How to Cook Celery Root

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: June 5, 2020 References

Celery root is a very tasty ingredient that you should use in your next meal. You'll need to rinse and trim the celery root before you cook it. This cleaning process shouldn't take more than a few minutes. Once the celery root is trimmed and clean, you can cook it. You can make a roasted celery root meal with some baby carrots or celery root soup. Both meals work well as delicious lunches.

Ingredients

Roasted Celery Root

2 pounds (0.91 kg) celery root
3 tbsp (45ml) olive oil
1/2 tsp (5g) salt
1/2 tsp (5g) black pepper
1/2 tsp (5g) crushed, dried rosemary
16 ounces (450 g) baby carrots
1 tsp (10g) vanilla extract

Makes 4 servings

Celery Root Soup

3 tbsp (45ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup (80g) thinly sliced leek
2.5 pounds (1.1 kg) celery root
12 ounces (340 g) potatoes.
1 medium tart apple
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
2 tsp (20g) salt
1 tsp (10g) black pepper
3 cups (600ml) water
2 cups (400ml) chicken or vegetable broth

Makes 2 servings

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:
Rinsing and Trimming Celery Root

1
Clean the celery root. No matter where you bought your celery root, you should rinse it before you cook it, even if it doesn't look dirty. Rinse it under a tap and wipe any dirt away using your hands. When finished rinsing, use paper towels to pat the celery root dry.^{[1]
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2
Slice off all of the small roots protruding from the celery root. Celery roots have loads of small roots sticking out on one side. With a knife, cut 1/3 of the way into the side where the roots are. Slice off all the roots by cutting deep into the celery root. While you may lose some of the root that could be used in cooking by doing this, it's a much easier process than trimming the roots 1 at a time.^{[2]
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- It's a very difficult task to remove all of the smaller roots so don't try it.
- You'll need a big, sharp knife as the celery root can be pretty tough to cut through.
3
Trim the skin of the celery root. If the skin is very tough on your celery root, use your chef's knife to slice the skin off. Use a paring knife if the skin isn't too tough. If the skin is soft on your celery root, you might be able to get away with slicing the skin off using a vegetable peeler.^{[3]
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- Feel the skin of the celery root to find out how tough it is. Use your fingers to push into the skin with some pressure. If the skin won't give way, it's very tough. If you can push the skin in, it's soft.
- Since the celery root isn't completely smooth, there might be some crevices in the celery root with dirt. Use a knife to slice through the crevice and remove the dirt.
4
Rub the celery root with a lemon if you want to keep it for later. The celery root will start to discolor pretty quickly if you don't use it soon after removing the skin. Slice a lemon in half and rub the lemon over the celery root. This will preserve the celery root and prevent it from losing its color.^{[4]
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- If you want to store the root for a few days, place it in the fridge after rubbing it with the lemon.
- If you don't want to use the celery root right away, you can wash, trim, and peel it right before you use it.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:
Making Roasted Celery Root

1
Preheat the oven to 325 °F (163 °C). Make sure you don't heat your oven to a higher temperature than 325 °F (163 °C) as the excess heat will damage the celery root when you put it in. If you have a gas oven, put the dial to gas mark 3 to heat the oven to this temperature.^{[5]
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- Electric ovens will heat up faster than gas ovens so keep this in mind when you're deciding what time you want to start cooking.
2
Cut the celery root into 1 inch (2.5 cm) cubes. You can use a sharp knife or a food dicer to cut the celery root into cubes. You can buy a food dicer at your local supermarket. This accessory lets you push down and slice the celery root evenly using a sharp metal grid. If you're using a knife, try and make the cubes as close in size to each other as possible.^{[6]
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3
Mix the celery root, olive oil, salt, black pepper, and rosemary in a large bowl. Place your 2 pounds (0.91 kg) of celery root, 2 tbsp (30ml) of olive oil, 1/4 tsp (2.5g) of salt, 1/4 tsp (2.5g) of black pepper, and 1/2 tsp (5g) of dried rosemary into the bowl. Toss the bowl until all of the ingredients cover the celery roots.^{[7]
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4
Add the coated celery roots to a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes. Use a spoon to place the celery root mixture on your baking tray. Put on oven gloves and place the baking tray in your preheated oven.^{[8]
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- Take note of the time and when the 15 minutes will be up.
5
Put the other ingredients into the same large bowl. Add your 16 ounces (450 g) of baby carrots, 1 tbsp (15ml) of olive oil, 1/4 tsp (2.5g) of salt, 1/4 tsp (2.5g) of black pepper, and 1tsp (10g) of vanilla extract to the bowl. Toss the bowl or mix the ingredients with a fork until the carrots are coated by the other ingredients.^{[9]
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- It's important that you use the same bowl you mixed the other ingredients in. This ensures a more thorough mix of all the ingredients.
6
Remove the tray from the oven when the 15 minutes are up. Wearing oven gloves, open the oven door and take the tray with the celery root mixture out of the oven. Place the baking tray on a stable, heat-proof surface.^{[10]
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Place the new mixture next to the celery root mixture on the tray. Spoon the coated baby carrots and other ingredients onto the baking tray next to the coated celery roots. Allow for some room between the two mixtures.
8
Bake the 2 mixtures for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Put the baking tray back in the oven. Take note of the time you put the tray into the oven and when you'll need to take it out. When the baking tray comes out of the oven, both the celery root mixture and the baby carrot mixture should be crisp-tender.^{[11]
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Toss both mixtures together in a separate bowl. Use a spoon to add both mixtures to the same bowl and combine them either by tossing the bowl or using a fork to mix them.^{[12]
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- When it looks like the celery root and baby carrots are well mixed together, add them to a plate to be served.
- If you want to store the roasted celery root for later, place it in an airtight container, put it in the fridge, and consume it within 3 days.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:
Making Celery Root Soup

