Time for color to return to our plates after the long and gray winter. The best way to do that is with edible spring flowers. These 7 flowers we have to eat.
As we all know, the eye eats with us. If you add a few violets to your salad or sprinkle dandelion blossoms into your soup, you'll have more than just visual benefits. Flowers not only look great, they are also very healthy.
And this despite the fact that we label many flowers as weeds. This must definitely change! Because with a few colorful splashes of color's not only tastes better, it's also healthier :)
Especially the first blossoms in spring are full of important nutrients and give our immune system a boost. Put an end to spring fatigue, headaches and malaise.
We have tasted the 7 most famous and delicious edible spring flowers and collected recipe suggestions for you.
Why are edible spring flowers so healthy?
For thousands of years, our ancestors gathered wild plants. They were important components of their diet and at the same time medicine. For a long time they then fell into oblivion. Now edible flowers are experiencing their revival.
More and more often they are finding a place on our plates again. And more and more people are becoming interested in the subject. While lectures and courses on wildflowers and wild herbs were almost unthinkable 10 years ago, they are now held regularly in many smaller towns.
And that is very good! Because many flowers and wild herbs contain important, secondary plant substances such as flavonoids and colorants.
The nectar in the flowers strengthens our immune system. The pollen of edible spring flowers is rich in proteins, amino acids, minerals and vitamins. They are superfoods that grow on our doorstep!
Good thing we're rediscovering nature's treasures. Today we tell you about delicious, edible spring flowers that you should put on your menu from now on.
Tip: Delicious wild herb recipes can be found in the "Wild Herbs Cookbook. You can buy it online.
Do not forget the insects!
When you go in search of edible flowers in the spring, you can not ignore one thing: For us, the flowers are delicious and beautiful to look at. For insects, they are a very important food source and necessary for survival.
Never collect more than half of the flowers!
In spring, bees, bumblebees and co don't have much choice yet, which is why you should always leave some of the flowers standing. If you have your own garden, you can also deliberately plant early blooming flowers to support the insects.
Part of it can be flowers that are not edible for us, but insects especially love - spring knot flowers, snowdrops, snow roses and daffodils are his good example.
The 7 most delicious edible spring flowers
There are very many edible flowers in spring. I would like to introduce you now 7 in detail, which you can not confuse in my opinion. Nevertheless, if you are unsure, then leave them.
Taking an herbal class in your area can help you dive a little deeper into the subject and become more confident. These are my favorite flowers:
- Daisies
- Violets
- Deadnettle flowers
- Dandelion flowers
- Wild garlic flowers
- Gundermann flowers
- Chives flowers
By the way: You should keep your hands off wild primroses and cowslips. They are protected by law!
1. daisies
Most people still know them from childhood. Daisies grow almost everywhere and are almost indestructible. And that's a good thing! They are among the first flowers that bring color to the meadow in spring.
Here's how you use daisies:
The flowers taste slightly spicy and are suitable for tea, herbal salt or can be eaten fresh. Simply sprinkle over the salad and ready. The flowers have an immune-boosting effect.
Children especially like to eat them on their sandwiches - mixed with a few radishes it makes a really friendly breakfast or dinner.
Tip: Daisies can also be used to make a Mix ointment against bruises!
How do daisies taste?
With daisies you can eat flowers, petals and leaves. The tender leaves are similar in taste to lamb's lettuce. They taste slightly nutty. The flowers have a slightly bitter note and a hint of chamomile.
That's what's in the flowers:
Bitters, flavonoids, tannins, essential oils, vitamin A, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and almost 7x as much vitamin C as in green salad!
Quick recipe with daisies:
Collect fresh flowers and put them on a sandwich. Add a little salt and you have a healthy snack.
2. violets
They are one of the first flowers to bring color to our meadows. But the small purple flowers also bring color to food. There are several species of violets, all of which can be eaten without hesitation.
