If you don’t use celery on a regular basis, and rarely use up a whole bunch then you should read how. To avoid food waste, I freeze anything I won’t use up in a few days.
It's simple to freeze celery, however, there is one drawback, it will lose its crispness. Frozen celery is best used in stew, soups and other cooked dishes.
I skip the blanching because I'm never going to keep celery frozen for a year or longer. I'm usually freezing a few stalks each time and use it up in a few weeks. Keeping frozen celery in the freezer is a great way to make sure you have celery when you need it.
freezing instructions
Always choose the freshest celery that has crisp and tender ribs.
- Separate the ribs of celery from the stalk and wash thoroughly under running water to remove any remaining dirt.
- Cut the celery into ½ or 1-inch slices,depending on how you expect to use the celery.
- Place celery onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze for 1-2 hours, then package into Ziploc bags in serving sizes. Freezing on the baking sheet first before packaging will keep the pieces from sticking and freezing together. I like to store the equivalent of one celery rib in each bag. If you will be storing longer than a month, then it's good to use a vacuum sealer to ensure the best quality when you're ready to use the celery in a recipe.
- Place the celery bags into the freezer.
It's not necessary unless you want to store the celery for more than a couple of months. The blanched celery will last for about 1 year.
You don't need to thaw celery before using it, just add t to what you are cooking straight from the freezer. Celery loses it's crispness when frozen, and is best used in recipes where you want to add flavor and not texture .
A “stalk” of celery refers to the bunch of celery and a "rib" is a single piece or stick of celery.
💭Tip
Freeze celery and onions together for quick recipe prep.
Read tips on keeping food safe in the fridge and freezer.
Frances
Thanks, I never thought to freeze celery, Im going to do it today.