Celery Root Remoulade is a simple and delectable salad you’ll find on many French Bistro menus. Crunchy, flavorful celery root is finely chopped and coated in a creamy remoulade sauce, studded with salty capers and tangy cornichon pickles.
Have you tried raw celery root? If you haven’t, I hope you’ll try it with this recipe. Before I discovered Celery Root Remoulade, I’d only eaten celery root (also called celeriac) roasted with other root vegetables or boiled and mashed with potatoes. When cooked, it adds a delicate and welcome celery flavor, but I like it even better raw.
The first time I had this salad in Paris, I knew that I’d have to recreate it at home. This recipe is a riff on a couple of recipes: this one from Saveur Magazine, though I went with cornichons and capers instead of kalamata olives and I took Julia Child’s advice in her iconic book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, to shred the celery root instead of cutting it into julienne strips. If you have a food processor with a shredding disc, this is a great time to use it.
This makes a beautiful side dish for almost any meat or fish dish you can dream up and is hearty enough on its own for a light lunch.
Celery Root Remoulade
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice ideally fresh
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons capers coarsely chopped
- 2 cornichon pickles coarsely chopped, ~1 tablespoon
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley coarsely chopped
- 1 1/2 pounds celery root peeled and shredded
Instructions
- Stir together first 6 ingredients (mayonnaise through fresh parsley) until smooth, in a bowl large enough to hold the shredded celery root. Add celery root and toss to coat evenly. Serve.
I remember serving and loving remoulade when I worked at the West Lynne Cafe in Austin in the early 90’s and then it disappeared from my life. Your recipe is as faithful to what I remembered and I love how easy it is to make. I already made this twice and plan to make up for the 25 year lull! So delicious. Thanks!
This is exactly the kind of thing I love to hear, Jeffrey! So glad you’re enjoying the recipe – thank you for coming back to let me know!
Just harvested celery root from my garden today and was looking for a quick celery root recipe. Made this remoulade to go with baked fish and fresh green beans. The hubby and I both loved this. Never had raw celery root before. What an interesting mix of flavors. Will make this again and again. Thanks for posting this recipe.
I love to hear that, Suzanne! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know! 🙂
I don’t think I’ve ever eaten celery root on its own. It’s high time to try it! This sounds delicious!
Thank you, Kelsie, 🙂 I hope you’ll give it a try!
Ok, I just stopped by to see the pork belly recipe and now I have a side dish as well. Yum. Thanks again.
haha, yay! I love to hear that, Sandy. 🙂
I’m already thinking this would be so great alongside some fish! I have never tried anything quite like it, so I’m more than intrigued!
Yes! That’s a perfect way to serve this!
Delicious!
Marissa, I think you should have been born in Europe! I LOVE your European recipes. Simple but incredibly delicious; celebrating good quality, fresh ingredients. In a way, the opposite of so much of the food traditionally associated with the USA, although that is delicious too!
I didn’t know celeriac was celery root, although I’ve seen it and eaten it several times.
What a lovely sounding salad. As it’s summer here in Australia, I’m keen to give this a go. It would go brilliantly with some simple grilled meat or fish. 🙂
I love your thoughtful comments, Helen. Thank you so much! Love how you think on pairing ideas too…so good with grilled meat or fish.
We love celeriac remoulade. I can’t say that I’ve thought of many other uses for celeriac though because we love this so much! 😀
haha, love it! 🙂
Believe it or not, just a little while ago I remembered I hadn’t eaten celery root for months, and I was trying to think of something interesting. And here we go, my thoughts have been heard 🙂 Indeed I don’t think I ate raw celery root, but this idea sounds great to me!
Wow, Ben! That’s perfect…I hope you’ll give it a try.
I’ve only had celery root when roasted along with other veggies (mmm…roast beef!). I don’t think I’ve ever tried it raw like this. But this remoulade sounds amazing, and I could see this being an excellent side dish for a meal during the holidays. Thanks for sharing this idea!!
I absolutely love celery root! I remember the first time I tried it in culinary school (because I totally didn’t grow up with my parents using that ingredient), I was hesitant at first, but it’s REALLY good! Especially when turned into celery root remoulade. Like, I could eat vat after vat of this stuff! And now I can make that a reality thanks to your recipe! YAY! 😉 Cheers, doll! XO
This sounds simply wonderful! I’m envisioning an egg with oozy yolk served on top, and it’s a beautiful little daydream!