Vegetables are a key part of our diet, providing fiber, a variety of nutrients and hydration from their high water content. Adding pickled vegetables like my pickled celery is a crunchy and delicious way to add vegetables to your day!

When life gets busy it can be hard to always have time to clean, chop and prepare a vegetable rich meal.  According to the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines adults should have 3-4 cups of vegetables. ¹  Kids under 18 need slightly less vegetables, and it varies by age so check out this Vegetable Chart.  Pickled celery and other pickled veggies are a great way to up your veggie intake without doing much heavy lifting or chopping.

You Can Pickle (almost) Anything!

When most of us think of “pickles” we probably think of cucumbers cut into spheres, circles, and even whole.  They have a great crunch and absorb the flavors of the pickling liquid.  My celery pickles are a great alternative or addition to your next pickle party, and will last for up to a month in the refrigerator.

Refrigerator or Quick Pickles

This is the category my Celery Pickles fit into, they need to be stored in the refrigerator and can be made quite quickly! After you make the pickling liquid also known as vinegar brine, you add the celery to the hot liquid and BAM, that is about it.  The vinegar and salt will preserve the celery keeping it nice and crisp with the help of refrigeration.

My Celery Pickles are preserved thanks to the acidity of vinegar.  The acidity prevents the growth of bacteria, which cause foods to spoil.  Vinegar, before the age of electricity and refrigeration was key to preserving foods and keeping them fresh for months, and sometimes even years.

I chose to use apple cider vinegar for my Celery Pickles, because of its subtle flavor, pleasing color and affordability.  The two other vinegars I like to pickle with are distilled white vinegar and rice vinegar.  Highly recommend not using malt vinegar, balsamic vinegar or any flavored vinegars.

Pick Your Vegetables

In addition to Celery Pickles this vinegar brine works very well with SO MANY other vegetables.  My favorite thing to pickle is red onions, they go well on sandwiches, curry and soup, avocado toast, savory oatmeal and beyond.  You can also pickle a blend of vegetables mixing celery with carrots, radishes and turnips.  After you make my Pickled Celery make sure to try my Pickled Watermelon Rind!

Whether you have a vegetable garden, bought too much at the grocery store or are just feeling adventurous you can have your hand at pickling almost any vegetable.  From summer squash to garlic scapes, green beans and okra the acidic bite adds a new dimension to our favorite plant foods. The main thing to avoid are leafy greens and herbs like lettuce, spinach, kale and parsley.

Pickled Celery Nutrition and Recipes ²

Celery has been a super trendy low-calorie, diet food for decades and this is due to it’s high water content (95%!) and having just 10 calories per stalk.  A cup of celery also has about 5 grams of fiber and contains vitamin C and antioxidants like flavonoids and beta carotene.  It also contains the minerals potassium, and magnesium, important electrolytes that can be lost in our sweat, especially during the hot Summer months.

Pickled Celery can be chomped on as snack or added to a charcuterie board.  You can also dice the pickled celery and add it into dishes like my Buckwheat Salad and Tuna Pesto Pasta Salad.  If you mince it, chopping it even smaller it turns into relish! It is a great addition to a mixed green salad and even added on top of eggs.

Let’s Get Pickling!

My Pickled Celery comes together in minutes, after heating the vinegar brine add the celery and remove from heat.  We do not want to cook the celery, but allow the warm water to infuse the vinegar, garlic and spices into the celery stalks.  After it cools to room temperature, store in the refrigerator.  The longer the Pickled Celery sits the more concentrated and vinegary the flavor will be. Enjoy!

Let me know how you enjoy the Pickled Celery, by taking a photo and tagging me on Instagram @ChefAbbieGellman.

Similar Pages

For recipes like this and more, head to ChefAbbieGellman.com and check out my Homemade Crackers, Greek Vegetables, and Spicy Olives.

References

1. Vegetables | MyPlate. Accessed June 9, 2021. https://www.myplate.gov/eat-healthy/vegetables
2. FoodData Central. Accessed January 27, 2021. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/ndb/

Pickled celery

4.05 from 22 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Side Dish, Snack, topping, vegetables

Keyword: air fried pickles, pickled, pickled celery

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 minute minute

refrigerator time: 1 day day

Total Time: 1 day day 6 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 pieces

Author: Chef Abbie Gellman RD

Ingredients

• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 cloves garlic smashed and peeled
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 4 stalks celery cut into 2 or 3 pieces (so that they will fit in a mason jar or air tight container)

Instructions

• Bring the apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, salt garlic, and peppercorns to a boil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Hold the boil for 60 seconds then carefully add the celery. Return to a boil and turn off the heat.
• Move the celery to jars with lids or an air tight container. Pour on as much of the pickling juice as possible. Leave at room temperature until cool.
• Once cool, tighten the lid and refrigerate. Consume within one month.
• For best flavor, chill at least 24 hours before serving.

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