Celery, with its distinct flavour, is the perfect mid-afternoon snack but is also essential in a range of cooked dishes. But you probably know about the benefits of it. Instead, you’re asking yourself, how can you store it for the long term?
Can You Freeze Celery?
Yes, you can freeze celery for up to 12 months. To freeze celery, you can freeze it as stalks or chopped up, ready to be used in soups, stews and sauces.
Do Does Celery freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Celery? No
How to Freeze Celery
Although you could throw a whole head of celery into the freezer, there are a few steps you’ll want to take if you want it to freeze well. Here’s my full method for freezing celery:
- Chop
Slice the celery stalks up as you usually would. You can leave them in long lengths or you can dice them up. - Blanch
Bring a pot of water to the boil, then pop the celery in for around 2 minutes if the stalks are in full lengths or for 10 seconds if you have cut them into small slices. Run the celery under cold water to stop the cooking or into an ice bath.
- Flash Freeze
Once you’ve got your celery chopped up, tip it onto a lined baking tray and give it a shake to ensure it is all in one layer. Don’t worry if some of them touch and you’ll never get them all spaced out. Place the tray in the freezer for a few hours to flash freeze them.
- Bag Up
Tip the celery into a freezer bag. If there are large clumps then you can break these up with your hands as you go.
- Seal and Freeze
Seal the bag up tightly, removing as much air from the bag as possible as you do so. Place the bag back into the freezer.
I would advise against freezing celery leaves. They will quickly lose their delicate flavour and, once thawed, can be quite mushy. They’ll be perfectly safe to freeze but can often be a bit of a waste of time, unfortunately.
You certainly can freeze celery juice. All you need to do is tip the celery juice into portions in either small pots or small bags. Seal them up to ensure no air can get in and then freeze. To thaw, do it slowly in the fridge overnight. If you’re after small portions then you can even use an ice cube tray!
Yes, cooked celery can be frozen. Once the soup has cooled to room temperature, bag it up and freeze. It’s that easy!
How Long Can You Freeze Celery?
You can keep your celery in the freezer for up to a year if you’re freezing stalks and have blanched them beforehand.
If, however, you haven’t blanched them then you’ll want to try and use it up within 3 months otherwise some of the flavours will begin to be lost.
As with any frozen products, it’s vital that you label them up with the date they need to be consumed to avoid waste.
Celery lasts for an impressively long time in the fridge. It will last for around 2 weeks in the fridge. After this, it will turn limp.
How Do You Defrost Celery?
The best way to defrost celery depends entirely on how you’re going to consume it. If you plan on eating it raw, dipping it into your favourite condiment then you’ll need to thaw it in the fridge until completely defrosted.
If, however, you plan on using it in a sauce then you can use it straight from the freezer.
Place the celery (with your other ingredients such as onions, carrots and garlic) and cook over a low heat until it has defrosted.
If you use a high eat there’s a chance you’ll burn the outside before the inside has thawed completely. Once it has softened, you can cook your dish as you normally would.
Can You Refreeze Celery?
Celery freezes pretty well but that doesn’t mean you should bother refreezing it. Refreezing will ruin the texture so it’s something we would advise against.
The only exception is if you have frozen raw celery, cooked it in a sauce such as a bolognese and then want to freeze the bolognese. This will be perfectly fine to do.
Does Celery Freeze Well?
If you’re planning on eating celery raw, after thawing, then there can be some slight changes to the texture which can be noticed when comparing it to the fresh stuff.
However, if you’re going to be using celery in the base of a sauce and cooking it down until it is soft then frozen celery is delicious. You’ll still get that refreshing flavour of celery.
Sources
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