This is how you use violets:
In ancient times violets were used against melancholy. Modern naturopathy says that they have a strong effect in the fight against colds. Violets are small, beautiful and intensely sweet-smelling flowers full of vitamins and minerals.
They fit wonderfully in salads, teas and Wild Herb Spreads.
How do violets taste?
The flowers of fragrant violet taste particularly good - they are pleasantly sweet. Their sweet aroma is ideal to refine desserts. You can also eat the leaves of the spring flower, they taste pleasantly mild and look good in salads.
That's what's in violets:
Saponins, bitter substances, alkaloid violin, the blue dye cyamine, eugenol, flavonoids, glycosides, salicylic acid.
Recipe Tip: Violet Syrup
Mix water and sugar, let the mixture boil until the sugar dissolves. After cooling down, add violets and Citric acid* to this. Now the syrup needs to infuse for three days and it's ready. A detailed Instructions for violet syrup you can find here.
3. deadnettle flowers
In full colorful bloom you can find deadnettles on forest edges and in partial shade. According to folklore, the purple flowers are mainly good for men. The white flowers for women and the yellow for children. They all taste slightly sweet.
Here's how you use deadnettle flowers:
You can prepare the leaves of deadnettle like spinach or stir them into the wild herb salad. Deadnettles contain expectorant saponins, so if you have a cold, eating them will pay off.
They are also suitable as a tasty decoration, because they do not immediately droop the leaves. The flowers and leaves can be dried and used in tea.
If you're still looking for a splash of color in your wild herb soup, deadnettles are simply always the right choice.
How do deadnettles taste?
The flowers of white, yellow and purple deadnettle have a sweet taste. The young leaves taste spicy-nutty and are therefore used in salads and soups.
What is in deadnettles
Tannins, flavonoids, essential oils, vitamins B and C, aucubin, germanium, potassium, mucilage, silica, zinc, zirconium.
Recipe tip with deadnettles:
Leave the flowers on the stem and put them in a glass of water. Now you have a small colorful edible bouquet. Only the blossoms are eaten. They taste sweet.
How to make your own wild garlic salt!
4. dandelion flowers
The bright yellow flower probably knows every child. Dandelion also bears the name dandelion. You can find dandelions in pretty much any meadow. Especially he likes house walls and paving stones.
You can collect dandelions from mid-March. Sometimes already at the end of February.
Here's how you use dandelion flowers:
The beautiful yellow petals of the dandelion make very good decoration. They pretty up soups, salads and spreads. You can also stir them into homemade herb butter to give it a colorful accent.
You can also dry dandelion flowers and add them to tea. As a child, we liked to make dandelion honey from the flowers.
If you pluck individual petals from the flower basket, you have a pretty decoration for cakes, salads and pasta.
Dandelion flower tea is good for liver, gall bladder and kidney.
This is what dandelion flowers taste like:
The leaves of the dandelion taste slightly bitter and tart. It is quite different with the flowers, which leave a sweet and floral taste on the tongue.
What's in the flowers?
Bitter substances, tannins, flavonoids, essential oils, vitamins C and D, potassium, magnesium, zinc, calcium, phosphorus.
Recipe Tip Dandelion honey
- 2 handfuls of dandelion flowers pour half a liter of cold water and infuse for 4 hours.
- Now boil the flowers and the water.
- Again, leave to infuse overnight.
- Now remove the flowers and dissolve half a kilo of sugar in the water. Boil down for an hour until the consistency is honey-like.
- Fill into jars and you have dandelion honey.
Dandelion must not be missing in this wild herb salad!
5. wild garlic flowers
Did you know that the first thing bears eat after hibernation is a large portion of wild garlic? The wild herb gets their organism going and boosts digestion.
Wild garlic does the same to the human body. Wild garlic strengthens the immune system. You can eat both the leaves and flowers.
