by Anna 17 Comments
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Creamed Celery
Creamed celery is a delicious side dish of cooked celery in a sweetened and thickened creamy sauce. This Amish creamed celery recipe is traditionally served at many Amish weddings.
There are lots of differences in traditions within different communities, and I don't know if the Amish in other states serve creamed celery at their weddings or not. But I grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. And in that area, all of the Old Order Amish serve creamed celery as part of their wedding dinner.
The New Order Amish do not have a traditional wedding meal; so I think this is mainly a Lancaster County Old Order Amish tradition.
Amish Wedding Celery Recipe - Amish Wedding Food
I honestly do not know how the tradition of serving creamed celery at weddings got started. But the Amish do have some unique traditions. (Click on this link for my post about Amish wedding traditions.) And they tend to stick to their traditions whether they make sense or not.
I'm guessing that serving creamed celery has something to do with the fact that their weddings are in the fall. Celery is harvested in the fall so it would be in season over their wedding time.
If you attend a Lancaster County Amish wedding, you can expect to be served turkey or chicken roast (roasht = stuffing and meat mixed), mashed potatoes, and creamed celery (along with numerous other dishes and desserts) for lunch.
Amish Creamed Celery
In preparation for her daughter's wedding in the fall, an Amish mother will plant several extra rows of celery stalks.
So the week of the wedding, there is plenty of celery that needs to be washed and cut. They need lots of celery to make this creamed celery recipe, but they also need some for the turkey roasht. And they put some on the tables for fresh eating as well.
To make creamed celery, start by washing and chopping the celery into bite-sized pieces.
Place it into a large cooking pot along with water, salt, vinegar, sugar, and butter. Bring it to a boil, cover, and cook over medium-low heat until soft. This will probably take at least 50- 60 minutes unless you use a pressure cooker.
Mix flour and brown sugar, and add the evaporated milk.
Once your celery is soft, stir in the milk mixture. Continue stirring and cooking until it comes to a light boil. Remove from the heat and cool for a few minutes. Enjoy your Amish wedding creamed celery.
A Unique Amish Recipe
I hope you enjoy this creamed celery. I love it!
But I know that sometimes when you grow up with certain foods you learn to enjoy them. And then others will try that recipe and think it's disgusting (this is the case with my kids). But if you like celery, you should at least try it.
I enjoy eating it plain or with a meal. And it is especially good served with their traditional wedding food of mashed potatoes and turkey roast (roasht).
The creamed celery recipe that I am sharing only makes a small batch. So if you love the stuff go ahead and double the batch. It will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Of course, the Amish would need to make many batches to feed two to three hundred people. They often have smaller quantity recipes to feed their family and share large quantity recipes for weddings.
Memories of Home
Honestly, I had not eaten creamed celery in years, until recently when I decided to cook some once again.
As I was cooking my celery, the smell brought back memories of my mom cooking in her kitchen. Celery has a delicious smell when it's cooking. And I loved sniffing it :). It takes me back to holidays at home with my Amish family.
I am privileged to have an Amish cousin (who is a great cook) who was willing to share her Amish creamed celery recipe with me. Let me know in the comments below if you try this recipe and like it.
More Amish Recipes
Traditional Amish Mashed Potatoes
Amish Wedding Chicken Roast
PA Dutch Potato Filling
Easy Baked Corn
Amish Creamed Celery Recipe
Creamed Celery is a traditional Amish wedding side dish that is served at many Amish weddings. It is cooked celery sweetened with a creamy sauce.
5 from 2 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 50 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American, Amish
Servings 6 people
Calories 83 kcal
Ingredients
- 1 stalk cut celery about 1 quart
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3/4 c. water
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. white vinegar
- 1 Tbs. butter
- 1/2 - 3/4 c. evaporated milk (depending on how creamy you like it)
- 2 - 3 Tbs. brown sugar (depending how sweet you like it)
- 1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
Instructions
Cut celery into bite-sized pieces. Combine the first six ingredients in a medium-sized cooking pot. Bring to boil.
1 stalk cut celery, 1/2 tsp. salt, 3/4 c. water, 2 Tbsp. sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. white vinegar, 1 Tbs. butter
Cover and cook celery over medium-low heat until soft. It takes about 50 minutes to an hour unless you use a pressure cooker.
Mix brown sugar and flour, add evaporated milk and mix well. Pour this into the cooked celery mixture.
1/2 - 3/4 c. evaporated milk (depending on how creamy you like it), 2 - 3 Tbs. brown sugar (depending how sweet you like it), 1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
Continue cooking and stirring until it just barely comes to a boil. Remove from the heat.
Notes
If you don't have evaporated milk on hand, you can use whole milk or half and half instead.
Do not overcook after adding the evaporated milk! Just bring it to a very slight boil.
Don't make the mistake I did once and use sweetened condensed milk. Evaporated milk is what you are looking for here.
*Nutrition is approximate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 83kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 2gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 205mgPotassium: 84mgFiber: 1gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 135IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 59mgIron: 1mg
Keyword Amish creamed celery recipe, Creamed celery
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Paula Hahn Smith
Obviously it was not a real Amish wedding. it is a movie. Thanks for sharing the recipe
Reply
Anna
The Amish in Lancaster County do serve creamed celery at their weddings.
Reply
Judith Runz
Do you drain the cooking liquid off the celery prior to adding the evaporated milk mixture? Can't wait to try this!
Reply
Anna
It doesn't usually have a lot of liquid, so I don't drain it.
Reply
Debra Buckwalter
This was a delicious recipe, tastes exactly like I get in Lancaster County restaurants! Made it for Thanksgiving this year.Reply
Anna
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Reply
Tammy Zavala
Can I omit the sugar? I absolutely love cooking with celery and look forward in trying your recipe but in my mind sugar does not go with celery.
Reply
Anna
Never tried it without the sugar. But I'd say go for it, don't think it can hurt to try.
Reply
KathyM
I am friends with an Old order Amish family, and long ago they invited me to attend a wedding of their daughter- we were the only English there..we felt honored. I remember having the wedding feast that you described above, and falling in love with the creamed celery. I asked why it was served at weddings and he told me it was because they typically have weddings in November, and the vegetables served were usually in season, thus celery being one of them. KM
Reply
Mikki Sams
Yumm ... can't wait to try this. Every Amish romance novel I read mentions creamed celery. Make my tastebuds water thinking about it.
Reply
Anna
I love the stuff but my husband and kids won't touch it. lol. Hope you like it!
Reply
Em Gee
Hi Anna! I am watching Amish movies, as I love them! There is a wedding coming up and they are going to make Cream Celery, so as usual my curiosity finds me here! The recipe you have here looks delicious and I hope to make it soon! Thanks for sharing and looking forward to browsing all the other recipes etc that you have here! Take care. Em
Reply
Anna
I'm glad that you're here!🙂
Reply
Jennifer A Sartell
Is the movie Plus One at an Amish Wedding? We're watching that movie now and they just mentioned creamed celery...thus why I'm here! ☺️
Reply
Anna
I'm sorry, but I am not familiar with that movie. However, I cannot imagine that any movie producer would actually find his way into an Amish wedding to film. So it's highly unlikely that it's at an Amish wedding. Creamed celery is served at Amish weddings in Lancaster County, and maybe the producer staged something to make it appear as an Amish wedding.
Corey
The "Plus One at an Amish Wedding" movie brought me here too! I don't usually care for celery, but it sounded so good when discussed in the film, so I decided to give it a try. I tried this recipe tonight and it was great. Thank you!Anna
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for leaving a comment.
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