Are you a celery lover? If yes, then if I ask you, what is the best thing you love about celery? I am not sure what your answer would be, but I believe that you already know its versatile usage. We use celery flakes as a substitute for celery, but what happens when you have no celery flakes available in your kitchen? No need to think much!
There are several ingredients that you can use as a celery flakes substitute. These ingredients are easy to find in the market and can be used as an excellent celery flakes substitute.
Celery Flakes VS Celery Seed
I found people get confused with celery seed and celery flakes. Some people think they are both the same things and used for the same usage. There is no doubt that both are used for the same purpose, which adds aroma to dishes.
Celery flakes and celery seeds increase the flavor of dishes. But one thing to clear celery seed and celery flakes are not the same things. Their taste is entirely different, and they are used for various cooking usages.
To understand the core differences, we have to know what they are and how they are made, and their usage. Keep reading and explore the fantastic facts about celery flakes and seeds.
What Are Celery Flakes?
As you know, a celery plant has three parts; celery stalk, celery leaves, and celery root. Celery flakes are the dry version of celery leaves and stems. After harvesting the celery, it needs to clean up the celery plant and dry it out in the sun. When it’s dry out, the plant’s moister disappears, which is so essential for making the celery flakes. After completing the process, the dried leaves and stalks are cut into small pieces. That is how it’s named.
As there is no moister left in the flakes, its flavor gets strong. So, while you are using it in many recipes, you have to be careful about the quantity. It will just need a pinch of celery flakes in your cooking to increase the dish flavor.
For example, you need to use the half amount compared to fresh celery. Like, two tablespoons of fresh celery are equal to 1 tablespoon of celery flakes.
What Are Celery Seeds?
You might be thinking the celery seed comes from celery; I thought the same too. But the fact is celery seed does not come from the produce aisle or from the ordinary celery we purchase from shops.
It comes from smallage which is not a typical celery plant; it is a wild form of celery. If you think about the taste, it has a slightly bitter taste, that is why you can not eat the raw stalks. The seed comes from the fruit. Smallage fruits are small in size and grow after two years of planting. You can find the fruit is dried and raw form.
Where To Buy Celery Flakes?
You can easily find this as a grocery item in most of the grocery shops. You can also find it in all the famous e-commerce shops in the US, like amazon, Costco. Celery flakes come into small jars and different pricing.
Small sizes come with 1oz, 4oz, or 16 oz.
Large size comes with 5LB, 10 LB, or 50 LB.
Other Names Of Celery Flakes
Celery flakes are also known as Celery Granules, Dried Celery, or Dehydrated Celery, etc. But in grocery shops, they sell it as celery flakes.
Usage:
Both Celery flakes and celery seed have a variety of usage in cooking recipes. Celery flakes work best for mainly seasoning purposes in soup, stews, etc. It is also a good substitute for celery. It is dehydrated, so it can be stored for a long time.
Celery seed is a high-quality ingredient that goes very well with tomatoes. Any recipes made with Tomato that could be homemade tomato sauces or catchup or Bloody Mary’s or even sauce for a barbecue can use celery seed. You can find celery seed in 2 variations.
- Grounder celery
- Whole celery seed.
Grounded celery is the powder version of celery seed; when mixing up with sodium, it becomes celery salt and can be used as a spice. Grounded celery is often used to make the preparation smooth. On the other hand, whole celery seed is suitable for dressing or dry rub.
7 Best Celery Flakes Substitute
Here is my top 7 picks for celery flakes substitute:
1. Celery Seed:
It is An excellent substitute for celery flakes. It provides the same flavor and has an intense aroma. But caution is, celery seed has a much more strong flavor than the flakes. So, you have to be careful about the measurement. One tablespoon of seed = 3 tablespoons of celery flake.
2. Celery Salt:
Celery salt produces from the grounded celery powder with the mixing of salt. It makes a perfect combination and is often used in various dishes where celery flakes would use. One of the surprising celery salt facts is that it adds two types of flavor to any dish where it is applied. One is Salty taste; another is the taste of grounded celery.
But the main drawback is to adjust the level of taste. Suppose you want an intense celery flavor without making it saltier, which will not be not possible.
3. Fresh Celery:
If you are looking for the best alternative for celery flake, fresh celery will come first. Just do some chopping as per your cooking need. It is full of flavor and crunch, very refreshing. Use one cup of chunked fresh celery stalk as a substitute for half cup celery flakes.
4. Celery Powder:
Celery powder produces from the grounded celery seed. The main difference between it and the celery flake is its powdery texture, and it gets mixed up quickly with the dish. Celery powder is Best for use in soup and stews or sauce.
A small pinch of celery powder is ok enough to produce celery flavor. When the celery powder is fresh, it has a more robust flavor than a pre-grounded spice.
When using celery powder, start with a pinch of it; otherwise, this ingredient’s overuse will ruin your food taste.
5. Fenugreek Leaves:
One of the common ingredients you can find in traditional Indian cuisine like vegetable curry, sauce, salad, bread, naan bread, stew, soup, etc. Also known as Methi Leaves, Kasoori Methi, or Dried Fenugreek Leaves.
Its taste is mild and pleasant. It Has a little bit of a sweet side. Very close to the flavor of celery.
6. Dried Red Bell Peppers:
It’s an American origin ingredient, also known as Dehydrated Red Bell Peppers or Capsicum.
Dried Bell pepper has a slightly sweeter taste with crunchy and fresh. You can use it for regular cooking like pasta, egg, or meat curry.
7. Fenugreek Seed:
It’s an Indian origin Ingredient. Test wise it has a slightly bitter taste, strong and distinctive close to celery. You can use it as an Excellent alternative ingredient for flakes. It’s a common ingredient used in making curry powder, also in creating curry paste.
Conclusion
Cooking is always a super fun thing. You can show your creativity by experimenting with a variety of types of ingredients. At the same time, it’s also better to know the substitutes so that your cooking does not stop just for the lack of a single cooking component. My top seven list will give you an in-depth idea about the celery flakes substitute and their usage in cooking. Do some experiments with those great ingredients and enjoy your cooking.
About The Author
