Wondering what to do with celeriac root? This guide covers how to pick it, cook it, store it, and swap it, plus 45 recipes to put it to work.

What is celeriac root?

Celeriac is the knobby, softball-sized root of a celery plant grown for its base rather than its stalks. It's also called celery root, and under that gnarled brown skin is firm white flesh that tastes like celery crossed with a mild, nutty parsnip.

Don't let the looks put you off. It's one of the ugliest vegetables at the market, all bumps and stray rootlets, but it peels down to clean ivory flesh that turns creamy and sweet once cooked.

Cooking With Celery Root

Peel it thick. The skin is tough and the underside hides grit and tangled roots, so slice off the top and bottom, stand the root flat, then cut the peel away with a knife rather than a peeler.

Cut flesh browns quickly, so drop the pieces into acidulated water if you're not cooking right away.

Cooked, it goes soft and sweet. Boil and mash it like potato, blend it into silky soups, or roast chunks at 400°F (200°C) until the edges caramelize.

It anchors soups such as Mom's Apple-Onion Soup with Celery Root and Celery & Celery Root Soup, and roasts beautifully in a Roasted Root Salad With Carrot Vinaigrette (Thanksgiving).

Raw, it's the heart of celeriac remoulade: peeled, cut into fine matchsticks, then tossed with a mustardy mayonnaise. The Leftover Turkey Waldorf Salad uses it raw the same way, for crunch and a clean celery note.

Pairing and Pitfalls

Celeriac's earthy-celery flavor pairs with apple, mustard, lemon, cream, thyme, and walnuts. It plays well with rich meats and is a backbone vegetable in stocks and braises, adding savory depth without the stringiness of celery stalks.

The most common mistake is mashing it like a straight potato.

Celeriac holds more water, so a pure celeriac mash can turn loose and wet; blend it half-and-half with potato, or steam rather than boil to keep it from waterlogging.

The other slip is a thin peel. Skim the skin off too lightly and you leave behind fibrous, woody patches that never soften, so cut down to clean white flesh all the way around.

What to Swap In

Celery stalks plus a little parsnip is the closest flavor match when you can't find the root, though you lose the creamy body. Use the stalks for the celery note and the parsnip for sweetness and bulk.

For mashes and purees, parsnip alone or a parsnip-potato mix gets you a similar sweet, nutty result. Turnip works too, sharper and more peppery.

In stocks and braises where it's there for savory depth, a couple of celery stalks plus their leaves will cover it. Nothing matches celeriac exactly, so lean on whichever quality you need most: the celery aroma or the starchy body.

Buying and Storage

Pick a root that feels heavy and firm for its size, with no soft spots. Smaller ones, around the size of an orange to a grapefruit, tend to be denser and less likely to be spongy or hollow in the center than the big ones.

Whole and unpeeled, it's a keeper. Stored in the crisper in a loose bag, it lasts 2 to 3 weeks, often longer. Trim off the leafy top if it has one, since the greens pull moisture from the root.

Once peeled and cut, use it within a day or two, kept in cold water or wrapped tight to slow the browning. Cooked celeriac keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge and freezes well as a puree or in soup.

Quick facts

Where to find celeriac root: Celeriac root is usually found in the produce section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

In Chinese

芹菜根

British (UK) term

Celeriac root

en français

céleri-rave

en español

apio

Recipes using celeriac root

There are 45 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 45 recipes