A Simple Recipe for Braised Celery
Celery is so underrated! Besides smearing it with peanut butter and a sprinkling of raisins, I’ve been using in in my green juice and the other day decided to try it braised. Julia Child was a big fan of braised celery…and now so am I. Braising mellows this stalky vegetable and brings out a rich, savory flavor. The cooking broth reduces to a shiny glaze and while the celery tenderly yields to the tines of the fork, it still has a bit of crunch left (nobody wants to eat mush). Serve it alongside a roast this holiday season for a truly lovely and simple dish.
Jump to RecipePost updated with new images, health information and instructions on 5/31/2022
Celery is chock-full of many vitamins and minerals including Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Folate, Vitamin K, and Niacin (or Vitamin B3). The celery that comes in my CSA basket is nothing like its anemic, floppy counterpart that one can purchase in the supermarket. It is deep green, and assertive, both in posture and flavor.
Julia Child’s Recipe for Simple Braised Celery
If you’re wondering what to do when you have a lots of celery, look no further. This easy celery recipe is simple, earthy and still crisp, and accentuates everything that is fantastic about this vegetable!
- Cut celery into 1-inch slices on the diagonal.
- Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add celery, along with salt and pepper and cook until it starts to become tender.
- Add broth, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Uncover and cook for 5 minutes longer, allowing the broth to reduce caramelize a bit.
- Taste for seasoning and serve immediately, garnished with reserved chopped leaves.
This recipe would make a fantastic side dish at Thanksgiving, Christmas or any other holiday meal.
Love Celery? Here are a few more recipes to try!
- Pantry Staple Chopped Salad
- Kale, Sausage and Vegetable Soup
- Tuscan Style Dressing with Sausage, Fennel, and Hazelnuts
If you make this recipe, or any of my other gluten-free recipes be sure to tag me on Instagram, and use the hashtags #agirldefloured #deflouredrecipes!
Julia Child’s Recipe for Simple Braised Celery
Equipment
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 8 stalks of celery scrubbed and ends trimmed (chop and reserve leaves)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- Pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup vegetable stock
Instructions
- Cut celery into 1-inch slices on the diagonal.
- Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add celery, along with salt and pepper and cook until it starts to become tender.
- Add broth, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Uncover and cook for 5 minutes longer, allowing the broth to reduce caramelize a bit.
- Taste for seasoning and serve immediately, garnished with reserved chopped leaves.
Nutrition
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I love cooked celery. You find it often in China, stir-fried with strips of dried tofu and sesame oil. Yum!
I use celery in a stir-fry too actually. One with beef and chiles. And it is good. I think I’d like it the way you suggested too. =)
Have tried this adding a pinch of turmeric, pinch of chile, dash of Tajin. Mm. good. No more wasting this marvelous source of vitamins.
Whenever I buy celery it usually ends up rotting away in my fridge. I decided I wasn’t going to let that happen this time so I went in search of ways to use up the remaining celery on hand. I came across Alton Brown’s Braised Celery recipe but as a vegetarian I didn’t want to use beef stock. His recipe also seemed to be slightly more finicky not to mention I heard his voice with every sentence I read.
Next, I stumbled upon your recipe and am so glad I did! This was quick, easy and turned out so much more fantastic than I imagined. I am amazed that celery could taste so good. I’m not usually that big of a fan. I used some homemade vegetable stock that I had on hand from Martha Stewart’s website (another surprisingly great recipe).
Thanks for the wonderful recipe… this one is going in my box of favourites. 🙂 For now though, I have to figure out what else to make for dinner as I realize that eating a bowl of celery for dinner is probably not the most well rounded meal. 🙂 Even still… there might not end up being any left over… I can’t stop eating it.
So glad you loved it (and found my page). 🙂
you can also wrap your celery in tin foil. it lasts much longer that way! (like weeks longer).
