Celery Salad
on Mar 13, 2023, Updated Apr 28, 2025
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Crunchy and immensely flavorful, this simple celery salad is a perfect way to round out a buffet, picnic, grilling menu, or to take to a potluck.
In my book, the best salads are usually the ones with the best crunch. And clearly, there are few salads in the world crunchier than one with celery as the starring ingredient! This pretty celery salad recipe is so easy to pull together and so fast – it takes only 15 minutes to make!
If you can, plan to let the salad sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving so the celery has some time to absorb the dressing. It will get even more flavorful. Don’t worry — it will still be very crunchy!
This is not a creamy salad but rather a crisp, light, and fresh celery salad, with no mayo involved. It’s perfect for a picnic or potluck. Try it with Barbecued Chicken, Fall-Apart Pork Shoulder, or (for a vegetarian meal) Leek, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Quiche.
What To Do With a Lot of Celery
I feel like having too much celery is a more common predicament than one might imagine! Maybe you bought a bag or bunch of celery for a specific recipe, like tuna fish or potato salad, but only needed a small amount for that dish. Maybe you brought home that big bunch with all sorts of good intentions for pre-dinner snacking, but that doesn’t seem to be happening. That’s ok! You’ve set yourself up for celery salad!
And, yes, this celery salad is quite healthy! It has a good bit of olive oil, but other than that, each and every ingredient is on the full-on good-for-you side, so there should be zero guilt involved in making or eating this salad. And, of course, celery is basically a no-cal, high fiber, no-fat food, so you can pile your plate high.
Ingredients
This celery salad has a very light dressing with no mayonnaise. It’s more like a vinaigrette, but it’s packed with flavor. With luck, most, if not all, of the ingredients for this recipe are already in your kitchen or pantry.
- Hearts of celery – You can use whole heads of celery, but hearts of celery tend to be a little less stringy. Try to find celery with fresh celery leaves attached.
- Extra-virgin olive oil – The base of the dressing.
- Lemons – You will use both fresh lemon juice and the zest for a burst of lemony flavor.
- Red wine vinegar – White wine vinegar is a fine substitute, as is rice vinegar.
- Capers – For a nice pop of brininess.
- Minced garlic cloves – Fresh garlic is best in most recipes, especially a salad.
- Celery seed – This is optional, but adds another level of celery flavor.
- Fresh oregano leaves – Fresh herbs are definitely best in the salad.
- Fresh parsley leaves – Love parsley in salads!
- Red pepper flakes – Offers a little bit of heat; skip it if you prefer.
- Red onion – Quartered and thinly sliced.
- Parmesan cheese – If you leave out the optional Parm at the end, this is a vegan salad. There are also vegan Parmesan cheeses out there…or if you have a favorite vegan cheese you like, add that instead!
Substitutions and Variations
Feel free to make substitutions or omissions as you like — no celery seed? Skip it. Shallots instead of onions? Use them. Out of capers? Leave them out.
You can also mix in some very thinly sliced fennel with the celery. Or think about adding a finely minced anchovy or two to the dressing or maybe a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce (but know that the salad will no longer be vegan or vegetarian). A teaspoon or two of Dijon mustard would also be nice. If there are no nut allergies, add in a half cup of sliced almonds.
How to Make Celery Salad
- Slice the celery: Trim the leaves from the celery, discard any limp leaves, and then coarsely chop the remaining tender leaves. Slice the celery stalks into 1/4-inch slices on the diagonal. Place in a serving bowl with the onions.
- Make the dressing: In a container or jar, combine the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, red wine vinegar, capers, garlic, celery seed (if using), oregano, parsley, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (if using).
- Combine the salad: Pour the dressing over the celery and onions and toss. (If you have the time, cover the salad and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours.)
- Serve: Toss again and sprinkle the Parmesan on top, if desired, before serving.
Make Ahead and Storage
If you need to plan a salad to bring to a potluck or a picnic or buffet, you can’t do better than this one. It will stay fresh and crunchy for hours, and always looks really inviting. Just pack it up already dressed, and by the time it gets put out for eating, all of the flavors of the dressing will be “married” to the main ingredients, and you won’t have a moment’s worry about a soggy salad.
A marinating time of between 4 and 8 hours is ideal if you can plan accordingly. I have eaten this salad 5 days after dressing it and keeping it in the fridge, and it was still crunchy and even more powerfully flavorful.
What to Serve With Celery Salad
More Easy Salad Recipes
- Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing
- Sicilian Orange Salad (Insalata di Arance)
- Spinach and Radish Salad with Feta
- Red Salad with Citrus, Honey, and Thyme Vinaigrette
- Deviled Egg Potato Salad
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Celery Salad
Ingredients
- 2 hearts of celery (about 20 stalks, with leaves)
- 1 medium red onion (quartered and thinly sliced)
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons drained capers (roughly chopped)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon celery seed (optional)
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
- ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh parsley leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- Generous pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
- ¼ cup coarsely grated or shaved Parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Trim the leaves from the celery, discard any limp leaves, and then coarsely chop the remaining leaves. Slice the celery into 1/4-inch slices on the diagonal. Place in a serving bowl with the onions.
- In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, red wine vinegar, capers, garlic, celery seed (if using), oregano, parsley, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (if using). Pour over the onions and celery and toss to thoroughly combine.
- If you have time, cover the salad and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 8. Toss again and sprinkle the Parmesan on top, if desired, before serving.
Notes
- With luck, most (if not all) of the rest of the ingredients for this recipe are in your kitchen or pantry already. Feel free to make substitutions or omissions as you like — no celery seed? Skip it. Shallots instead of onions? Use them. Out of capers? Leave them out. Or think about adding a finely minced anchovy or two to the dressing or maybe a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce (but know that the salad will no longer be vegan or vegetarian).
- If you have the time, cover the salad and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours.
Had never heard if celery salad before I got a recipe for it in my email. I saved it but I could not find it when I decided to make it so I googled it. I chose this one because I love Mediterranean food. It was everything I hoped for. My other half who is not much of a salad eater ate it and agreed it was good. I struggle with that because I love salads of all kinds
Hello, I’m going to try this tonight. Especially ones with a lot of crunch. But, do you recommend peeing the outer layer of the celery? I’ve done that for other dishes and it makes it less stringy.
Thanks for this!
You can – it definitely make it less stringy, but it’s also a pain in the butt, so up to you!!
Such a yummy Celery Salad!! Perfect picnic side dish.
Not bad to use up Thanksgiving celery.