty flavor, and vice-versa. It’s apparently a well-known tip to professional chefs.
sodium silicoaluminate – ugh – aluminum??
Keeps it free-flowing, so you don’t have to use an ice-pick to chip off a chunk of salt every time.
sodium bicarbonate
I have no idea.
Agreed on all points :).
Great, sprinkled on Cheese-on-Toast, with a little sprinkling of Cayenne Pepper.
How cool is this? And what a great idea to put it on popcorn!
I LOVE celery salt on roasted chick peas. Unusual but delicious!
YUM!!!!!
So I just use celery seed and add extra salt, but mainly use it in my homemade rubs for smoking meat. I know alot of info out there about how bad smoked foods are but one of our favorite things.
The main reason I wanted to comment was on the grinder. An inexpensive option which I use is a coffee grinder set to a fine grind. Works great, readily available and cheap.
I need a new grinder. Mine bit the dust. I’d LOVE one w/ a washable interior – got a good one?
I don’t. We had an older coffee grinder that wasn’t in use so I cleaned it one day to try. Have been using ever since, its a pain to clean. I try and do lots at a time so I don’t have to clean it to often. But didn’t cost me anything which is critical these days.
Thank you, thank you for the curry mix. I am so sensitive to heat that I have trouble with most curries. Now thanks to you, I can adjust it to fit me. Thanks again.
:).
This may sound silly, but, celery seed? Is that in the spice aisle at the store? Or do you literally mean the seeds that would be used to PLANT celery? I’m new to the DIY kind of stuff, so any help is appreciated! Thanks!
jen
You can buy celery seed in the spice section–or here (affiliate link).https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001VNEBEQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001VNEBEQ&linkCode=as2&tag=whnemo-20 (yes, this is a lot. I typically buy it 1 pound at a time. Whole spices don’t spoil very quickly.
thanks for the recipe! Gave up sugar a while ago and was reading my garlic salt ingredients and it had sugar in it. ARGH.
So smart. I love all your recipes because they are simple and I never think to do that! 🙂 🙂
Thanks!! Hope you are well!!
I’ve had my celery salt for 13 years. Not only is it old, but it’s not labeled, so I have no idea if it is GF. Thanks for this recipe. I would love it if you visited my new Gluten-Free Monday party at OneCreativeMommy.com and linked up this and any other idea you would like to share. I hope to see you there.
Adrian, this is a great idea! I love celery salt in so many things, especially chicken and tuna salad. Great tip! 🙂
What a fun recipe to have on hand! I would love to have you stop by ‘Or so she says…’ and share your great ideas at the Saturday link party (runs until Tuesday night…tonight!) I hope to see you there! http://www.oneshetwoshe.com
This post is one of the highlights in my Hearth & Soul Hop this week — great idea! Thanks for sharing on Hearth & Soul Hop. 🙂
Thank you!!!
I love using celery salt in cooking – it’s great to have a recipe for a natural alternative to the commercially prepared ones!
Made my own Old Bay Seasoning the other day and it required a large amount of celery salt…what a timely post as I needed to purchase some more.
I love celery salt as well, and had no idea there was all that junk in some brands. I’ll have to check the packaging on mine and see…
My favorite thing to put celery salt on is tomato soup. And I agree with Diane about the hamburgers too!
What I mean about the junk is that it is in the salt. So they don’t have to label the stuff in the salt b/c they are just disclosing “salt” on the label. But table salt, if you look at your table salt label, is typically loaded with junk – like anti-caking ingredients – hope that helps!
Oh! I see now, I read too quickly 🙂
The aluminum is the biggest shock to me, thanks for your post on that… We otherwise use natural sea salt, so making the natural celery salt would be so easy for me. This is on my to-do list for sure!
I am excited to my kids to have it on their natural hot dogs :-)! Enjoy!
We don’t have celery salt in the house. I had no idea it was so simple to make. Brilliant Adrienne
Thanks! Hi France and thanks for your kind words!!!
I do what my grandfather always did; celery salt on hamburgers! Nothing like it!
Sounds great!!!
i dry out my celery leaves (from the garden) on a low temp in my toaster oven and mix them equal parts with salt. YUMMY!
I love that idea. I was just trying to do the easiest way (or for those of us who don’t have celery lying around :-)!)