Here's how you use wild garlic flowers:
Wild garlic flowers are not only a visual eye-catcher, but give every dish the right spice. Sprinkle them on a bread with butter or cream cheese. A little lemon juice, pepper and salt on top and you have prepared the perfect meal from edible wildflowers.
Sprinkle the flowers on salad, in soups or in spreads. Their flavor of garlic develops best when they are not cooked or heated.
My favorite: Roasted zucchini with fresh wild garlic and flowers. Or a mild cucumber salad with flowers. Add the flowers to the dish at the very end before eating.
Because they bring a lot of flavor, wild garlic flowers also do well in herbal salts or herbal oils.
What do wild garlic flowers taste like?
The white flowers of the bear's leek have a slight garlic aroma. The earlier you harvest them, the better it is. The older the flowers and also the wild garlic, the more bitter and fibrous it becomes. In addition, the typical taste is then lost.
Fresh flowers and buds are very delicate and almost melt in the mouth.
That's what's in wild garlic:
Many sulfur compounds, antibiotic amino acids. Wild garlic has 20 times more iron, vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, vitamins B1 and B2 than garlic.
Recipe tip with wild garlic flowers:
Roast the still closed blossoms in their green flower cover with olive oil. Season with salt and enjoy. Goes well with: Wholemeal bread.
If you want to have something of the delicious taste for a long time, the prepares wild garlic butter.
6. tundra flowers
Purple flowering spring plants grow in meadows and flower beds. They usually appear in large groups. We are talking about the groundsel. Many amateur gardeners call it a weed and pull it out.
But this is completely wrong! Because the Gundermann is not only a good food source for very many insects, but must not be missing in my enumeration about edible spring flowers.
This is how you use Gundermann flowers
Sprinkle the small flowers over the salad, it brings color to the food. You can also dry them for teas or herbal salt. They also make a good colorful dot in this wild herb soup.
The purple flowers are most beautiful when you use them fresh. When stored for a long time, the dried flowers can lose color. Unless you mix them with herbal salt, here they are best preserved.
You can use the leaves in all dishes that you would otherwise season with thyme or mint. Both leaves and flowers are popular as a seasoning for egg dishes, herb butter or cottage cheese.
What do gunderbug flowers taste like?
Taste-wise, the flowers do not have much to offer, they are very mild. All the more they provide visual splashes of color in the food. The leaves, on the other hand, are slightly spicy and remind a bit of licorice.
What is in the flowers and leaves
Tannins, saponins, flavonoids, essential oil, bitter substances, choline, potassium, vitamin C.
7. chives flowers
At the end of April, chives begin to bloom in sunny places. The pink to light purple flowers attract not only bees, but also us humans. More and more often in restaurants you can see recipes decorated with chives flowers.
Chives and their flowers have a digestive effect and stimulate blood purification.
How to use chive flowers
Just pluck the petals and sprinkle them over the salad. Chive flowers spice up even the most boring salad.
They also look very good on bread, which you spread with butter or cream cheese beforehand. The purple flowers go well with all dishes that can tolerate some spiciness. I like to add them to herb spreads.
How do the flowers taste?
Unlike the yet quite sharp and spicy chive stalks, the flowers are much milder and even slightly sweet in taste. The younger the flowers are, the more delicate they are. Flowers that have been blooming for a long time are tough in comparison.
That's what's in chives:
Secondary plant compounds, vitamin C, vitamin K, essential oils and iron.
Chives flowers recipe:
Have you ever heard of chive flower vinegar? It makes a wonderful dressing on salad.
For this you need
- 30 flowers
- 500 ml mild vinegar
- and a few peppercorns and mustard seeds
Let the flowers steep in this mix for a week. Shake the vinegar every day and finally pour it. The vinegar now has the sharp note of the chives.
Our conclusion
Edible flowers should definitely be on the menu! They not only look great, but also contain many important nutrients. By the way, you can sprinkle all the above spring flowers on the salad. A colorful salad tastes much better than a green one.
Have fun collecting and enjoy!
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