Homemade Celery Salt (and 10+ Ways to Use It)
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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 mouthwatering 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
Following are some great ways to use this homemade celery salt, with the last one being the BEST of all.
Salt Alternative – 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.)
Hot Dog Seasoning – 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. I recommend and use only antibiotic, no nitrate hot dogs. Azure Standard is one great place to get those.
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.
In 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.
On Pork – Celery salt is used to crisp up the rind when roasting.
On Cole Slaw – Celery Salt is THE go to spice for Southern Cole Slaw
With Quail's Eggs – Celery salt is apparently the perfect pairing for Hard Boiled Quail's Eggs. I've never had them, have you?
On Salads – celery salt is particularly good on potato salad, both regular or keto potato salad.
On Stews
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.
Popcorn Topping – Celery Salt is the main ingredient in this Surprisingly Good Popcorn Seasoning | All Purpose Seasoning. It's loaded with celery salt. You'll love it. Guaranteed!
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 I currently have and mostly I love it. The only thing I don't like is that the interior of the base gets dirty and is hard to clean. But this grinder has lasted for a very long time for us and it's still kicking.
This is the grinder I had before. It was much easier to clean than the current one, but it didn't last long. Maybe a fluke, but it was disappointing, to say the least, when it died.
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
- 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.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
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!