Sarra Ina Garten’s celery salad is thinly sliced celery hearts dressed in a lemon vinaigrette with shallots, celery seed, celery salt, and a half teaspoon of anchovy paste, chilled for at least an hour, then topped with shaved Parmesan, toasted walnuts, and whole parsley leaves. It serves 4 to 6 and takes about 15 minutes to prep plus an hour of mandatory chill time.
This recipe comes from Ina’s Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? cookbook (2010). In the headnote, she writes that “celery is usually just the crunch in tuna salad or the filler in stuffing, but Italians appreciate it for what it is, a delicious ingredient in its own right.” She pairs it with “a tart lemon vinaigrette and salty Parmesan” and says to “slice the celery as thinly as possible with a sharp knife or a mandoline.” This is celery treated as a star, not a supporting player.
The technique that makes this salad taste more complex than it looks is the double-seasoning step. Before the dressing goes on, Ina tosses the sliced celery in a tablespoon of lemon juice and a half teaspoon of salt on its own. She writes “even though these ingredients are in the dressing, believe me, this step makes a difference.” The pre-toss seasons the celery directly, so the flavor is in the vegetable itself, not just on the surface. The dressing then seasons the salad as a whole. Skip the pre-toss and the celery tastes bland underneath, no matter how much vinaigrette you pour over it.
Ina Garten Celery Salad Recipe
Course: Salads, SidesCuisine: Italian, AmericanDifficulty: Easy6
servings15
minutes320
kcalThe salad that proves celery can carry a plate, from Ina’s How Easy Is That? cookbook. Thinly sliced hearts dressed with lemon, anchovy paste, and celery seed, chilled until crisp, then piled with shaved Parmesan and toasted walnuts. Fifteen minutes of work, one hour of patience.
Ingredients
- For the dressing:
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1/2 cup (120ml) good olive oil
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2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
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1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (75ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons), divided
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2 tablespoons minced shallots
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1 teaspoon celery seed
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1/2 teaspoon celery salt
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1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste
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Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the salad:
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5 cups thinly sliced celery hearts, tender leaves included, sliced on an angle (about 12 stalks)
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4-ounce (115g) chunk aged Parmesan cheese
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2/3 cup (80g) toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
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Whole flat-leaf parsley leaves
Directions
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Make the dressing: At least 1 hour before serving, whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest, 1/4 cup of the lemon juice, shallots, celery seed, celery salt, anchovy paste, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl.
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Pre-season the celery: Place the sliced celery in a mixing bowl. Toss with the remaining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Ina says “even though these ingredients are in the dressing, believe me, this step makes a difference.”
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Dress and chill: Add enough dressing to the celery to moisten well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the celery to crisp and the flavors to develop.
- Plate and serve: Arrange the dressed celery on a serving platter. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the Parmesan directly onto the celery in wide ribbons. Sprinkle with the toasted walnuts, parsley leaves, salt, and pepper. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Use the inner celery hearts, not the tough outer stalks. The hearts are paler, more tender, and sweeter. Include the small tender leaves from the center for color and a subtle celery flavor.
Slice as thinly as possible. A mandoline produces the most uniform slices, but a sharp knife on an angle works if you take your time. Thick-cut celery stays woody and does not absorb the dressing.
Shave the Parmesan with a vegetable peeler, not a grater. You want wide, thin ribbons that drape over the celery, not a pile of grated cheese.
FAQs
Why does Ina pre-season the celery before adding the dressing?
The initial toss of lemon juice and salt seasons the celery from the inside. The acid and salt penetrate the cut surface of each slice during the hour-long chill, so the vegetable itself tastes seasoned, not just coated. If you skip this step and go straight to the dressing, the celery tastes bland underneath and you rely entirely on the vinaigrette to carry the flavor.
Ina is insistent about this: she writes “believe me, this step makes a difference.” It is the same principle as salting eggplant before cooking or seasoning pasta water. You want flavor inside the ingredient, not just on it.
Why does the salad need to chill for an hour?
Ina says to chill “for at least an hour to allow the celery to crisp and the flavors to develop.” The crisping effect is the surprising part. You would expect celery sitting in acid to go limp, but the cold tightens the cell structure while the lemon juice firms the surface, similar to how citrus firms fish in a ceviche.
The hour also gives the celery seed, celery salt, and anchovy paste time to meld into the vinaigrette. Freshly whisked, those flavors sit separately. After an hour, they fuse into a single savory-citrus dressing that tastes cohesive instead of like a list of ingredients.
Why does Ina add anchovy paste to a celery salad?
The half teaspoon of anchovy paste is not there to make the salad taste like anchovies. It adds a savory, umami depth that you cannot identify in the finished dish but would miss if it were gone. The same way Ina uses anchovy fillets in the Caesar dressing for her here the anchovy works in the background, rounding out the lemon and making the celery taste more like itself.
If you dislike anchovies, you can skip it, but the salad will taste flatter. A quarter teaspoon of fish sauce achieves a similar effect without the anchovy texture.
Can you make celery salad ahead of time?
The dressed celery holds in the fridge for up to 4 hours and actually improves during that window. Beyond 4 hours the celery starts to soften noticeably and lose the crisp snap that makes the salad work.
Add the Parmesan shavings, walnuts, and parsley only when you are ready to serve. The Parmesan softens and becomes gummy if it sits on the dressed celery, and the walnuts absorb moisture and lose their crunch. Ina says to “serve immediately” after adding the toppings, and she means it.
What should you serve celery salad with?
Ina designed this as a side dish, and it pairs especially well with roasted meats because the bright lemon dressing cuts through richness. Roast chicken, grilled lamb chops, or a seared steak all work. The Foodie Lawyer blog confirms this, noting that it paired perfectly with grilled chicken thighs.
For a salad-forward meal, pair this with something warm and substantial for contrast. Ina’s Roasted Beet Salad from Foolproof shares the same template of vegetables plus shaved cheese plus toasted nuts, but the warm balsamic beets contrast nicely with the cold, crisp celery. Together they cover enough ground to feel like a full lunch.
