If you love homemade seasonings and spice mixes, add celery powder to the list! This simple tutorial will show you how to make your own DIY celery powder.
Guest post by Kendra of A Proverbs 31 Wife
Celery powder: one of the many seasonings I use very regularly. Onion powder, garlic salt (or powder), and celery powder are all natural flavor enhancers and I use them all the time.
Since buying my dehydrator I have been having all sorts of fun with it. One thing I said I wanted to do next year is to make my own spices by dehydrating my basil, green onion tops, echinacea and other stuff like that. I had already dried tomatoes with great results, and knew it was time to branch out a bit. It occurred to me that I could actually make some of my own spices now.
I was out of celery powder and since we don’t grow celery in our garden anyway, why not buy some celery and make my own celery powder? It was really easy to do. All you need is celery, a dehydrator and a chopper/grinder.
How to Make Celery Powder:
I wasn’t sure what celery would dehydrate down to. Since celery has such a large water content, I figured to get very much at all, I would need to dehydrate at least 1 bunch of celery. So I started out by cleaning and cutting the ends of the stalks.
In order to evenly dry your celery, slicing crossways is the best way to ensure an evenly-cut thickness. You can cut lengthways and save some time, but you will end up with pieces that are still wet, while others are dry. I cut my slices in 1/4 in thickness.
Once they are all sliced, they need to be evenly placed on your drying racks (I forgot a picture of this process). Make sure no pieces are overlapping each other, as this will cause them to dry unevenly.
I set my dehydrator on 125 and ran it for about 10 hours. You can set the thermostat a little lower if you like and and run it for 12 hours.
When the celery is dry it should snap in half easily and you will have a bunch of little pieces like this:
Next you will need your chopper. Mother uses a spice grinder, I used my blender. I do think the grinder got more of the little chunks turned to powder, but my blender worked good as well. A chopper should give the same results if the speed goes high enough.
One thing to remember: you are making a powder, so be sure to seal the lid well. I actually put a piece of plastic wrap on the top before I put the lid on. As well, make sure the dust has settled inside the chopper before removing the lid. 🙂
Let your chopper run for several minutes until you no longer hear pieces clicking around inside the canister. There were a few larger pieces in the powder, but for the most part it was very fine and powdery.
You can see the larger chunks on the left side of the jar, but that’s really it. The rest is a nice powder. So after dehydrating 1 bunch of celery, I ended up with a whopping 2 ounces! Lol 🙂
Use your celery powder to help boost the flavor of any dish that you are making when you don’t want to add more salt, onion powder or garlic powder. Celery powder is also a natural source of sodium nitrate and can be used as a healthy preservative.
This is one of the many reasons that I love my dehydrator. In fact, this spring I made a list of my larger household investments that have helped me save money and you can be sure my dehydrator made the list!
Celery Powder
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 bunch celery (at least)
Equipment
- dehydrator
- chopper/grinder
Instructions
- Clean and cut the ends off the stalks.
- Slice celery crossways cutting slices at about 1/4 inch thick.
- Place evenly on dehydrator drying racks.
- Set dehydrator at 125 degrees F and run it for about 10 hours. You can set the thermostat a little lower if you like and run it for 12 hours. When the celery is dry it should snap in half easily and you will have a bunch of little pieces,
- Use a chopper, spice grinder, or blender to grind to a fine powder. Let your chopper run for several minutes until you no longer hear pieces clicking around inside the canister.
- Use your celery powder to help boost the flavor of any dish that you are making when you don't want to add more salt, onion powder or garlic powder.
Notes
- One thing to remember: you are making a powder, so be sure to seal the lid well. Also make sure the dust has settled inside the chopper before removing the lid.
- After dehydrating 1 bunch of celery, I ended up with a whopping 2 ounces of celery powder.
- Celery powder is also a natural source of sodium nitrate and can be used as a healthy preservative.
Want more homemade spice mixes? Check out these recipes:
Poultry Seasoning
Taco Seasoning
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Allspice Alternative
Chili Powder
Herb & Spice Substitution Chart
Homemade All-Purpose Seasoning
Garlic Salt
Do you make your own spices? What is your favorite spice to use when cooking?
Kendra is the writer at A Proverbs 31 Wife. She is a daughter of the king, a homemaker, slightly crunchy and believes that natural is always better. All of this carries over into her writing, where you will find posts on Natural Living, Godly Inspiration, Wholesome Recipes and much more.
Kathy
I do not have a dehydrator — are the times the same in a regular oven and at what temp ?? LOVE your posts — it really brightens my day when I see it in my e-mail and on Facebook !!!
Kendra @A Proverbs 31 Wife
Hi Kathy,
I have never tried it in an oven, but I have heard that 150-170 is the temp for drying veggies in the oven. Times? I really have no idea. I would definitely check at 4-5 hours and then every hour after that.
Joanne
I’ve seen pictures where they used their front window of a car to make sun dried tomatoes. I use my dehydrated. I recently spent over 3 week dehydration onion for dry onion soup mix. I have two quarts and I’ll make some onion powder too. I’ve done a few spices and stevia as well. The Italian bread crumbs came out awesome too.
Joanne
Most ovens only go down to 170 but you can leave the door open. Probably best for the winter
Denise S.
Love the celery powder recipe! I have a tip for you too. The celery leaves are packed with flavor, so don’t toss them. I simply wash and drain them, pick them from the stem and place them in a brown paper bag. Give them a shake every day until they are completely dry and crumbly, leave as is or grind then store in your container of choice. Use in casseroles, stews etc. Those leaves have so much more flavor than the stalks
Julie
Thank for the Celery Powder. I have been looking for one.
Julie Gray
Erin
Yay!
Danielle
How long do homemade spices last? And any tips storing them?
Erin
They last a pretty long time. I usually use mine up before they ever go bad! I store them like I store store-bought spices…in a glass jar and in a cool, dark, dry cabinet.
Genevieve Newcomb
Thanks so much!! Tried it!!! Turned out just amazing!!! Sooooo much fun!! Genny N.
Cristina
Hi Erin,
I really like the idea of making your own celery powder at home. Unfortunately, I don’t have any dehydrator right now. Can you recommend any alternative ways to produce celery powder? It is possible if I use an oven?
Mrs Debra Comstock
I have to try placing the celery in a blender, adding a little water to make a puree, drying the puree and then grinding into a powder
Donna C.
I always blanch the stalks for 1 minute in boiling water followed by an ice bath, then drain & slice. Yes, I need to cut each stalk in half so they fit my pot. By doing this you save the bright green color. I do not blanch the leaves, but I only use the green upper ones. The inner pale green tend to turn brown when dehydrated. I love to shop at Farmers Markets because they leave the upper green leaves on, where grocery stores remove most of them. I also blanch carrots before dehydrating them as well.
Martha Ray
A word of caution about processing food …
Celery Powder may be dangerous for those sensitive to MSG.
As an ingredient in the processed food industry it is a know trigger for Afib (irregular heart rhythm.)
I have no idea if DIY celery powder would be any better or worse.
Neurosurgeon, Optional Health educator, Dr. Jack Kruse, teaches that Fresh herbs are better than dried.
I personally believe that Real, Fresh, Local, Season Food is optimal for those interested in health but the dehydrated and canned food may be good to have on hand only for emergency nourishment not for convenience.