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Edible Flower Recipes

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We are really lucky in Carnation, WA to have an awesome summer Farmer’s Market every Tuesday. On a recent market day, they feature edible flowers and edible flower recipes.

Last week they were featuring edible flowers, and I thought it would be a GREAT topic for an Herbal Branch. Kimberly often tops our summer salads with flowers from our garden, including nasturtium and calendula.

Yep! The same calendula that’s in your herbal salve you made in the Herbal Remedy Kit.

Not many people know you can eat flowers at all, let alone which ones are tasty or how to use them in their cooking. So, here is your “quick-start” guide to eating flowers. We also have a long list of flowers you can use in salads and other edible flower recipes.

Before we get into WHAT flowers to eat, let’s cover a few rules…

Ten Rules of Edible Flowers for Edible Flower Recipes

Eat flowers only when you are positive they are edible.
Just because flowers are served with food does not mean they are edible. (See rule #1)
Eat only the flowers that have been grown organically.
Do not eat flowers from florists, nurseries or garden centers unless you know they have been grown organically (see rule #3)
If you have hay fever, asthma or allergies, do not eat flowers, or do so cautiously, (see rule #7 & #10).
Do not eat flowers picked from the side of the road. They may be contaminated from car emissions (see rule #3).
Remove pistils and stamens from flowers before eating. Eat only the petals.
Not all flowers are edible. Some are poisonous.
There are many varieties of any one flower. Flowers taste different when grown in different locations.
Introduce flowers into your diet the way you would new foods to a baby- one at a time in small quantities.

This list is from Edible Flowers, From Garden to Palate, by Cathy Wilkinson Barash

Here are ideas for edible flower recipes:

Infused vinegars
Sorbets
Candies
Syrups and jellies
Beverages, wines, meads
Fritters
Flower butter
Dips and spreads
Garnish and color
Soups

Flowers for salads and edible flower recipes

Arugala, Eruca vericaria	Salads, snacking	Nutty, spicy, peppery flavor
Borage, Borago officinalis	Salads, snacking	Tastes like light cucumber, remove thorny backside
Bachelor button, Centauria cynaus	Salads	Sweet to spicy, clovelike
Burnet, Sanguisorba minor	Salads	Flavorless, but colorful
Calendula, Calenudla officinalis	Salads, teas	Spicy, tangy, ‘poor man’s saffron’ adds golden color to foods
Daylily, Hemerocallis species	Salads, sautés	Sweet, crunchy, somewhat like a water chestnut
Lavender, Lavendula species	Salads, teas	Floral, strong perfumey flavor, use very lightly for color
Marigold, Tagetes tenuifolia	Salads, teas	Spicy to bitter
Nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus	Salads	Sweet, mildly pungent to peppery flavor
Onion/garlic, Allium species	Salads, stir fry	Sweet onion, garlic flavor
Pansy, Viola spp.	Salads	Mild sweet to tart flavor
Pea, Pisum species (sweet pea is poisonous)	Salads, stir fry	Tastes like peas, also add tendrils or fresh new shoots
Rose, Rosa species	Salads, teas, infusions	Sweet, aromatic flavor; remove the white bitter portion of petals
Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis	Salads, teas	Pinelike, sweet, savory
Squah Blossom, Cucurbito pep species	Salads, sautés, stuffed/battered	Sweet, nectar flavor
Thyme, Thymus vulgaris	Salads, teas	Lemony, adds a nice light scent
Violet, Viola species	Salads, teas	Sweet, nectary flavor

That’s quite a comprehensive chart for planning your edible flower recipes.

Written by John Gallagher

John Gallagher, L.Ac., CCH is co-founder and co-CEO of LearningHerbs. He created and designed HerbMentor and has produced all of the products and learning experiences that we offer. Besides being a dad to two grown kids, John is a five-element acupuncturist and a musician. He also co-founded a wilderness skills school and a theater company.