Refreshing Celery Salad with Onions & Parmesan
Here’s a salad to get you out of the “celery with dip or cut up in other foods” rut – a surprisingly delicious celery salad with onions and parmesan that’s tossed with nuts and a light vinaigrette dressing. This salad keeps so well that it’s as great an option for summer picnics as it is for holiday potlucks.
At first glance, a salad made up of mostly celery wouldn’t inspire a lot of foodie love.
Celery seems to be that last vegetable left on a veggie dip platter or something you have to buy because it’s needed in a tuna salad or grandma’s traditional Thanksgiving stuffing. Or just to make celery juice.
Well, I’m here to encourage you to buy celery just to make this salad – it may just change the way you feel about celery!
To say I was pleasantly surprised at how good this salad is would be an understatement.
It came about because I needed to use up the rest of the celery in the fridge before it went bad. I decided to combine it with sweet onions and parmesan with a few walnuts thrown in for good measure.
And wow, is this combo good!! Sometimes the best things come out of a need or limitation, right?
Is Celery Good for You?
This is the big question in our household, one that we debate on all the time – is celery just water with little to zero nutritional value?
And the answer is…no! While celery is made up of a lot of water, it is a good source of fiber, which this article says is the superfood 95% of Americans fail to eat. Celery also contains at least six antioxidants as well as some vitamin K, folate, vitamin A, potassium, and vitamin C. source
It’s very low in calories, so while it shouldn’t be anyone’s main food celery definitely should have a place at the vegetable table.
Variety is the spice of life and this salad definitely upped the celery game in our house and I hope you try it in yours!
Celery Salad with Onions & Parmesan
Ingredients
Lovely, fresh, simple mostly pantry items are needed for this salad:
- celery, trimmed and sliced
- sweet onion, halved and sliced
- parmesan cheese, grated
- walnuts, chopped (or pecans)
- vinegar
- salt and pepper
- garlic, minced
- Dijon mustard
- olive oil
Directions
I just love recipes this easy! As you chop the ingredients, add them to a medium bowl.
Whisk the dressing ingredients in a 1-cup glass measure or small bowl and pour it over the salad.
Toss and serve. Yep, just about 10 minutes is all it takes!
This celery salad is great served on it’s own or on a bed of lettuce.
And besides tasting refreshingly delicious, it also keeps well for a few days refrigerated, making it a great option for picnics, camping and potlucks of all kinds.
Serving Suggestions
This quick salad is a great side dish for recipes that have some veggies in them so you get a good variety, like:
- Quick Sausage & Kale or Swiss Chard Frittata Recipe
- Roasted Sausages with Peppers and Onions Sheet Pan Dinner
- Healthy Lemon Vegetable & Fish Foil Packets (Grill or Oven Bake)
It’s also a good lunch served with crackers or artisan bread and cheese. Like so good.
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Celery Salad with Onions & Parmesan
Ingredients
Salad:
- 3 cups sliced celery
- 1 medium sweet onion cut in half and sliced lengthwise
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Dressing:
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar or rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon salt or or to taste
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Add all prepped salad ingredients to a medium sized serving bowl.
- Make dressing: whisk vinegar, Dijon, garlic, pepper, and salt together in a 1 cup glass measure (for easy pouring) or a small bowl. Add the olive oil and whisk until everything is combined well.
- Pour dressing over salad ingredients and toss well until everything is coated.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for a day or two.*
Notes
Nutrition
More Simple & Quick Salads
This is so refreshing and delicious! I take it to many often for a dish to bring to events. I’ll be taking it for Thanksgiving tomorrow! Thank you!
Oh, I’m so glad to know this, Barbara!! It’s one of those recipes that surprises you with how good it is, right? 🙂
This is a wonderful, light salad that goes well with everything. My husband loved it (and I did, too!).
I’m so glad you tried this, Deb – that’s what I think, too! Thanks so much for taking the time to review!
So glad you recently highlighted this recipe as somehow I had missed it! Made a half batch but the full amount of dressing as we like more dressing on this type of salad (as opposed to a lettuce salad which we like dressed lightly). Wonderful flavor and texture and easy to make! I wonder how it is leftover? We ate the whole thing in one meal so I don’t know! Will definitely make again. Would be a terrific salad for the hot days of summer!
I feel the same way, Norma!
And I really enjoyed it up to two days as leftovers (it didn’t make it longer, since we ate it by then, so it may go longer).
Bookmarking this for late summer when our celery is always going crazy and the neighbors have stopped asking for some, lol. I’m a huge fan of celery in almost anything (why not?) and the flavor of homegrown is so much better than store bought.
Yes!
Had to laugh at the picture you created – sounds like what most people say about zucchini, lol.
This was fantastic. The dressing tasted great and really made the salad perfect. Thanks for this recipe. I wouldn’t change anything.
I’m so glad you gave this a try and liked it, Jerilea – thanks for the review!
Oooh, a recipe for celery! (there aren’t a lot 🙂 I will ditto using the mandoline, and if lieu of a ‘sweet’ onion, I will pre-pickle a yellow onion in a mild vinegar (w/ touch of sugar?) marinade, drain and add. BTW, I found it is true that celery will keep much better in the crisper if wrapped in alum foil!! weird, huh?
Yes, no one is usually asking for the latest celery recipe, lol.
But this is GOOD!
I think your idea to pickle the onions is perfect.
I’ll have to try the aluminum foil trick!
Made last night as I had loads of celery. Prepped it for 4 side salads for my lunches. Was very nice. Was a little drier than I was hoping. Might make more vinaigrette next time. Flavors mixed really well. Will definitely make again. Thanks.
I’m so glad you tried this, Wendy – thanks for the review!
This is a modern version of a similar but more basic dish my family has made for years. I sliced the celery and onion very thin on a mandolin and added some dried cranberries and sun dried tomatoes. (Mushrooms may go well too.)
Simple and delicious.
Thanks
That does sound delicious, William – thanks!