Learn all the tips for Freezing Celery to save yourself time and money. A stash of frozen celery in your freezer can easily be added to soups, casseroles, and other hot dishes for fast meals that can quickly be thrown together.
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Imagine what your life would look like if you could simply reach into your freezer, grab some frozen veggies, and have a soup ready to go in 20 minutes? It would look like magic. And that would make you a magician.
We recently had the all-family flu situation that demanded an emergency batch of Instant Pot Matzo Ball Soup. Thanks to having a stash of frozen celery, home-canned carrots, frozen onions, and frozen garlic, I was able to just push a few buttons on the pressure cooker and walk away.
Check out my entire guide on how to freeze fresh produce.
Can Celery Be Frozen?
Yes! And you absolutely should because celery is one of those things that often goes bad in the crisper drawer. Freezing extras will prevent food waste and set you up for super-fast meals.
Please note, frozen celery is best used in soups, stews, and hot dishes. It won’t retain crispness for fresh eating or stir-fries. It’s perfect for recipes like Instant Pot Beef Barley Soup.
How Do You Prepare Celery For Freezing?
You’ll need to cut the root section and any woody tops off, and carefully rinse each stalk to remove dirt or debris. Slice into 1/2 inch to 1-inch sections, and blanch.
How Do You Blanch Celery?
It’s so easy! You’ll just need to bring a pot of water to a boil, add the celery, and cook for three minutes. Scoop the slices out with a slotted spoon and put into a bowl with ice water.
There are occasions when blanching isn’t necessary, like if you plan to use the frozen celery within two months. But blanching preserves color, and taste, and also prevents the cut ends from browning. Blanching is best if you plan to store in the freezer for longer than two months.
Why Is It Necessary to Flash Freeze?
Flash freezing, or the act of freezing food individually, allows the food to be stored without clumping together. In this instance, we’re going to freeze the cut celery on a rimmed baking sheet and freeze for 2 hours.
Once frozen, you can transfer to freezer storage (we love these reusable silicone bags) and scoop out whatever amount you need without having to bash the bag against the counter while cursing. That um, happened to a friend.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- There is no need to thaw before adding to dishes.
- You do not need to shorten the cooking time for dishes when using frozen celery.
- Save clean leaves and tops/ends to make homemade stock. Related: How to Make Chicken Bone Broth
MORE HELPFUL “HOW TO” POSTS
- Check out all my tasty recipes that use celery
- Freezing Peaches
- How to Freeze Asparagus
- Freezing Pesto
- How to Freeze Cranberries
- Freezing Cherries
- How to Freeze Spinach
- Freezing Pumpkin
- How to Freeze Cauliflower
- Freezing Corn on the Cob
- How to Freeze Potatoes
- Freezing Tomatoes the Easy Way
- Freezing Blueberries
- How to Freeze Peppers
- Freezing Strawberries
- How to Cut a Watermelon
- Where to Buy Bone Broth
- How to Cut a Peach
- How to Segment an Orange
Freezing Celery {How to Freeze Celery}
Ingredients
- 1 cutting board
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 large saucepan
- 1 colander or slotted spoon
- 1 mixing bowl
- ice
- clean kitchen towel
- 1 rimmed baking sheet
- 1 freezer bags {strive for reusable}
- 1 silpat or parchment
Instructions
How to Blanch Celery
- Remove the tops and ends, and clean and chop celery in 1/2 inch to 1 inch pieces.
- Set up a bowl full of ice water. Place a clean kitchen towel unfolded and flat on the counter.
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.
- Add chopped celery to the boiling water and boil for 3 minutes.
- Once the time is up, strain the celery through a colander or scoop pieces out of the water with a slotted spoon and immediately add to the ice water for two minutes.
- Strain again and set aside to drain.
- Spread out on the clean towel and blot dry.
How to Freeze Celery
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silpat.
- Add the celery on the baking sheet without crowding the tray and place the tray in the freezer.
- Freeze for two hours.
- Break apart any clumps that have formed on the baking sheet and transfer to freezer-proof storage.
Notes
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I froze celery, when I took it out of the freezer it was so water soaked and soggy. Had to throw all of it away. What a waste.!
Hi Erlene, how did you try to use it (like what kind of recipe) There is a note in the post about how it works best and where it doesn’t make sense to use it (I’ll copy and paste it below):
Please note, frozen celery is best used in soups, stews, and hot dishes. It won’t retain crispness for fresh eating or stir-fries.
Also noted under “Recipe Notes”: There is no need to thaw before adding to dishes.
I have a food saver. I have been freezing veggies, meat and fruits for years. Using this method I would flash freeze then put in food saver bags seal and freeze. Love my Food Saver.
Fantastic
It’s so easy! 🙂
How to freeze celery: throw directly into garbage. Winter will get to it eventually.
So sad. It’s so delicious!
This is a Game Changer for me!!
I have an old Tupperware celery saver (container) that will keep celery a very, very long time. However, the container takes up so much room in my refrigerator that I don’t use it as much as I should. I have tried putting both celery and carrots in the container, but it seems to make the celery go bad quickly when I do that. Now that I know how to freeze excess celery I have another option to avoid food waste!
My nana used to sell Tupperware (like award-winning sales lady) so I bet at some point, someone in my family had a celery “keeper”. We also had something called a “cheese garage”. 🙂