18 Amazing Celery Seed Substitutes

As you know, most celery seed substitutes cannot be interchangeable. Each of them serves a distinct purpose in a meal. And they indeed come in handy!

Imagine that the time when a recipe calls for celery comes up. However, you don’t have it available in the kitchen. At this point, go to get some from local stores or find other flavors sharing the same celery to replace it.

If you need a crunch, keep scrolling to learn about what type of celery alternatives you crave the most to complete the recipe!

Celery seeds are well-known for their unique taste, so the following options would help your Asian dishes when having a similar profile.

What Are Exotic Celery Seed Substitutes For Any Dish?

Before diving into ingredients replacing celery, you should know that these won’t have 100% the same taste as it.

To make up for that, you can gain a similar texture and be more creative with your dishes. Are you ready to view the list? Have a look at the top celery seed substitutes mentioned below:

1. Celery Leaves and Stalks
2. Celeriac Seed (Celery Root)
3. Celery Salt
4. Parsley
5. Fresh Dill
6. Dill Seed
7. Fennel Seed
8. Caraway Seed
9. Star Anise
10. Turmeric
11. Garlic
12. Ginger
13. Black Pepper
14. Capsaicin
15. Feverfew Seed
16. Dandelion
17. Hibiscus
18. Nigella Sativa

What Do You Know About Celery Seed?

Many kinds of celery are popular veggies in Asian cuisine by growing mainly in temperate climates. It has a bold taste that reminds you of raw onions or kale. Some people find it unpleasant to consume, while others love to mix it with the main dish.

Watch this video to know more:

Once eating it, people can feel a bit tingly due to the number of furanocoumarins. You also feel the warmth and bitterness at the same time. But above all, this vegetable still makes a delightful snack for those who like it.

For celery plants, there is more to it to discuss, especially the seeds. They look light brown and feature an earthy flavor. Besides, the seeds make a versatile seasoning that sends a strong and striking vibe to every dish.

Celery is most favored in fragrant blends with onion and bell pepper. Meanwhile, celery seed stands out in almost every traditional flavor combo.

Better than expected, if you get intoxicated with making pickles on your own, celery seed is your good company! It’s perfect for adding a unique taste and aroma to salty solutions.

The seed becomes a must-have for green salads as a compliment to add a peppery bite to these leafy greens. After toasting the seeds and adding them to the salads, your dish turns more beautiful than ever, making you feel energetic to dive into.

Although celery seed doesn’t have a long history of use in America, it has become a favorite ingredient to use in all American kitchens. Locals love to use it for pickling, soups, and sauces.

However, bear in mind that celery lies in the list likely to provoke allergic reactions. For those with an allergy to this plant, people could suffer anaphylactic shock. This harsh state might become deadly if it cannot be appropriately treated ⁽¹⁾.

Nutrition Facts Of Celery Seed

The following table informs you how much a nutrient should be in one serving of food (100 grams) for your daily diet ⁽²⁾.

Nutrients	Value
Carbohydrate	41.4 g
Total fat	25.3 g
Protein	18.1g
Fiber	11.8 g
Calcium	1770 mg
Potassium	1400 mg
Sodium	160 mg
Vitamin C	17.1 g
Vitamin B-6	0.89 mg
Vitamin A	3 µg
Vitamin E	1.07 mg
Fatty acids	2.19 mg

As seen above, celery includes 1770 mg of calcium for one serving. It can support your bone health by containing more than 10% of the daily intake of calcium. For the RDI, it requires 1,000 mg per day for adults.

Meanwhile, women over 50 and anyone over 70 need 1,200 mg per day. Kids aged from 4 to 18 should consume 1,300 mg ⁽³⁾.

More importantly, calcium is an essential nutrient that prevents you from suffering from osteoporosis. It’s also known as brittle bone disease. Humans absorb calcium through a healthy diet and sunlight. So pairing celery seed with a bone-building dish helps a lot!

Health Benefits Of Celery Seeds

Together with undeniable culinary uses, these seeds are famous for going low on calorie content. In herbal medicine, the seed here is considered a diuretic that plays an essential role in enhancing urine flow.

Watch this video to know more:

Doing so helps decrease the levels of sodium and water in the body. In other words, it aids in lowering blood pressure. Besides, it cures more common conditions such as flu and cold.

As some research goes, celery seed extract can lower the risk of lung cancer. It was once proven to stop the growth of liver cancer in a rat-related study published in Cancer Letters in 2005 ⁽⁴⁾.

Even Chinese researchers recommended that consuming celery stalks twice or three times per week will prevent you from enduring lung cancer.

More than that, celery is exceptionally effective in dodging and treating breast cancer. This type of cancer is the most common form found in every Indian woman. But how does it thwart the growing tumors?

