How Long Does Celery Last? + 3 Celery Smoothie Recipes

Green celery or white celery, when you eat it fresh it is delicious. Celery is a healthy and fresh vegetable that contains a lot of potassium, calcium, and vitamins. It is a versatile vegetable, and many recipes can be made with celery.

Cooking can make celery bitter, but celery can be steamed or stir-fried briefly. Celery can be eaten as a snack, processed in soup, salads, or smoothies, or used to make vegetable juice.

It is best to process celery as soon as possible to keep it fresh. It is therefore important to know how long celery can be kept and under what conditions.

So how long does celery last? Keep these tips in mind to ensure your celery stays crisp and fresh.

How long does celery last?

So what is the shelf life of celery? That depends on the following factors:

Outside Fridge – Up to 5 days

Refrigerator –    Up to 1 week

Freezer – Up to 1 year

Celery will keep for up to 7 days in the refrigerator and up to 5 days outside the refrigerator.

Celery can be stored in the freezer for up to 1 year.

Pre-cut celery should be consumed on the day of purchase. Never leave prepared celery out of the refrigerator for longer than 2 hours, as it will quickly go bad.

Read More: How to make celery juice with NutriBullet

How can you determine whether celery is no longer good?

The best way to determine whether celery is no longer good is by seeing, smelling, and tasting it. If the celery is rotten, damaged, limp, or moldy, it should be discarded.

How should you store celery?

Celery can be stored outside the refrigerator in a dry and cool place for up to 5 days.

Celery can be stored in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator in a paper or plastic bag for up to 7 days.

In the freezer, celery can be stored for up to 1 year in a tightly closed plastic freezer container or freezer bag, provided it has been briefly blanched beforehand.

Roll the celery leaves in a damp piece of kitchen roll before putting them in the fridge. That way they stay nice and fresh. Then place the wrapped celery in the vegetable compartment at a temperature of 3°C to 4°C.

Freezing celery? Before freezing, blanch the celery stalks. This way they retain their vitamins and color better. Then put them in a freezer bag and you always have delicious celery at hand.

Can you freeze celery?

Curious about how to freeze celery? If you want to store celery in the freezer, go through the following steps:

Cut the celery into pieces before blanching and freezing. Then they are ready to use when you need them, for example for an aperitif with mussels.

Submerge the celery pieces in boiling water. A couple of minutes is sufficient. Then rinse them under cold water to stop the cooking process, and the celery is blanched and ready to freeze.

Read More: Can You Freeze Smoothies: 2 Simple & Quick Methods

How do you freeze celery leaves?

First, clean the leaves and then finely chop. Fill an ice cube tray with a lid for 2/4 with celery leaves and 1/4 with olive oil (or water) and put it in the freezer. If necessary, also use frozen labels to indicate the date and type of food.

At what temperature should you freeze celery?

Like most vegetables, celery is best stored at -18℃ or lower.

Should You Blanch Celery Before Freezing?

In principle, this is not necessary. However, it is wise to blanch the vegetables. With this cooking technique, you ensure that the celery has a longer shelf life and that they retain their color and texture better.

How should you store celery in the freezer?

If you store celery in the freezer, you need to take extra care with cleaning, drying, and blanching. It is important to keep dirt and grime out of the freezing process. The drying process is also relevant because otherwise, you can get ice build-up, and worse, freezer burn.

Then you get tough spots on your vegetables and they lose flavor and texture. One of the methods to prevent this is a cooking technique called ‘blanching’. This process kills and prevents the multiplication of bacteria so that your frozen food also has a longer shelf life.

How do you thaw celery?

Let it thaw for a few hours in the refrigerator, or add it into soups and stews straight from the freezer.

Freezing celery for stir fry’s and soup

Putting a healthy meal on the table is easy, even if you are short of time. Divide the green celery into several freezer bags and immediately add other tasty vegetables. Slices of carrot, strips of zucchini, a handful of peas, and whatever else you want.

This way you get various tasty vegetable portions packed with vitamins and fiber. Take them out of the freezer when you need them. Add hot water with stock and 10 minutes later a fantastic soup is on the table.

Or heat oil in the pan, fry chicken pieces, and add a portion of celery and other vegetables. Add a dash of soy sauce and before you can say ‘the rice is ready’, a delicious stir fry dish is on the table.

Read More: How Long Can Cooked Bacon Sit Out: Simple Tips

How to resuscitate limp celery

You bought celery and put it neatly in the fridge, but then you forgot about it for a few days. You completely lost sight of that stalk of celery.

A few days later you will discover the stems have wilted slightly. What now? Cut off the stump and place the loose stems in a large glass of water. An hour later, the celery will be proudly standing again. Add it to your dish or dip it in a sauce and sink your teeth into it raw.

Storing processed celery

Make a sauce or soup from the celery and freeze. They will keep well in the refrigerator for a day or two. You can keep the soup and sauce frozen for several months. Do you fancy meatballs in tomato sauce? No problem, a portion of tomato sauce with celery is already ready in your freezer.

Or how about a super healthy vegetable juice? Take out your juicer and push in some celery sticks along with beetroot and apple pieces. Finish with a little wine vinegar and chili pepper. This is the ultimate energy drink. You can drink a topper like this in one gulp, storage will not even be necessary.

Read More: Celery juice recipes and benefits

Why is celery good for you?

This versatile vegetable is perfect for making a winter soup or adding to rich summer salads. It contains large amounts of magnesium and iron, a super-powerful combination!

Celery nourishes the cells in our body and provides the body with the ideal amount of sodium that the body needs to function properly.

In addition, celery contains a lot of calcium, a mineral that makes bones stronger, especially in the elderly. But celery offers even more benefits. The vegetable helps the body to convert the non-organic calcium that the body ingests through chemically processed food into organic calcium.

Eating celery ensures that all systems in your body function optimally.  At the same time, you prevent the development of diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, varicose veins, heart problems, hemorrhoids, and kidney or gallstone problems.

The sodium in celery also improves circulation and lymphatic drainage.  As a result, it ensures that your blood does not become too thick or too acidic.

This vegetable helps women by regenerating the body and replenishing iron and calcium levels lost during menstruation or breastfeeding.

Celery and the skin

Need more reasons to eat celery? Well, then you should know that celery improves the appearance of the skin. It prevents that tired look caused by poor cellular nutrition (as well as fatigue or a poor diet).

Drinking celery and carrot juice regularly (in equal amounts) will nourish your skin and mineralize your body. It is the perfect natural tonic for health, both inner and outer health. You will definitely notice a difference, especially in your eyes.

Celery smoothie recipes

Here are some celery smoothie ideas for you if you’d rather not eat celery in salads or soups.

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