Fresh edible flowers add dramatic color and sought after flavor to your yard, so why not grow edible flowers? Edible flowers popularity has soared in the past few years making it easy to buy edible flowers if gardening isn’t your thing. Hundreds of wild and home grown edible flowers with gorgeous petals and buds abound. These fresh flowers are pretty in the garden, but when utilized for culinary purposes, fresh flowers add color, whimsy, and authentic flavor to your meals. Some edible flowers taste spicy, some herby, and some sweet. All are beautiful. If you enjoy growing flowers, why not choose fresh edible flowers?

Dress up your dishes with dried and fresh edible flowers, which can easily be grown in your home garden or you can buy edible flowers at many local markets. It’s fun to Make edible flower ice cubes with pretty edible flower blossoms. Try pansies in a salad for extra color, bright orange-yellow, peppery nasturtiums over pasta, or beautiful red tangy hibiscus jam in tacos.

If you’re adventurous, explore the traditional medicinal uses of common fresh edible flowers by adding the blossoms to a tea kettle of hot water and letting steep for a tasty tea. Lavender, passionfruit flower, and chamomile flower teas are traditionally used for relaxation. Steep the pretty purple Echinacea and Hibiscus petals for an immune system strengthening tea.

Make stunning floral popsicles, which kids and adults alike, are sure to love or add a decorative floral touch to desserts and cocktails.

Enjoy fresh from the garden, or buy edible flowers to make squash blossom tacos for a delicious dinner. If your wondering, are jasmine flowers edible? Yes, fragrant white jasmine flowers are used to make iconic jasmine tea. 

Use fresh edible flowers such as rose petals for beautiful and tasty desserts. It’s fun, and easy to add numerous varieties of organic edible flowers into your daily diet by growing them yourself or if you’d rather buy edible flowers.

Edible Flower Tidbits

When growing fresh edible flowers, use seed and plants sourced from organic growers, to ensure your edible flowers are produced without using chemicals and follow organic gardening practices to be sure your edible flowers are safe to eat. When preparing most edible flowers (the exceptions being: squash blossoms, violets, and nasturtiums), use only the petals for the best flavor. Remove the fresh edible flowers sepals, as well as the pistils and stamen before eating.

It’s so much fun to run out to the garden to pick fresh edible flowers, such as a sprig of rosemary, with it’s pale blue flowers, which you may ask, “Are rosemary flowers edible?” Yes, rosemary flowers are edible and are a beautiful way to decorate your cheese board. Harvest fresh blue borage flowers and orange calendula flower petals, to add a pop of color to your salads. If gardening isn’t your thing simply buy edible flowers at your farmer’s market.

The 16 Best Edible Flowers To Cook, Bake, Steep and Decorate Your Meals With:

Rose

All roses are edible flowers but the more aromatic the rose variety, the more flavor it offers. Rosa rugosa, most likely, the most common edible rose adds beauty and a mild dainty taste to your dishes. 

Place colorful rose petals in an ice tray to make pretty ice cubes. Use rose petals in a fresh salad or steep for a healthy tea, see Marneys Tidbits article “Boost Wellness With Rose Petal Tea” to learn about roses many medicinal uses.

It’s always pretty to use the entire blossom to decorate cakes and cupcakes. Rose petals are easily made into rose jam, or coated with sugar and baked for a crispy snack.  

Sunflower

Sunflowers are beautiful yellow edible flowers. Sprinkle the delicate flower petals into salads for vibrant color and a mild nutty flavor or use the pretty yellow petals in stir-fry’s. For an interesting treat, pick the unopened buds, remove the sepals, and steam until tender. Enjoy the meaty and tasty artichoke like flavor. If you buy edible flowers make sure they are intended for food use and not pulled from a floral bouquet which may contain chemicals.

Passion Flower

Passion flowers are powerful fresh edible flowers. Passion flower tea is easy to make and provides numerous health benefits.  The tea is said to calm anxiety, relieve insomnia, help with ADHD, may help lower blood pressure and may reduce symptoms of menopause.

See Maneys Tidbits Instagram for a post on how to make passion flower tea.

Chamomile

Chamomile is so easy to grow in your home garden, or in pots, but are chamomile flowers edible? Yes, the small white, daisy like, flowers are edible. Chamomile flowers have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and calming properties. Dried or fresh chamomile tea is made from the dainty flowers and promotes sleep and relaxation.

Hibiscus

The gorgeous tropical hibiscus flower provides many uses but, are hibiscus flowers edible? Yes, fresh edible hibiscus flowers can lower blood pressure and help ease a sore throat when steeped and savored as a tea. You can make your own hibiscus syrup to flavor and color sparkling water or use as pancake syrup. The calyx is used to make a delicious jelly due to the high pectin content of the flowers. Hibiscus flavor tastes tart and is a beautiful vibrant cranberry color.

Dandelion

Have fun enjoying nature while foraging for wild dandelions. When eating the sweet fresh edible wildflowers pluck the center petals out before preparing. Wash and steam the dandelions for a few minutes and season with salt and butter. They can be eaten raw and look pretty tossed into salads, taste yummy fried, or made into a jelly. You can even make dandelion coffee or tea for wellness. They are a diuretic, are good for your liver and gallbladder, have anti-inflammatory properties, are good for blood sugar control,, kidney function, and your immune system.