It will pause the multiplication of cancer cells, which only allows fewer nutrients to enter the tumor. For this reason, they get starved and then restrict their ability to grow and escalate.

Apart from that, celery is a rich source of antioxidants, vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium, and folate.

Adding it to your daily diet, you will no longer worry about cancer and other health issues. It’s all thanks to the incredible medicinal properties of this anti-cancer veggie.

18 Incredible Celery Seed Substitutes To Add To Dishes

Getting the suitable ingredient to replace celery seed is very important. A minor mistake can spoil the whole cuisine if you use the wrong alternative. Keep reading to get more insights into each of these savory options!.

Celery Leaves and Stalks

When you find it challenging to find seeds at hand, pick up its stalks and leaves instead.

These two are, of course, the best replacements for celery seeds without question. Go to buy them at your local supermarket or Amazon. Only choose the fresh ones with a vivid green shade as these indicate the length of time celery can last is much more impressive.

They might not have the same look, but they share a similar profile in terms of flavor. However, the ingredients here won’t taste as bold as seeds. So you need to adjust the recipe appropriately to make the food shine bright.

For example, change one tablespoon of celery seeds into six tablespoons of finely chopped leaves and stalks.

One more thing to remember, there’s a slight difference in texture between these two and celery seeds. Thus, do not use them for your hearty soups or melting sauces.

Watch this video to know more:

Celeriac Seed

Not only listed as one of the best celery seed substitutes but celeriac is also known as the turnip-rooted celery. The plant makes a fantastic seasoning with white flesh when adding a delicate taste to every stew and soup during the cold months.

Watch this video to know more:

In case you’ve never tried celeriac seed before, go ahead with it. By consuming it, you’re providing yourself with a great source of vitamin C, vitamin K, and fiber. Use this alternative to blend with your salads, pizzas, stews, and soups.

The celeriac also tastes amazingly delicious. It’s an exotic combination of aromatic celery and parsley. Are you a fan of celery in the cooking? Try to store the seed well if you want to eat more seasonally.

Celery Salt

The salt of celery plants can role-play an excellent substitute for its stalks and all common types of salt. All you need to do is use the same amount of salt as you always use for cooking. And there’s no need to add any stalk or regular salt to enhance the food’s flavor.

But try to measure the content of salt carefully as celery salt is not pure celery after all. Also, it gets packed with plenty of salt, so only add more salt if you find it too bland!

If you don’t have it at hand, use the leftover celery leaves to make celery salt yourself. It tends to get made from ground celery seeds and salt.

Another fun way to use celery salt is mixing it Bloody Mary Gazpancho. By adding this spice to the drink, you’ll have a second-to-none beverage that everyone will go crazy over. Bloody Mary Gazpancho is also among the fantastic dishes to pair with crab cakes, an equally tasty recipe.

Watch this video to know more:

You must dry them out before grinding the leaves with a grinder for spice and herbs. As a result, don’t miss serving it as a substitute for celery in a bowl of creamy salads.

Parsley

Though parsley is not a seed or any variety of celery, people still love to use it pretty often in dishes calling for celery. Indeed, this veggie doesn’t bear much similarity to the strong-flavored celery. But they still get related in some ways.

First of all, both celery and parsley originate from the botanical family-like dill, carrots, fennel, and many more plants you’ve known. The leaves of celery are as palatable as parsley. You can freely consume them raw or after cooking them a bit.

Besides, if you’re an Asian, then you must know Chinese celery. It resembles a beautiful mixture of classic celery and parsley with flat leaves.

When opting for this alternative, make sure that what you’re using is actually parsley. I’ve seen novice chefs mistaken between these two. Despite their similar look, the differences between parsley and cilantro mean you can’t use them interchangeably in this specific case.

From a health perspective, these two are healthy options for vegan eaters. By offering many health-based benefits, both celery and parsley make the best choices for every superfood-based diet.

Watch this video to know more:

And the parsley itself has a high number of nutrients that can beat many diseases. It’s a natural remedy to prevent diabetes, kidney stones, and cancer.

Fresh Dill

Celery seed is always your favorite seasoning, but use fresh dill when you’re out of it! Like celery, dill delivers a savory taste to pickles and salads without changing the recipe.

It’s also related to celery when replanting itself and then spreading later. People have paired dill weed with eggs and potato salads like with celery. And before deciding to plant it in the garden, make sure to learn how to preserve the fresh dill’s quality so it won’t affect your dish.

Dill usually has a grassy taste with a slight licorice aroma. Once the temperature rises, the flavor of its leaves starts changing. It turns less fragrant and much bitter.

With a unique taste, even using a pinch of dill would make your food more savory and aromatic than ever!

