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2022-07-02 02:40:48 By : Ms. Sophie Ma

Despite having a reputation as an everyday snack food, celery is an incredibly versatile ingredient that lends itself well to various recipes, adding both texture and flavor. The carrot-family vegetable can be eaten raw or sauteed. It's also a source of several vital nutrients, including vitamin A, C, and K. "Mostly all of the classic comfort foods use celery," says Chris Mentzer, a chef and director of operations for Rastelli Market Fresh. 

Buying a whole head of celery often leaves you with too much on your hands. While fresh celery keeps longer than other vegetables, it eventually turns mushy and inedible if you don't eat it quickly enough. Freezing celery is a great way to make sure you always have this commonly used ingredient on hand. 

The best method is to blanch celery before freezing, says Mentzer. Doing so helps extend the frozen celery's lifespan for eight months or more. And, because the celery is pre-cooked, it's easy to toss into soups and stews.

You can freeze fresh celery, but it will soften significantly during the thawing process and lose much of its distinct celery-like flavor, says Mentzer. "Fresh frozen celery has a much shorter shelf life, too — only about two to three months," he adds. 

Blanching extends the life of frozen celery because it helps expel some of the moisture from the vegetable, which in turn prevents freezer burn. The texture of cooked frozen celery is superior to fresh frozen celery, which becomes soft and soggy as it thaws. 

Quick tip: You can also freeze celery leaves along with the stalks. Like the stalks, it's best to cook the leaves before freezing, says Mentzer. Use them in stir fries, salads, or add them to bean dishes to add a fresh celery flavor.

Blanching vastly improved the texture of the celery, making it more versatile once frozen. Qwart/Getty Images

While Mentzer prefers fresh celery, he admits that it's handy to have frozen celery on hand for last-minute meals. 

Quick tip: "I would not recommend freezing celery with other vegetables since each vegetable has a different structure, and some lend themselves better for freezing," says Mentzer. Freezing veggies together can also make it tougher to cook after thawing since some take more or less time to cook. 

Frozen celery works particularly well in soups and stews. Alex Walker/Getty Images

If you diced and blanched your celery before freezing, you can add it to soups and stews straight from the freezer, says Mentzer. However, if you plan to use celery in something like a stir fry, thawing helps prevent moisture from ruining the dish and turning it mushy. 

You'll need to thaw and cook fresh frozen celery before using it in recipes. 

Some of Mentzer's favorite uses for celery are in comfort foods like:

Frozen celery lends itself particularly well to soups and stews because you likely won't notice the slight change in texture. 

Mentzer doesn't recommend using frozen celery for juicing since the fresh frozen stalks become too soft once thawed.

If you have too much celery on your hands that you don't want to waste, freezing is a great way to prolong the life of these crunchy stalks. Blanching then freezing celery will extend its life for eight  months or more. Use it in your favorite comfort food dishes like Thanksgiving stuffing, cream of celery soup, and chicken pot pie.