1
Peel your celery root, apples, and potatoes. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin from your apples and your potatoes. If the skin is too tough for a vegetable peeler, use a paring knife to remove the skin.^{[13]
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2
Cut the celery root, apples, and potatoes into 1 inch (2.5 cm) chunks. You might need to use your chef's knife to slice the celery root. The chunks don't need to be exactly 1 inch (2.5 cm) in size, but slice them as near to this measurement as you can.
- You can buy a food dicer at your local supermarket or home goods store. This tool will slice your ingredients into chunks far quicker than you could ever hope to do it with a knife.
3
Heat 3 tbsp (45ml) of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Pour your oil into the saucepan. The oil is heated enough when it starts to shimmer.^{[14]
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- Place a tight fitting lid on the saucepan to protect yourself from any oil that splashes out of the saucepan.
- Use a saucepan of at least 500 millilitres (17 fl oz) capacity.
4
Add leek to the saucepan and cook until it's soft and semi-transparent. After adding the leek into the saucepan, stir it with a spoon or fork every 30 seconds. It should take around 3 minutes for the leek to go soft and become semi-transparent.^{[15]
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Put the diced ingredients, salt, pepper, and garlic into the saucepan. Add all of the chunks of apple, potatoes, and celery root into the saucepan. Sprinkle in 2 tsp (20g) of salt, 1 tsp (10g) of black pepper, and your peeled and smashed garlic cloves.^{[16]
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- Stir to cover the ingredients in the oil.
6
Add the water and broth to the mixture and bring it to a boil. Pour in 3 cups (600ml) of water and 2 cups (400ml) of vegetable broth. Pour the water and vegetable broth into the saucepan slowly as you don't want the hot oil to splash out of the saucepan. Bring the saucepan to a boil after you add these ingredients in.^{[17]
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Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Let the ingredients simmer in the saucepan for 25 to 30 minutes. When finished, the vegetables should be very tender and easy to pierce with a knife.^{[18]
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- If the vegetables are a little too hard when you try to pierce them with a knife, give them another 5 minutes in the saucepan.
8
Remove 1 cup (200ml) of liquid from the pan. Place the cup aside once you've removed it from the pan. You will be using this cup of liquid later in the process.
9
Use a blender to blend the ingredients into a liquid. Pour the ingredients from the saucepan into the blender once they've cooled down. Remove the lid from the blender and cover the gap with a tea towel. Leaving the cap on will keep steam in the blender and might cause the small cap to pop off.^{[19]
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- Inspect the ingredients after blending to make sure they've turned into liquid. If they haven't, blend until they do turn to liquid.
10
Return the soup to the saucepan and place it over low heat. This will keep the soup warm. Check to see if the soup is too thick using a spoon. If it is too thick, slowly add the liquid from the cup you removed earlier until the soup reaches the consistency you want.^{[20]
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Serve the soup in a bowl or a cup. Taste the soup to find out if you need to season it. If you think it needs some seasoning, add as much salt and black pepper as you like.
- If you want to keep the soup as leftovers, cover the bowl with some plastic wrapping and place it in the fridge. Consume it within 3 days as it will lose most of its taste and flavor if left for longer.