Once heating the dill longer, you’ll see how it produces more fragrance and flavor from faraway. Try toasting dill seed in a hot frying pan and see the result!

Dill Seed

People call it dill seed because it’s precisely the brown fruits of the dill weed.

It’s also the prominent flavoring for all pickles that call for dill. However, it’s not a common ingredient you can find in every grocery store. You can get some at Whole Foods or online. In terms of flavor, dill seed and caraway seed have something in common.

This celery alternative has been used in Northern Europe as a seasoning to flavor different dishes. These are usually meats, bread, cheese, cabbage, and potatoes.

It’s good to know that dill seed is full of flavonoids, which have been studied to lower the risk of heart illness. Also, dill is a great help in protecting humans from cancer and an enriched vitamin A and vitamin C source.

Fennel Seed

If dill has its origin in Northern Europe, then fennel comes from Southern Europe. But nowadays, the fennel has already made its debut around the world.

Watch this video to know more:

Fennel is a plant-producing seed that can be used as a cooking seasoning. Unlike the parsley, you can smell the licorice flavor of fennel in your food. Use it the same as the celery seed that pairs well with carrot or onions to increase the dish’s flavor.

To be honest, fennel is not a perfect option to replace celery as it comes to taste. However, both fennel and celery own the same crunch, adding a fantastic consistency to the food.

It’s okay to bake seeds into bread or Italian sausages. If not, add them to tomatoes and asparagus to satisfy your craving!

Caraway Seed

If you’re searching for a spice that packs a punch like celery, then look nowhere else than caraway seed. It’s easy to spot it in all European and Asian foods. With an exquisite flavor, caraway gets no trouble in adding more depth to every dish.

Watch this video to know more:

You might like to use caraway seeds as an ideal celery seed substitute for any type of salad like carrot salad with toasted seed.

Though seen as a seed, caraway is from the fruit of its plant. Moreover, it boasts plenty of essential minerals and compounds that help with human health.

In detail, caraway seed supports your weight loss, promotes digestion, and relieves inflammation. Apart from salads, this ingredient gets favored in desserts, bread, and all baked products.

Star Anise

Star anise belongs to the parsley food family. Sure enough, star anise is a suitable replacement of celery seed and other members in this group. For example, you can use star anise as the second option for caraway, cumin, dill, parsley, carrot, and more.

At first sight, you quickly realize the distinctive appearance of star anise. It’s like a bit of colored star. It contains six or eight points in which each one gets filled up with one tiny seed. It offers a lightly sweet and licorice taste to dishes that call for celery.

Watch this video to know more:

Feel free to pair these stars with onions, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and beef. Try to use them in small amounts only to maintain the original taste of the dish.

In Vietnamese cuisine, star anise is an indispensable ingredient of the country’s specialty, pho.

Meanwhile, it gains a lot of love in making tea and roast duck in China. How about in the west? People living here like to use it to increase the taste of alcoholic drinks.

Turmeric

Another spice meeting the criteria for celery replacement is turmeric. You can spot it easily by its bright yellowish shade. No doubt, turmeric has some kind of relation to the famous ginger family.

You commonly see turmeric in almost Asian dishes, and turmeric offers your food an earthly and mustard-like flavor. If you want the food to look good, rely on this spice to add a golden shade to your whole dish.

Watch this video to know more:

Like some ingredients in the group, this spice bears a long history of use in herb medicine. The protective compounds within it will allow your body to fight against the effect of oxidation. In other words, turmeric helps you handle aging and inflammation.

Garlic

If you run out of the common spices for the cooking, such as celery seeds and parsley, consider using garlic. This replacement also owns a bolder taste than celery.

So while using it, you need to regulate the amount if you don’t want the dish to change that much from the start.

Watch this video to know more:

Despite the benefits of consuming raw garlic, it has some side effects you should watch out. It’s because this spice leads to your bad breath and causes a burning feeling in the mouth. Worse than that, garlic increases the odor of your body and the risk of diarrhea.

Interestingly, you might not want to replace celery with garlic, but love to mix them both in a dish. Come to braise celery and then garlic in wine and broth. This dish indeed ends up offering a cozy vibe to you when pairing with lentils, eggs, and bread.

Ginger

Interestingly, a commonly-used ingredient like ginger that bears a vivid taste can replace celery seed in Asian cuisine. It’s warm and mildly sweet to taste after roasted. Also, dried ginger has always been a shining star in baking cakes and cookies.

Similar to celery, which is a condiment, ginger gets served after being cooked for Chinese-styled dishes. It’s why ginger is another versatile recommendation you can use for different recipes.

Watch this video to know more:

From a health perspective, its compounds are believed to stimulate saliva production and support digestion function. Besides, ginger has been studied to decrease blood sugar in type II diabetic people.

