Eat dandelions? Yes, and the nice thing is that 100% of the dandelion is edible!
Historically, Europeans brought dandelions to America as a food crop but now it is considered to be one of the most annoying weeds plaguing the suburban lawn. Go figure.
Being a gardener, I can tell you that the dandelion “weed” is of the tap root variety and does a fantastic job of de-compacting your soil.
Additionally, if you chop and drop it into the garden it acts as a green manure providing awesome nutrients to the garden soil…but I digress…
Back to eating them…
Bet you didn’t know that a 55 gram serving of Dandelion contains:
- 112% of the recommended daily amount of Vitamin A
- 32% Vitamin C
- 10% Calcium
- 9% Iron
- 1g Protein (yes, protein)
- 2g Dietary Fiber
- Also considered to be a good source of Folate, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Vitamin E, B6 and K to name a few. (source: Nutritiondata.self.com)
As long as you don’t spray your lawn, you can eat dandelions right from your yard or garden beds.
Dandelion Tops
Yes, the yellow flowers you used to smear on your cheeks for makeup. (well I didn’t do that but…)
Batter and fry them. Try it out, it may not be for everyone.
Dandelion “Greens”
The greens would be the leaves. Prepare them like any other greens.
For example, saute with a little oil, onions, and garlic. They are absolutely delicious.
Pro Tip: Radish greens are absolutely delicious prepared in this same way. In fact, the radish is 100% edible as well, from the root, to the greens, to the flowers, to the seed pods that form after the flowering stage. Try it!
Alternatively, you can include them in a salad raw for a real boost to the salad experience (they are bitter raw, so a little goes a long way in a salad mix.)
Dandelion Roots
Collect the roots ideally after a light rain as they can be a little difficult to pull out without breaking. You may want to bring along a tool to dig them out.
Once washed, the roots can be roasted and ground into dandelion “coffee.” Read our article, How to Brew Dandelion Coffee. It has a really great earthy taste to it. I love it! Others tell me it tastes like dirt.
Dandelion Stems
The stems, or hollow tubes that the flower head is on, I throw into the compost bin, but some folks eat those as well, and you certainly can, but I have not found a way to make them yummy. Some people candy them and even make straws out of them.
Thanks for reading, and please share this article if you found it helpful.