I cut into lengths and clean it, plop it into a refrigerator dish and cover with water. It stays fresh and crisp, is ready for cooking or easy to grab for a crunchy snack. Just replace the water every other day. Stays fresh for a couple of weeks, though at the end you definitely want it in a mirepoix or soup.
I have been wrapping my veggies that have a high water content with a linen tea towel. Then I run cold water over the bundle and gently squeeze out excess water. Lay it on a dish in the fridge and it will last more than twice as long. Celery, ginger root, even parsley and cilantro. Check every few day and rinse with water as towel dries out. Easy in the environment and prevents waste
Sounds good, and I’ve got some fresh celery on hand, so I’ll be braising some for sure. But I have a question – the picture shows bits of some red seasoning – red pepper? Paprika? Whatever it is is not mentioned in the recipe; is something left out or is that a stock photo?
That’s my photo. I use a pepper blend in my grinder that has white, black and pink peppercorns. That’s probably what you see. 🙂
This was so easy and super delicious. A great way to use up extra celery. Also, I suspect if I took the braised celery and added a little milk or cream and pureed with my immersion blender that it would make a very tasty soup. 🙂
I love this recipe!! I’ve been keeping lots of washed, chopped celery in a mixing bowl of cold water in my refrigerator (to keep them crisp), and I’ve just been dumping sriracha sauce on them or low cal yogurt dip. This takes my dieting up another tasty notch! Thanks!!
Can I use chicken broth instead?
Yep!
Goodgoosey miss mary!! Just drizzle a little evoo, sprinkle with sea salt and skillet or oven just long enuff to brown slightly. The sweetness comes out and still crunches. No juice needed since its mostly WATER already!!
Gracias por compartir tan excelente receta.
Very glad I came across this recipe. I always buy celery but rarely use it although now I will definitely remember this for a healthy side dish. My son who hates celery ate it without complaining and my two year old daughter devoured it.
Wow – this was great! Like so many others, I often buy celery but usually enjoy it as a mode of “transport” for peanut butter/spreadable cheese/dip or put it in soup. I’ve often half-heartedly wondered what else I could do with it, but today I decided to look up some recipes and give it a shot. I put some grated Parmesan cheese on some and I have to say, it was even better. I’ll definitely be making this again. Celery is one of the few veggies my husband will eat (albeit usually as a side to an order of hot wings) so I’ll have to see if I can entice him to try it.
Thanks for a delicious recipe. I always had lots of extra celery left over until now and the dish is really tasty with just enough crunch. Dinner was pork neck bones and gravy, bowtie pasta (with gravy), the celery, and applesauce. When I do something lighter next time, will pair this with a pork tenderloin.
It’s like taking the celery out of a great chicken noodle soup, it’s so good!
Excellent, thank you. Not celiac, not dieting, just like good food. This recipe was great, served with roast beef, glazed carrots, and lots of lovely potatoes cooked in duck fat. Didn’t have any vegetable or chicken stock to hand, so used white wine. Worked a treat.
Yum!
Love the recipe and really love the name of your blog!
Agree with all the above Found it today and Thanks!!
Braised celery is one of my favorites. I found a receipt years ago.
Saute celery (butter or spray oil) about 5 min.
Sprinkle slight amount of nutmeg on celery
Add vegetable or chicken stock
Mix a little cornstarch with a little of the stock, just to slightly thicken
Can add healthy chopped nuts such as pecans, walnuts etc.
Goes great with any fowl.
Perfect recipe. So simple and so good.
Glad to have found this site!
I agree. Shame shame shame on you Ms Needham. Almost a year has passed since people have pointed this out to you, and you haven’t had the courtesy of replying or editing the blog entry. Hopefully none of your loved ones will ever suffer from an eating disorder and feel even more diminished by comments like yours.
Hi Anne, post is edited.
Tried this w/o stock. I’ve never been a fan of celery until I tried it this way. Thanks
Glad you enjoyed it!