SPICEographyMaster your spice rack
Menu

Spice Substitutes · Substitutes

Celery Leaves Substitutes: Lovage, Celery Seed, Parsley and More

By · Reviewed · 11 sources

Celery Leaves Substitute

Bought celery without the leafy tops, or used them up? Celery seed covers the flavor in a cooked dish, lovage is the closest fresh herb, and flat-leaf parsley makes the easiest garnish. Celery leaves taste of celery, sharper and greener than the stalk. In a soup, half a teaspoon of celery seed stands in for 2 tablespoons of chopped leaves; raw, lovage, a separate plant that tastes a lot like celery, comes closest.

Quick answer

What celery leaves are doingBest substituteStarting amount, per 2 tbsp chopped leavesTreatment
Celery flavor in soups, stocks, stewsCelery seed1/2 tspAttributed
Fresh herb in salads and raw dishesLovage leavesAbout 1 tbsp, then tasteMethod
GarnishFlat-leaf parsley2 tbspMethod

How the ratios on this page are labeled

  • Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship.
  • Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. We quote it as theirs.
  • Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. You get each one, side by side.
  • Method: our starting point, based on how the two compare. Taste and adjust.

If the leaves are flavoring a cooked dish

In soups, stocks, stews and braises, celery leaves are there for flavor, and their texture disappears. Any form of celery will do the job. The only question is how much.

1. Celery seed

Ratio (Attributed): The Spice House gives 2 tablespoons of minced celery tops as the replacement for 1/2 teaspoon of celery seed.1 Flip it around and 1/2 teaspoon of seed stands in for 2 tablespoons of chopped leaves. The Spice House’s figure is for replacing seed with leaves; the reverse is our math.

Seed is far more concentrated. Katzer describes its aroma as similar to the leaf’s but much stronger, and a little bitter.2 McCormick says celery seed “goes a long way.”3 If you’re cautious, start below 1/2 teaspoon and add more after tasting. Seed won’t give you any green color or leafy bulk.

2. Celery stalk

Stalk celery and leaf celery are forms of the same species.4 The stalk is milder, sweeter and crunchy next to the leaves.

Ratio (Method): Start with an equal volume of finely chopped stalk, taste near the end of cooking, and add more if the celery note is faint. Chop it small so it softens in the same time the leaves would.

3. Dried celery leaves

Leaf celery gets used dried as well as fresh.

Ratio (Computed): LSU AgCenter’s general rule for herbs is that 1 tablespoon of finely cut fresh herbs equals 1 teaspoon of crumbled dried.5 By that rule, use 2 teaspoons of dried celery leaf for 2 tablespoons of fresh. It’s a general herb rule, not a test on celery leaf. For long-simmered dishes, the University of Delaware’s general advice is to add herbs in the last 45 minutes.6

If the leaves are a fresh herb

Raw in salads, egg dishes, potato salad or slaws, celery leaves bring a green, celery-flavored freshness. You need a fresh leaf here.

1. Lovage

Lovage is a separate plant in the parsley family, with a sweet flavor similar to celery. Its stalks and leaves are used as a vegetable and to flavor food. It’s the closest fresh match, but it’s stronger than celery leaf.

Ratio (Method): Start with about half as much chopped lovage as celery leaves, taste, and add more.

2. Flat-leaf parsley, with a pinch of celery seed

Parsley is in the same plant family as celery, with a mildly aromatic flavor. PROSEA describes it as warm but slightly burning and bitter, and says the flat-leaved type has more flavor than the curly.7 Parsley gives you the green leaf and some of the bitter edge, but not the celery note. A small pinch of celery seed fills that in.

Ratio (Method): Use an equal volume of chopped flat-leaf parsley and add a pinch of crushed celery seed per 2 tablespoons. Taste and adjust.

Falls short: cilantro

Cilantro is the leaf of coriander, another member of the parsley family. Its smell comes from different compounds than celery’s, and some people find it soapy.8 It can fill a garnish or salad slot, but it’ll taste of cilantro, not celery.

If the leaves are a garnish

As a garnish, celery leaves are mostly about a fresh green leaf on top, and parsley is the classic garnish. Curly-leaved parsley is commonly used fresh for garnishing and seasoning.7

Ratio (Method): Use flat-leaf or curly parsley in the same amount you’d use celery leaves. If you want the look of celery, flat-leaf parsley’s leaves are closer in shape. That’s about appearance, not flavor.

What isn’t known

  • The fresh-to-dried figure is a general herb rule, not something measured on celery leaf.

Footnotes

  1. Celery Seed Substitute, The Spice House. thespicehouse.com · Merchant ↩

  2. Gernot Katzer, Celery (Apium graveolens), Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages. gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com · Reference work ↩

  3. McCormick Whole Celery Seed, product page, McCormick & Company. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩

  4. Apium graveolens (PROSEA), Plant Resources of South-East Asia. uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩

  5. Flavorful Herbs, LSU AgCenter. lsuagcenter.com · Reference work ↩

  6. Using Herbs and Spices, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, 2025. udel.edu · Reference work ↩

  7. Petroselinum crispum (PROSEA), Plant Resources of South-East Asia. uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩ ↩2

  8. Eriksson et al., A genetic variant near olfactory receptor genes influences cilantro preference, Flavour, 2012. link.springer.com · Peer-reviewed ↩

Also drawn on