Black Pepper

Is there any creative substitute for celery seed you don’t think it is? Try black pepper this time! Belonging to the Piperaceae family, this spice can get made differently to produce several types of peppers.

Aside from that, black pepper shares the same taste as celery when leaving a bitter and spicy flavor in the mouth. Sure enough, the boldness and earthiness are something undeniable about this spice.

What about white pepper? Can you use white pepper to replace celery seeds when you’ve run out of black pepper also? Considering the differences between white pepper and black pepper.

I’d suggest that you should choose the latter as an alternative for celery seeds only.

Watch this video to know more:

The strength of the spice’s flavor is one of the main reasons it naturally acts as a terrific alternative for celery seeds. You can use it to flavor veggies and curries if there’s no celery available in the kitchen.

Capsaicin

Ginger and capsaicin are the significant ingredients everyone commonly uses to add more aroma and flavor to dishes. Better than expected, it’s an ideal replacement for celery seed as it comes to pain relief.

Speaking of capsaicin, it’s indeed a chemical in pepper that makes this ingredient spicier. Thus, people believe that using capsaicin is good for curing headaches and sore throats instead of celery!

Feverfew Seed 

It’s a plant grown in different parts of the world. The leaves of feverfew get dried up for medicinal use.

Also, the daisy-like flowers of feverfew on a medium-sized bush make a beautiful decoration for your garden.

Watch this video to know more:

It’s also well-known for driving mosquitoes and other insects away from humans. Therefore, you would see it planted near the doorways and windows.

To use feverfew seed as a celery seed substitute, you need to buy from a supplier who proves that these seeds are from the Parthenolide extracted from the plant. These seeds need natural light and must be sown on the surface of the soil.

Dandelion

Similar to celery seed, the extract from the dandelion seeds have outstanding digestive properties. It works perfectly in treating bloating, abdominal cramps, and indigestion.

The plant itself has been used in medicine with the help of digestion and appetite stimulation. For the seeds, find them on the stalk, with each seed standing for a floret. More than that, you can sow dandelions from 4 to 6 weeks.

Watch this video to know more:

The growth of dandelion flowers also depends on the temperature and conditions. Its seeds would age faster in warm weather.

Hibiscus

This tropical shrub is widely known for its giant and colored blooms. You can plant it in your garden as a garnish. For flowers and leaves, they make herbal tea and liquid extracts with the potential for weight loss support and cancer treatment.

Watch this video to know more:

In terms of health, like celery seed, hibiscus is likely to lower high blood pressure and harmful cholesterol levels. Serve yourself a glass of hibiscus tea that is free from caffeine and calories for more benefits.

The tea gets made from the dried parts of the plant (dried flowers and leaves) for the recipe. You’ll see it deep red and taste sweet like cranberries.

Nigella Sativa

Nigella sativa is the seeds of flowering plants renowned for their impressive culinary uses and curative properties. These foods whose name begins with “N” come from the Ranunculaceae family and show up throughout the Middle East, India, and Europe.

Watch this video to know more:

You can pair them with some root veggie dishes. For example, get a  pleasant and hearty taste with squash and nigella seed soup, potatoes with nigella seeds, and egg bake with nigella seeds.

Besides, the seeds have been used as herbal medicine to cure some common health problems nowadays. These are bronchitis, asthma, and inflammation.

Words Of Caution

It’s good to know all celery seed substitutes used in every cuisine. However, if you get pregnant, it’s highly advisable to avoid consuming any celery seed product. Do not take tablets with celery extract due to the high risk of miscarriage.

This condition occurs due to the blood-thinning effects of the spice. Stop such medications at once since it also causes excessive bleeding.

Also, for anyone with low blood pressure, kidney inflammation, or allergies, it’s best to avoid consuming any good having celery seeds.

FAQs

Celery seeds get loaded with a rich source of nutrients that help individuals fight against infection and control blood sugar. But there are more about them to dig into:

Expectation Vs. Reality

Once your favorite flavor booster, celery seed runs out, try one of the natural celery seed substitutes in this article instead.

These help retain the beautiful taste of the food, and add a bold taste of celery without affecting the texture of your dish. Feel free to use them in soups, dressings, sauces, and bread like how you do with celery seed.

References

(1) En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Celery – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celery#Nutrition>

(2) (2021). Retrieved 1 June 2021, from https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170920/nutrients

(3) Balk, E.M., Adam, G.P., Langberg, V.N. et al. Global dietary calcium intake among adults: a systematic review. Osteoporos Int 28, 3315–3324 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-017-4230-x

(4) Sultana S, Ahmed S, Jahangir T, Sharma S. Inhibitory effect of celery seeds extract on chemically induced hepatocarcinogenesis. 2005 Apr 18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canlet.2004.07.030