- Season
- Available all year as a shelf-stable dried product; the fresh celeriac it is made from is harvested in autumn.
- Price
- Low
- Nutrition per 100 g
- 292 kcal
- 26.6 g protein
- 5.5 g fat
- 50.6 g carbs
Dried Celery
Spices
Dried Celery
Celer sušený is dried celeriac: the root bulb of root celery (Apium graveolens var. rapaceum, Czech celer bulvový), peeled, cut and dried into hard, cream-to-yellowish cubes, granules or slices.
In practice
How to store
- On the counter
Keep in a tightly closed jar or resealed bag in a cool, dry, dark cupboard, away from steam and heat above the cooker. Kept dry, it stays good for many months; follow the best-before date on the pack. Aroma fades over time, so use it within about a year of opening.
- In the fridge
Not needed for the dry product, and fridge humidity can make it clump. Once rehydrated, treat it like cooked vegetables: cover, chill, and use within 1–2 days.
- In the freezer
Not needed for the dry product. Soups and stocks made with it freeze as usual.
How to choose
Read the label to be sure you are buying the root. Look for 'kořen', 'bulva', 'kostky' or 'granulát'. A product called 'nať' is dried leaf, and 'celerové semeno' is seed. Choose the cut for the job. Cubes or 2–4 mm granules (drcený) suit soups, sauces and stocks. Thin slices (plátky) take longer to soften and are better for long-simmered dishes. Good dried celeriac is evenly cream to pale yellow, dry and loose-flowing, and smells clearly of celery. Avoid clumped, damp-smelling or very dark pieces, and anything with insect damage. Single-ingredient products should list only celeriac. If sulphites have been used, the label must say so.
What to swap in
Best swap
Fresh celeriac (celer bulvový): use roughly 8–10 times the weight of the dried product, peeled and diced.
In a pinch
Dried celery leaf (sušená celerová nať) or a pinch of ground celery seed. Both are stronger and greener in taste, so use less. Lovage (libeček) also gives a similar note in soups.
Preparation
For soups, stocks and sauces that simmer for at least 15–20 minutes, add the pieces straight to the pot. They soften as they cook. When you want softened pieces in a shorter-cooked dish, or the full volume, soak first. Czech sellers suggest about 1 part dried celeriac to 2 parts lukewarm water for 10–20 minutes for granules. Larger cubes and slices need longer. Use the soaking water in the dish because it carries flavour. As a rough guide from one Czech seller, a 100 ml measure of dried pieces equals about half a medium celeriac. Fresh celeriac loses most of its weight as water when dried, so use it sparingly, about a heaped teaspoon to a tablespoon per litre of soup, and taste.
Don't toss it
Grind the fine crumbs left at the bottom of the bag in a spice grinder or mortar. Mix the powder with salt for a homemade celery seasoning salt, or add it to a dried root-vegetable soup mix.
In the kitchen
Cooking
Dried celeriac is used mainly in moist cooking. In Czech kitchens it goes into beef and chicken stock (vývar), vegetable soups, potato soup (bramboračka), cream of celery soup and the root-vegetable base of sauces such as svíčková. It also works in Bolognese-style and tomato sauces, braises, roasts cooked with liquid and stuffings. Cooks add it at the start so it has time to soften and release flavour. Ground or fine granules can go into dry rubs, marinades and spice blends. Rehydrated cubes can be added to salads and fillings, though they stay firmer than fresh root.
Goes well with
- Carrot
- Parsley Root
- Onion
- Leek
- Bay Leaf
- Allspice
- Black Pepper
- Lovage
- Beef And Chicken Broth
- Potatoes
- Tomato
- Mushrooms
What it is
Celer sušený is dried celeriac: the root bulb of root celery (Apium graveolens var. rapaceum, Czech celer bulvový), peeled, cut and dried into hard, cream-to-yellowish cubes, granules or slices. In Czech, 'celer' on its own normally means this root and not the stalks, so the dried product is a root vegetable. It is not dried stalk celery and not celery seed. Czech spice sellers and health-food shops sell it loose or in bags of 40 g up to 1 kg, labelled for example as celer kostka, celer kořen kostky or celer granulovaný. Much of what reaches Czech shelves is grown and dried in Poland. Dried celery leaves are sold as a separate product, sušená celerová nať. Dried celeriac is also a standard part of sušená kořenová zelenina, the dried root-vegetable soup mix of carrot, parsley root and celeriac.
How it tastes
Drying concentrates the familiar celeriac aroma. It is earthy and savoury with a light sweetness and a faintly bitter, peppery edge. Czech sellers call the taste strong and spicy, with a distinct smell. Dry pieces smell sharper than fresh root. Once soaked or simmered they soften and give soups and stocks the deep 'broth' note that Czech cooks expect from celeriac.
Common questions
Is celer sušený made from the root or the stalks?
Do I need to soak dried celeriac before cooking?
How much dried celeriac replaces fresh?
Is dried celery safe for people with celery allergy?
How long does dried celeriac keep?
Deep dive
3 min read
Varieties
Cubes (kostky).
Small dice, often about 5–10 mm. This is the most common cut and works well in soups and stocks.
Granules (granulát, drcený).
Crushed pieces of about 2–4 mm. They soften quickly and spread evenly through sauces and fillings.
Slices (plátky).
Thin dried slices of the bulb. They need longer soaking or simmering.
Powder (mletý).
Finely ground root, used in seasoning blends.
Root-vegetable soup mix (sušená kořenová zelenina).
Dried celeriac with carrot and parsley root. Some mixes also contain kohlrabi, leek, onion, celery leaf and parsley leaf.
Related but different products
dried celery leaf (sušená celerová nať), dried stalk celery from the stalk-celery variety (řapíkatý celer, var. dulce), celery seed, and celery salt. These are not what Czech shoppers mean by celer sušený.
History
Celeriac has long been a basic soup vegetable in Czech and wider Central European cooking. With carrot and parsley root it forms the root-vegetable trio behind Czech stocks and sauces. Drying was one of the household ways to keep it after the autumn harvest. Czech home-preserving guides still describe quartering young bulbs, blanching them, slicing or dicing them, and drying them at about 70 °C in a barely open oven or a fruit dryer. Today the dried product is made industrially, much of it in Poland, and sold by Czech spice packers and health-food shops.
Science
Celeriac contains a lot of water, so drying cuts its weight sharply and concentrates its flavour compounds, sugars, fibre and minerals. The typical celery smell comes mainly from volatile phthalides in the essential oil, together with terpenes. Some of these are lost during drying and long storage, which is why old stock tastes flat. Blanching before drying, as in traditional Czech home methods, slows the enzymes that cause browning and off-flavours. When soaked, the pieces take up water but do not fully regain the texture of fresh root, because drying damages the cell walls.
Sourcing and ethics
Allergen warning: celery, including celeriac, is one of the 14 allergens that must be declared under EU Regulation 1169/2011. Celery allergy can cause severe reactions, and drying or cooking does not make the product safe for people who are allergic. It also counts as a hidden ingredient in stock cubes, soup mixes and seasoning blends. Handle it as a dry food: keep it dry to prevent mould, and refrigerate rehydrated pieces. Much of the dried celeriac sold in Czechia comes from Poland. Organic (BIO) versions are available. Under EU rules, products with the EU organic logo must state whether the ingredients were farmed in the EU or outside it, and some name the country. Celeriac can be stored and dried locally, so it is a seasonal crop that stays useful all year with little waste.