Celery powder is one of those spice cabinet staples in my house. I love the flavor it adds to soup, stew, chili and even dusting beef, pork, chicken and fish. Not to mention it is great in homemade salad dressings! Making my own herb and spice powders makes me feel better about what I am serving to family and friends when I cook too. I mean, have you seen some of the ingredients in store-bought varieties? Things like MSG and fillers that aren’t needed (or wanted on my part).
I find that making these herb and veggie powders are a great, and space saving, way to save the abundance that comes from our vegetable garden or goodies I pick up from the farmer’s market. I make tomato powder, mushroom powders and garlic powder.
Celery powder is not the same thing as the substance in celery salt. Celery salt is actually made from grinding celery seeds into a powder and mixing with salt. Just thought you might want to do know the difference before you take on the endeavor of making celery powder. BUT you can make a quick celery salt with your celery powder by taking 1 tablespoon of celery powder and mixing it with a quarter cup of sea salt.
You can print the celery powder recipe – look for the link at the bottom of this page.
Celery Powder – Ingredients & Tools Needed
This is fairly straight forward. You only really need 3 things – a good dehydrator, a few bunches of celery (leaves too!), means to powder your dehydrated celery and a jar or jars to store it in.
- 2 – 3 bunches of celery (homegrown and/or organic is always best)
1 bunch will typically make about 2 oz of celery powder. - Dehydrator ( this is the one I use )
- Spice grinder, blender, mini food processor (what I used) or mortar and pestle
- Canning or Spice Jar with tight lid to keep out moisture
Celery Powder – Simple Directions
- Thoroughly wash and dry your celery.
- Crop celery into even slices – you want them to be as uniform as possible so they are all done about the same time. I pull the leaves off and save those too – lots of flavor there! But I do not use the ends of the celery where it is nearly white.
- Arrange your celery slices in a single layer on your dehydrator trays.
- Set your dehydrator to vegetables or 135 degrees F
- They’ll need about 8 – 9 hours to fully dehydrate and they are going to shrink a lot.
- You’ll know they are ready when they celery powders so try crushing one under a spoon to see if they’re ready.
- I grind about a handful at a time for best results. Make sure you do not open the lid to whatever you’re using to grind until the powder settles – you don’t want to breathe that stuff in.
- Store in your jar/s and keep in a cool dry cabinet for best results.
- Try mixing with other herbs and spices for your own special blend.
Making celery powder is simple and I find the flavor enhances so many dishes. Not only that but I feel like my homemade celery powder has more celery flavor than its store-bought counterparts; you’ll have to try it and compare for yourself. Lastly, powders are a great way to save a bountiful harvest from my garden are anytime I find a great deal on organic produce at the farmer’s market!
Happy dehydrating!