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Making celery broth is one of the easiest and most rewarding things you can do in your kitchen.
If you’ve been wondering how to make celery broth, you’re in the right place because it takes just a few simple steps and a handful of ingredients.
This light, savory broth is perfect for sipping on a cold day, using as a base for soups, or cooking grains and vegetables in for extra flavor.
The best part is that you don’t need any fancy equipment or culinary skills to make celery broth at home.
In this post, we’ll walk through exactly how to make celery broth, what ingredients you’ll need, and some tips to make it taste amazing every single time.
Let’s get started.
How to Make Celery Broth (Step by Step)
Learning how to make celery broth comes down to three basic things: fresh celery, aromatics, and time.
Here’s how to bring it all together.
1. Gather Your Ingredients
To make celery broth, you’ll need one full head of celery, preferably with the leaves still attached.
The leaves carry a ton of flavor, so don’t toss them.
You’ll also want an onion, a few cloves of garlic, a carrot or two, and a bay leaf.
Add salt, black peppercorns, and about eight to ten cups of water.
That’s really all it takes to make a good celery broth.
2. Chop and Prep the Vegetables
Roughly chop your celery stalks, onion, carrot, and garlic.
There’s no need to peel anything perfectly when you make celery broth because the broth will be strained at the end anyway.
Just give everything a good rinse and cut them into chunks.
3. Simmer Everything Together
Toss all your chopped vegetables into a large pot and cover them with water.
Bring the pot to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
Let your celery broth simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes to an hour.
The longer it simmers, the deeper the flavor becomes.
4. Strain and Store
Once your celery broth has finished simmering, remove it from the heat and let it cool slightly.
Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl or container.
Discard the solids and store your celery broth in the fridge for up to five days, or freeze it for up to three months.
Why You Should Make Celery Broth at Home
There are plenty of reasons to make celery broth yourself instead of buying it.
When you make celery broth at home, you control exactly what goes into it.
No hidden preservatives, no excess sodium, and no mystery ingredients.
Celery broth is also incredibly low in calories and naturally hydrating.
It’s gentle on the stomach, which makes it a great choice when you’re feeling under the weather.
Plus, when you make celery broth from scratch, you’re often using up celery and other veggies that might otherwise go to waste.
That’s a win for your wallet and your kitchen.
Ways to Use Celery Broth in Your Cooking
Once you know how to make celery broth, you’ll find endless ways to use it.
Here are some of my favorites.
1. As a Sipping Broth
Warm up a mug of celery broth, add a squeeze of lemon, and sip it like tea.
It’s soothing, light, and perfect for chilly evenings.
2. As a Soup Base
Use your celery broth as the foundation for vegetable soup, chicken soup, or even a creamy potato soup.
The celery flavor adds a subtle depth that plain water just can’t match.
3. For Cooking Grains
Swap water for celery broth when cooking rice, quinoa, or couscous.
Your grains will soak up all that savory goodness and taste way better.
4. In Sauces and Gravies
Add a splash of celery broth to sauces and gravies for extra flavor.
It works especially well in light pan sauces where you don’t want anything too heavy.
Tips for the Best Celery Broth
If you want to make celery broth that tastes like it came from a fancy restaurant, keep these tips in mind.
1. Don’t Skip the Leaves
Celery leaves are packed with flavor, so always include them when you make celery broth.
They give the broth a richer, more aromatic taste.
2. Roast the Veggies First
For a deeper flavor, roast your celery, onion, and carrot in the oven for about 20 minutes before simmering.
This caramelizes the natural sugars and takes your celery broth to another level.
3. Go Easy on the Salt
Add salt gradually and taste as you go.
You can always add more at the end, but you can’t take it out once it’s in.
4. Save Your Scraps
Keep a bag of celery ends, onion skins, and carrot peels in your freezer.
When the bag is full, use it to make celery broth without spending a dime.
So, How Do You Make Celery Broth?
You make celery broth by simmering fresh celery, onion, garlic, carrot, and simple seasonings in water for about an hour, then straining the liquid.
It’s one of the simplest homemade broths you can make, and it’s incredibly versatile in the kitchen.
Whether you sip it on its own or use it as a base for soups and grains, learning how to make celery broth is a skill worth having.
Give it a try this week, and you’ll never look at a bunch of celery the same way again.