Celery Powder vs. Celery Salt: What Each One Is, and How to Swap Them

The big difference is salt. A teaspoon of McCormick’s celery salt, which lists only salt and celery seed, carries about 1,080 mg of sodium,¹ while celery powder is celery with nothing added, made from either the dried vegetable or ground seed, depending on the brand. So the real question is whether you want salt along with your celery flavor. There’s also a third product with the celery powder name: the cultured or pre-converted powders made for their nitrate, which cure “uncured” meats. Neither kitchen product can replace them.²

All three come from one plant, celery, Apium graveolens, a biennial of the parsley family (Apiaceae).

Side by side

The differences that change the dish

Salt. This is the big one. The FDA says 2,300 mg of sodium is about one teaspoon of table salt.⁸ By McCormick’s label, a teaspoon of its celery salt carries about 1,080 mg,¹ a little under half the sodium of a teaspoon of table salt. Ground celery seed, by USDA’s figures, has about 3 mg a teaspoon.⁶ With celery salt, every extra pinch of celery flavor brings salt with it. With celery powder, you salt separately.

Strength. Which one tastes more of celery depends on the powder. Katzer describes celery seed’s aroma as similar to the leaf and root but much stronger,⁹ so a seed-based powder should beat a stalk-based one. Where celery salt lands depends on how much seed is in it, and no source we found says. A Couple Cooks says store-bought blends run between 1:1 and 2:1, without saying which ingredient is the bigger part.¹⁰

Moisture and texture. Both are dry, fine powders, so both suit rubs and dressings where fresh celery would add water.

The other celery powder: curing meat

Meats sold as “natural” or “uncured” often get their nitrite from celery. Bhusal and Muriana describe celery juice and its dried powders as high in nitrate, and celery powder as widely used as a vegetable nitrite source in natural and organic meats.² The nitrate gets converted to nitrite either in the meat, by a bacterial culture like Staphylococcus carnosus, or before sale, in “pre-converted” powders that give more consistent nitrite levels.² You’ll often read that curing celery powder is fermented to raise its nitrate. In these sources, the culturing actually converts nitrate to nitrite.

Neither spice-aisle celery powder nor celery salt can do this job. Control of Clostridium botulinum is the main reason nitrite goes into cured meat, according to the American Meat Science Association’s review.¹¹ A kitchen powder or a jar of celery salt has no stated nitrate or nitrite content, so it can’t stand in for a measured cure. See curing salt and celery powder substitutes for what can.

On labels, US rules let meat made without added nitrate or nitrite be called “Uncured” if it also says “No Nitrate or Nitrite Added.”¹² In December 2020, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said it intends to propose barring those statements on products processed with any source of nitrates or nitrites, celery powder included.¹³ More on that, and on the allergen rules, on our celery powder page.

Can one stand in for the other?

Yes, for seasoning, as long as you handle the salt separately. Our substitute pages work out the numbers, and the treatments below come from them.

• Celery powder plus salt, for celery salt. Salt (Computed): for each teaspoon of celery salt, use about 1/2 teaspoon of table salt, based on McCormick’s sodium figure and the FDA’s teaspoon of salt.¹⁸ Celery (Method): Start with 1/4 teaspoon of seed-based powder, or about 1/2 teaspoon of stalk-based powder, and taste. Ratio (Attributed): For a ready-mixed jar, A Couple Cooks’ homemade celery salt uses 1 1/2 parts celery seed to 1 part kosher salt, ground together.¹⁰ See celery salt substitutes.
• Celery salt, for celery powder. Salt (Computed): cut about 1/2 teaspoon of table salt from the recipe for each teaspoon of celery salt you add.¹⁸ Celery (Method): After cutting the salt, start with the same amount of celery salt as the powder called for, and taste. How much celery flavor you can add is capped by how much salt the dish can take. Not for curing. See celery powder substitutes.
• For lower sodium. Ground celery seed has almost no sodium by USDA’s figures,⁶ so it’s the way to get celery salt’s flavor without most of the salt. By McCormick’s label figure, 2 teaspoons of its celery salt carry about 2,160 mg of sodium, close to the FDA’s Daily Value of less than 2,300 mg.¹⁸

When to reach for each

• Celery salt when you want salt and celery at once, in a fine, even sprinkle. The International Bartenders Association’s Bloody Mary lists celery salt with Tabasco and pepper,¹⁴ and a Chicago-style hot dog gets finished with it. Popcorn, fries and eggs are common uses too.
• Celery powder when you want to control the salt yourself, or need a lot of celery flavor: rubs, dressings, soups, stocks and brines. Pick seed-based powder for intensity and stalk-based for a milder, vegetal note.

What isn’t known

• None of the sources we read publishes the salt-to-seed ratio of commercial celery salts.

• We found no sodium figure for stalk-based celery powder.

• Spice-aisle celery powders don’t state a nitrate content, and none of them should be used to cure meat.

Related

• Celery powder and celery salt
• Celery powder substitutes and celery salt substitutes
• Celery seed vs. celery powder and celery seed vs. celery salt
• Celery seeds, celery flakes and celery flakes substitutes
• Curing salt