How to Cut Celery

Whether you realize it or not, celery finds its way into a surprising number of restaurant dishes, including sauces, stews, salads, soups, and braises. Along with pungent onions and sweet, earthy carrots, celery's slight bitter edge is an essential component of mirepoix, backbone of at least half the dishes in the Western repertoire. A potato salad or lobster roll wouldn't be the same without its distinctive crunch and fresh flavor, and the Chinese learned long ago that it's particularly flavorful in a spicy stir-fry. Even the leaves can be used as a flavorful, herbal garnish.

This guide will help teach you to cut celery into all of the major shapes and sizes. Learn these cuts well, and you'll be using them all your life.

General Celery Prep

No matter how you plan to cut your celery, you'll want to first do the following steps (peeling optional, as noted).

Step 1: Separate Ribs

Separate the individual ribs from the head by gently prying them out from the bottom until they snap off.

Step 2: Wash and Trim Ribs

Wash the individual ribs under cold running water to remove any dirt and debris, then trim off the root end the bottom of each rib.

Step 3: Peel Ribs (Optional)

Some heads of celery have more fibrous ribs than others, which means peeling can help improve the overall texture. Whether you do this or not depends not only on the celery itself, but also your use: If you're making stock or a sauce where the celery is later strained out there's no need to peel it first, and if you're cutting the celery into small dice, you also generally don't need to (chopping up celery cuts the fibrous strands into shorter bits that are much less of a nuisance).

For gently cooked preparations or when using celery in large dice or batons/sticks, the fibrous skin on the outer (convex) surface can be distracting. Using a vegetable peeler, peel each rib by holding the base against the cutting board and pulling down the length with a smooth, even motion. Repeat until entire outer layer is clean.

To Cut Large Chunks/Dice

Large chunks or dice are primarily used for stocks and sauces that will eventually be strained, or for rustic stews. Using a knife, cut the ribs into 1- to 1 1/2–inch pieces.

You can trim off the top portion above the joint and save it for stock if the celery is going to be part of the final dish (and if you want very uniform pieces). But for stocks or more rustic presentations, you can leave that part in, simply trimming off the dried ends at the top.

To Cut Crosswise Slices

For slices to use in salads or sautées, slice crosswise into 1/8- to 1/4-inch half-moons.

To Cut Slices on the Bias

Slicing the half-moons on the bias (at an angle) to the main rib will yield slightly larger, heartier pieces perfect for things like stir-fries or hearty sautées.

To Cut Sticks/Batons

To make celery sticks/batons for dips and crudités platters, cut each rib into your desired length, then crosscut those sections into sticks or batons of the width of your choice.

To Cut Fine Dice

Step 1: Split Ribs Lengthwise

Similar to making sticks, cut each celery rib into thin strips. Note that the width of your lengthwise strips will determine the size of dice, so if you want 1/4-inch dice, you'll want to cut 1/4-inch-thick strips. For brunoise, you'll want to make thinner strips between 1/8 and 1/16 inch thick, then crosscut them to the same final dice size.

Step 2: Cut Crosswise Into Dice

Rotate the celery strips and cut crosswise to form fine dice. For evenly square pieces, try to cut the dice at the same width as the sticks.

Shopping and Storage

When buying celery, look for whole heads still attached at the root with tightly bundled ribs and a bright green to yellowish-green color. Skip any heads that have bruised brown spots or that look overly fibrous. A good grocery store will keep their celery stalks lightly misted with water to keep them fresh and crisp. (Also note, when it comes to celery, "stalk" is technically synonymous with "head." When referring to the individual sticks of celery, those are "ribs," not stalks.)

Once home, celery can wilt. It's best to keep it in a slightly opened plastic bag or a perforated plastic bag to help retain moisture, but still give it room to breathe. Use your vegetable crisper drawer if you've got one. Properly stored, celery should last up to a week and a half in the fridge. Stalks that have started to go limp can be revived by cutting them off and standing them cut-end-down in a cup of water in the fridge.

If you want to use leaves as garnish, pick the pale yellow leaves closest to the center of the stalk where new ribs are growing (darker green leaves can be tough or fibrous) and store them in a container of water with a few ice cubes in the fridge until ready to use. They make a great addition to mixed green salads.