Celery salt is a seasoning made from ground-up seeds, stalks and leaves of celery. It can also be made from ground-up lovage though celery is preferred as it is a stronger flavour.
It is a very versatile spice to have to hand, but celery salt is not as common as it used to be nor as purely made. So, what can you use if your local supermarket doesn’t supply celery salt?
Our 4 Substitutes for Celery Salt
Due to its main use of celery, celery salt is most often used in savoury dishes as it tends to be more bitter than sweet. But the salty aspect of the spice makes it a desirable addition in Bloody Marys.
Here are our top 4 substitutes for celery salt:
1) Fresh Celery
Unlike its ground counterpart, fresh celery will have a much milder flavour than celery salt but will still have the most similar flavour seeing as it is the main ingredient used to make celery salt.
Celery is a very versatile vegetable used in cooked and raw dishes.
Even when cooked, fresh celery will remain crunchy and will help make your dishes’ texture more dynamic. It is also more fibrous, so it will bulk out your dish more.
Though because celery salt is a spice, it does not have the same texture as fresh celery so this may not be a desirable change. The texture also makes fresh celery a poor choice for a rub or marinade, even if finely chopped.
Don’t Forget to Season
To make fresh celery taste like celery salt, add more salt than you would usually to season your dish to make that salty flavour more prominent.
2) Celery Seeds and Salt
Celery seeds are one of the most common parts of the celery to be ground up and used in celery salt.
They offer a slightly nuttier flavour than celery stalks or leaves. This nuttiness is amplified when celery seeds are ground and added to your dish but will not alter your meal too much.
Because celery salt is made using a mismatched mix of celery parts, you will find that just using celery seeds will not create as prominent a flavour but will still be a close match.
To make them the same texture as celery salt, you will need to grind your own celery seeds.
Add 1 part celery seeds to 1 part salt and grind together to create a milder but flavoursome celery seed mix.
Make Your Life Easier
If you are short on time, you can buy ground celery to save yourself the task of grinding it yourself.
3) Dill and Salt
Like with the above celery seed and salt combination, you will need to add your own salt to dill to make it taste similar to celery salt. But be aware of dill’s unique flavour.
Dill is from the same family as celery salt – or, more so, from the same family as celery – and so will share a lot of the same flavours as celery salt.
However, dill is well known for its zesty tang that few other herbs possess. This is what makes it a great pairing for fish and citrus-based dishes.
The flavour will not be too overpowering when paired with salt, though it will not be the exact same flavour profile as clearly salt.
Try Dill Seeds
Dill seeds will work similarly to celery seeds in that they will be more flavoursome than the weedy part of the plant. They are not as common in supermarkets but will be the better substitute.
4) Caraway Seeds
Celery salt is more known for its bitterness, but caraway seeds are favoured because of their sweetness and pungent aroma.
This sweetness makes caraway seeds a better seasoning choice in meat dishes.
Though they will differ from celery salt, caraway seeds can help to build a more complex dish in the same way that celery salt does. Even if their flavours veer in slightly different directions.
However, don’t attempt to use caraway seeds in bloody Marys as they will taste awful.
Grind It Up
You could just add full caraway seeds to your dish and call it a day, but ground caraway seeds will be a lot stronger in flavour and cause more of an impact on your dish.
Other Substitutes for Celery Salt
If you don’t have any of the above substitutes to hand, you can use these instead:
- Lovage – Lovage is also often ground up to make celery salt. Lovage can offer a similar flavour though it may not be as strong. If you happen to have it to hand, it will work like fresh celery.
- Table Salt – Okay, so it may only cover the salt part of celery salt, but tabletop salt is a staple in any household and will help to season your dish regardless.
Summary
The best substitute for celery salt is, of course, fresh celery. It is what is used to make the salt in the first place, so as long as you season it, fresh celery will work well. It will just be a milder flavour.