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.
I don't know if the Amish in other states serve this Amish creamed celery dish 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 an Old Order Amish tradition.
Amish Wedding Celery Recipe - Amish Wedding Foods
I honestly do not know how the tradition of serving creamed celery (Amish recipe) 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 the tradition makes sense or not. They don't like too much change.
So 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 chicken roast. 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 to a boil, cover, and cook over medium-low heat until soft. This will take probably take at least 40 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 just comes to a 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 you should at least try it, it's a great celery recipe!
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. And they often have smaller quantity recipes to feed their family and share large quantity recipes for weddings.
Memories of Home
Honestly, I have not eaten creamed celery in years, until recently when I decided to cook some once again.
And 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 :).
I am privileged to have an Amish cousin (who is a great cook) that 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 recipe
Amish Wedding Chicken Roast recipe
Amish Creamed Celery Recipe
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 45 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.
Paula Hahn Smith
Obviously it was not a real Amish wedding. it is a movie. Thanks for sharing the recipe
Anna
The Amish in Lancaster County do serve creamed celery at their weddings.
Judith Runz
Do you drain the cooking liquid off the celery prior to adding the evaporated milk mixture? Can't wait to try this!
Anna
It doesn't usually have a lot of liquid, so I don't drain it.
Debra Buckwalter
This was a delicious recipe, tastes exactly like I get in Lancaster County restaurants! Made it for Thanksgiving this year.
Anna
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
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.
Anna
Never tried it without the sugar. But I'd say go for it, don't think it can hurt to try.
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
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.
Anna
I love the stuff but my husband and kids won't touch it. lol. Hope you like it!
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
Anna
I'm glad that you're here!🙂
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! ☺️
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.