3 Beneficial Dandelion Recipes to Make This Spring

Dandelions can either be the bane of your yard or the pride of your natural toolbox.

This post is in collaboration with 9 other bloggers to share the versatility and bounty of spring recipes.

Officially called Taraxacum officials, dandelions are delicious, versatile, cheery and incredibly hard to wipe out.

You know what they say, if you can’t best ‘em, join ‘em! I don’t know who first came up with the idea that lawns should be lawns of a particular type of grass (aka a WEED), but I would love to have a little chat.

Weeds can be incredible, healing and nutritious. Our western world has moved so far away from them, even criminalizing them like the dandelion and trying to wipe them out with toxic chemicals such as Round Up – which do more harm than good to your lawn, the water ways, and your body.

Today, I want to help reshape how you think about dandelions and open you up to the world of spring foraging!

Dandelions Are Better Than Spinach

Dandelion leaves are very high in Iron (3.1mg/100g). This is more iron than any other leave green with the exception of parsley (6.1mg/100g).

For reference, spinach (2.7mg/100g) and beet greens (2.6 mg/100g).

Dandelion leaves also contain more beta-carotene – equivalent to 10,161 I.U./100g of Vitamin A, than most garden greens such as spinach (9,377 I.U./100g).

You must eat them fresh or as a potherb after boiling them for 5-10 minutes to remove some of the bitterness.

Medicinal Dandelion Uses

Dandelion leaves are commonly used to treat urinary and liver issues.

Your liver is one of the biggest detox routes in your body. It is often overloaded with the toxins found in our food and products.

Giving it some support through a daily tea, or routine liver detox is a great way to improve your overall health. Dandelions are the perfect way to do this, and abundantly found!

Recent research also shows that tea made from the leaves may have cancer healing properties.

Dandelions can be made into wines, teas, jams, breads or baked goods, fritters, personal care products and tinctures, and salves. They also make a great addition to handmade soaps.

The flowers and the roots are most often used for food and medical purposes.

You can powder the dried root to bake with, or steep fresh or dried root as a tonic. Dandelion can even be made into a delicious coffee-like beverage, or cocoa substitute.

Dandelion Recipe Foraging Tips

If you don’t like the bitterness, gather the leaves from areas that don’t get as much sun.

The flowers do wilt once picked so work quickly, or pick only when you’re ready to use them.

The best flavourful comes from medium sized roots harvested in early spring.

Look for good-sized plants growing in loose soil with little competition (gardens!).

Lawn dandelions usually have stunted roots with little flavour. However, if you regularly harvest your dandelions and loosen the soil, you can turn part of your lawn (or allocate garden space), into a dandelion garden for perfectly sized roots.

3 Spring Dandelion Foraging Recipes

Now that you know a little but more about how awesome dandelions are, how about some easy recipes to get you started?

I’ve got three basic beverage recipes using roasted dandelion root for you today. Something for everyone!

Try which one appeals to you and then have fun expanding into baked goods, even the popular dandelion jelly.

And because you know how I’m all about empowering oneself, I’ve got a special bonus medicinal recipe at the end for your natural remedies toolkit!

Dandelion Root Coffee

Roasted Roots

Collect medium-sized roots and wash them in several changes of water. If you’re making cocoa, remove every grain of grit and sand.

Chop roots into ½ inch pieces.

Spread on a cookie sheet and roast for 2 hours at 225-250F

For the best flavour, remove them when they turn a rich brown or smell “just about burnt”.

To Make Coffee

Place about 2 TBSP of roasted root in a medium pot of water. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer on low heat for 10-20 minutes.

The longer the brew, the better the flavor. You can even allow it to steep overnight.

Once removed from the heat you can add a sprig of wild mint or lavender and allow it to steep for 15 minutes.

Dandelion Chai

For spicy dandelion chai, brew the roots with roasted barley, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper. Add a splash of vanilla once it’s removed from the heat.

Ingredients

• 1-2 handfuls roasted roots
• 4-8 cups of water
• ¾ cinnamon
• ½ tsp ginger
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• ¼ tsp cloves
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp cardamom (optional but so good!)
• 1 splash of vanilla (optional)

Instructions

• Add roots and water to a medium-large saucepan.
• Add spices and adjust to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Turn off heat, add vanilla, allow to steep for as long as possible (overnight if you’d like).
• If its too strong, just add water.
• Reheat and serve hot.

Dandelion Cocoa

Powder roasted roots in a blender and feed them through a fine sieve.

Use the powder in place of cocoa in your favorite chocolate cake recipe or to make hot dandelion cocoa.

Go wild with this one! Think icing, chocolate/mocha pudding, cookies!

Ingredients

• 1 cup dairy/non-dairy milk
• 1 tsp roasted dandelion roots powder
• 1 tsp sugar

Instructions

Mix together in a cup or saucepan and serve hot.

Bonus Recipe: Dandelion Liver Support Tonic

I can’t give you only edible recipes for dandelions because they do have great medicinal properties too!

Remember how important the liver is? This recipe is a great liver cleansing recipe to incorporate into a routine detox to help your liver do what it needs to do.

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 TBSP roasted dandelion root
• 1 TBSP dried nettles
• 1 TBSP chicory root

Instructions

Bring water to a boil, pour over dried herbs. Let it steep for 10-15 minutes then strain out the herbs.

Drink 1-2 cups daily for extra liver support.

I hope you now think of these wonderful, cheery yellow flowers a little bit differently this spring. And maybe question why we’ve been taught to kill them instead of harvesting their bounty (hint: corporate greed).

Go ahead, pick a batch and stock your natural medicine cabinet.

Spring Recipe Collection

Here are another 9 spring recipes to get your mojo going! Save them and follow each homesteader for their amazing experiences, skills, and knowledge as they too navigate this homesteader life!