Cream Cheese Stuffed Celery
An old favorite, Cream Cheese Stuffed Celery is a classic appetizer. Each celery stalk is filled and flavored with bacon, cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing mix. It’s a great addition to any party, especially as they can be made a day ahead. In fact, they taste better when they’ve had time to marinate in the refrigerator — all the flavors come together.
An easy recipe in a few ways. First, you don’t have to turn the oven on. Second, these are ordinary ingredients, nothing fancy here.
Lastly, it can be made ahead of time, thus freeing up your time to spend with guests. Win win!
Making Cream Cheese Stuffed Celery
Make sure the cream cheese has had time to warm up from the refrigerator. Cold cream cheese can stay a bit lumpy.
Using your electric mixer, start by beating the cream cheese, mayonnaise, dry ranch dressing mix, and pepper until smooth and creamy.
Next, fold in the cheddar cheese and bacon crumbles.
Let’s talk cheddar cheese and bacon crumbles.
I specifically left out “mild, medium, or sharp” for the cheddar cheese on the recipe card.
First off, if you’ve read any of my other blogs, then you already know I like to use what I already have in the frig.
Second, everyone has their favorite anyway, so why bother listing it. I know my BFF, Cristi, is going to use sharp cheddar in hers, whereas I like the mild.
Just personal preference.
Ok, now the bacon. I have a great recipe for Easy Baked Bacon that is perfect for making bacon crumbles.
I’ll have some bacon for breakfast, then make extra for just such an occasion as needing bacon crumbles.
They store great in the frig, and let’s face it, real bacon crumbles taste way better than store bought bacon bits.
Ok, so the cream cheese mixture is mixed, but it’s not done. It needs to be covered, then chilled in the frig for a minimum of 30 minutes.
This part is no joke. HA! If you taste it before chilling it, it’s not nearly as good. Let the frig do it’s magic of blending all those flavors together, then try it.
You might notice on the packet of dry ranch dressing mix that it says it needs to be refrigerated for 30 minutes. Who am I to question Hidden Valley?
Time for the celery.
So, meanwhile, you can get the celery prepped and ready to be filled, or stuffed.
You’ll need about 10 stalks washed and dried. When you buy the celery, 1 bunch should give you more than enough.
If for any reason you run out of celery before using all the cream cheese mixture, (gasp!) just spread it on crackers.
Cut off both ends, then cut each stalk into 3-inch portions, or in half if you want bigger portions.
Use a butter knife or a frosting spreader to “stuff” the celery.
An alternative is to pipe the filling in, but make sure you use a large open-ended tip.
Keep in the frig in a tightly sealed container before serving, and of course, for any leftovers. As if.
Make this the day before as a great time saver.
Fill that appetizer tray.
Appetizers are fun because you can mix and match with no rhyme or reason. And since people love choices, the more the merrier.
Check out these other appetizer recipes:
- Creamy Sausage Dip
- Ham and Cheese Pizza Rolls (also pretty scrumptious for breakfast)
- Baked Chicken Taquitos
- Grilled Zucchini Guacamole
- Easy BBQ Chicken Sliders
Cream Cheese Stuffed Celery
Ingredients
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 oz. packet ranch dry dressing mix
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup cooked bacon crumbles
- 10 stalks fresh celery, washed and dried
Instructions
- Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, mayonnaise, ranch dry mix, and pepper until thoroughly blended.
- Fold in cheddar cheese and bacon crumbles.
- Refrigerate cream cheese mixture for minimum of 30 minutes. Can be made day before.
- Prepare celery: wash and dry stalks. Cut off both ends, then cut each stalk into 3-inch pieces. (Or cut in half for larger portions.)
- Using a butter knife, fill celery stalks with cream cheese mixture. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve, and refrigerate any leftovers. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Cream Cheese Stuffed Celery
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Also, leave a comment below and rate the recipe. Did you have any questions? Did you love them?
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I really did not like these. I made it to the T, but I did use bacon bits purchased…maybe my mistake. It was like eating a mouth full of salt. I don’t know, maybe it was the hidden Valley…..I didn’t put it in the fridge, which I’m going to do to see if that changes the taste.. I ended up cutting up all the celery and adding it to the mix, and then it can be eaten with the crackers. We shall see if the fridge makes a difference to the flavor. I hate to write bad reviews…I do a food column for our local paper, and do try the recipes before running them…..sorry. I’ll post after they were in the fridge.
Hi Janet. Yes, I state clearly in the recipe to let it refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes, and I go into more detail in the blog. I hope you liked it better after refrigerating. Also, I loved your idea of chopping up the celery and spreading it on crackers.
Yes was to to salty, Even added another brick of cream cheese. Don’t know what to do for it, ugh.
Hi Shirley. I’m sorry you found this recipe to be too salty. I actually made it again this weekend to reevaluated the recipe. I’ve been making it for years, so here’s what I recommend. First, definitely DO NOT taste as you go. It tastes terribly salty when you first mix it. It’s important the Ranch mix marinate per recipe and Hidden Valley directions. Second, cheese and bacon are salty foods. Salt is added to cheese curd during it’s process, and bacon is dry-packed in salt as part of it’s manufacturing process. Cutting down on the cheese and bacon would reduce the salt in the recipe. I hope this helps.
Great recipe! I sprinkled the bacon on top of the stuffed celery pieces instead of mixing it in – presentation was very appealing as everyone loves bacon!
I love that idea, thanks for sharing.
Can you use garden (veggie) cream cheese or stick with plain
Hi Sharon: I would use the plain cream cheese. The garden cream cheese is a spread and has a different consistency, plus it’s already flavored. Using plain cream cheese with the ranch mix is a lot of flavor in itself. Hope you enjoy it.
Made these many times. Loved by all and healthy.
Thank you, Sherry, I love these, too.