Nasturtium

The whimsical orange and yellow Nasturtium edible wildflowers look pretty in culinary offerings and add a peppery flavor to your dishes. They provide Vitamin C, Iron, and Manganese. They look beautiful in salads, on open faced sandwiches, and on charcuterie boards.  Here are 10 fun Nasturtium recipes such as Nasturtium Pesto, Nasturtium butter and Nasturtium salt.

Marigolds

The bright yellow or orange marigold petals add bold color and a lemony flavor to your recipes but only a few varieties are palatable. Lemon gem, Tangerine gem and the Mexican mint marigold taste the best. Add to salads for a pop of color. They work well in soups, in stews, and as a bright garnish. The vibrant color makes tea a more attractive color and adds a subtle lemon flavor. 

Lilac

Beautiful lilac flowers, with their purple hues are ideal for sugaring and decorating desserts, they are almost too pretty to eat, which leads us to ask, are lilac flowers edible? Yes, lilacs taste delicious mixed into cream cheese or yogurt and used as a spread. They can be made into honey, tea, and syrups for enjoying a summer breakfast. Lilacs look gorgeous frozen into ice cubes and placed into pretty glasses for special events.

Borage

The dainty vibrant blue star-shaped borage blooms work beautifully for  decorating charcuterie party boards. Add the pretty blossoms to salads for a tinge of cobalt color and the fresh taste of cucumber. Borage flowers look especially pretty when floating in a pitcher of water with sliced cucumbers or encased inside ice cubes.

Citrus Blossom

Citrus blossoms provide a sweet smell and taste and can be enjoyed cooked or raw. They mix well with whipped cream on top of summery fruity desserts. You can even make citrus blossom sangria and citrus blossom water for dessert recipes, savory dishes, teas and mocktails. Try making Glyko Anthos, also known as Greek citrus blossom preserves for a tasty jam.

To make orange blossom water, crush the petals, leave them to rest for 2 hours, put in a jar with enough water to cover the top of the petals, you can always add more water later if needed, put a lid on the jar, and leave in the sun for a couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle’s subtle nectar can be enjoyed fresh and the petals are commonly used to make desserts such as cakes, honeysuckle sorbet, ice cream, honeysuckle infused water, honeysuckle syrup, honeysuckle jelly, and delicious honeysuckle iced tea.

Lavender

Many people ask, “Are lavender flowers edible?'” Yes, lavender is probably the most widely known edible flower. Use the fragrant purple Lavender flowers to make Lavender ice cream, cookies and cakes. Flavor honey with lavender flowers, make a soothing, relaxation inducing,  lavender tea, or a yummy lavender matcha latte. So many amazing lavender recipes abound.

Calendula

Calendula’s vibrant orange or yellow daisy-like fresh edible flowers embody a peppery flavor with hints of citrus and saffron, making it a versatile flower in both savory and sweet recipes. The petals look so pretty in a salad or mixed into rice. Try whipping up calendula drop cookies or calendula infused vinegar.

Squash Blossoms

One of my favorite ways to incorporate fresh edible flowers, in my culinary dishes, is by making delicious squash blossom tacos. They are the perfect vegetarian meal. Try whipping up delicious vegan squash flower tacos with this innovative  recipe, which includes a delicious cherry salsa. Another tasty way to enjoy squash blossoms is to try a fried squash blossom recipe.  Check out Marneys Tidbits article, “Your Guide To The 50 Best Restaurants In The US,” for information on visiting The Mansion Restaurant, which serves delicious squash blossom beignets.

Coneflower (Echinacea )

Brew up a pot of Echinacea tea for a cozy cup of  healing. Did you know these purple budding beauties are edible as well?

Peonies, day lilies, johnny jump ups, freesias, fuchsias, camellias, hollyhocks, daisies, mums, jasmine, rosemary and lilacs are all edible. For an extensive list of edible flowers, with pictures click here.

FAQ

Can I Buy Edible Flowers?

Yes, edible flowers are easily accessible at farmers markets, specialty grocery stores such as Frasier Farms and many major supermarkets.

Are Basil Flowers Edible?

Yes, you can make basil flower tea, basil flower vinegar and basil flower oil with the white basil flowers.

Are Chive Flowers Edible?

Yes, the pretty purple chive flowers are edible. They have a mild onion like flavor and are great addition to vegetable and meat dishes.

Are Cilantro Flowers Edible?

Yes, cilantro flowers are edible. Cilantro flowers add a delicate flavor to your dishes. They taste like cilantro only lighter.

Where To Buy Edible Flowers?

Edible flowers can be purchased at farmers markets, online and at specialty markets.

Are Orchids Edible?

Yes, orchids are edible and delicious. See this amazing guide on edible orchids.

CAUTION:

Please make sure to properly identify any plant before consuming to ensure safety. If you have doubts, do not consume it. Individuals eating flowers, plants, or their derivatives listed here do so entirely at their own risk. Marneys Tidbits will not be held responsible for any adverse reactions to the flowers listed here. If in doubt, please consult your physician.

Marneys Tidbits is focused on publishing articles that breed new life into what can become a routine life.  Our hope is that our articles will encourage you to branch out and try new things, and in doing so, you’ll experience more awe and  joy in your life. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for extra tidbits.