Q. I made a large batch of braised celery for dinner, and I now have leftovers. Can you reheat celery, or will it get soggy?
Can you microwave celery?
A. Yes, you can reheat celery– but never in a microwave! Celery contains nitrates, which can turn into a toxic chemical called a carcinogen if reheated in the microwave.
This means that any braised celery, celery soup, or any other variety of cooked celery must be reheated in a conventional oven or on the stove, rather than in a microwave. Read below to find out how to reheat celery!
Oven Method
First, we’ll cover how to reheat your celery in a conventional oven. If you’ve ever steamed anything besides a vegetable, you may have noticed that they turned soggy when reheated in the oven; this is actually not the case with steamed vegetables! In this case, you might be wondering: can you reheat celery in the oven? Yes, you can!
You’ll just need to make sure that your oven is on a low heat setting, to avoid overcooking your celery. Start by preheating your oven to around 200-250 degrees Fahrenheit.
Then, place your celery in an oven-safe dish or tray. Make sure to begin by covering the tray with foil; this prevents the celery from drying out or becoming overcooked or soggy. Spread the celery evenly throughout the tray to make sure that they heat uniformly.
Set a timer for 10 minutes. It shouldn’t take much longer than this for your celery to completely reheat.
Vegetables reheat fast, so make sure you check the celery every few minutes to make sure that they aren’t burning. In addition, you’ll need to remove the foil for just the last two to three minutes of reheating– not sooner!
Once you’ve tested the celery and find that it’s uniformly reheated, you can remove it from the oven and eat.
Stove Method
On the other hand, you may be dealing with a bit of leftover celery soup, thinking: how am I supposed to warm this up in the oven?! No worries– the stove method has got you covered. In addition, even if you’re not reheating soup, you can reheat steamed celery on the stovetop, too; reheating celery on the stove will allow your vegetables to maintain all of their crisp flavor and texture. Here’s how to reheat any celery-based food on the stovetop.
First: if you’re reheating celery soup, simply put your soup into a pot, and place it on the stove at medium heat. You’ll want to check the pot, and stir it occasionally, to make sure you get a good, uniform reheat throughout the dish. This could take anywhere from ten to thirty minutes; it all depends on how big your pot of soup is.
If, on the other hand, you need to reheat steamed or braised celery, start by heating a drizzle of oil in a pan on low to medium heat. Add the celery to the pan and stir for a few minutes, until the celery is at your desired level of heat. For an added flavor boost, you can try squeezing some lemon juice into the pan as well.
Conclusion
Whether you’ve got leftover celery soup on your hands, or you want to reheat a side of steamed or braised celery, it’s important to remember that you never reheat any of these foods in the microwave, as tempting as it may be for convenience’s sake!
Luckily, both your oven and your stove provide easy methods of reheating any kind of celery-based food. Grab a dish and toss your steamed celery in a low-heat oven for a few minutes, or heat them in a pan with some olive oil, and you’ll be good to go!