Dandelion Tea Recipe
When life gives you lemons make lemonade. If you lawn gives you dandelions, make dandelion tea! [common dandelion Taraxacum officinale]
PREPARATION
Once you pick the dandelion greens, wash them thoroughly to remove dirt particles.
When clean, store them in a plastic bag which has holes punched for circulation, keeping them cold and humid. Use them as soon as possible, since greens are quite perishable.
Select young, tender leaves for the tastiest dandelion tea.
Individual portion
Pour:
1 cup boiling water
Over:
1 teaspoon dried dandelion leaves
For a pot of tea
Pour:
1 cup boiling water for each person
Over:
1 teaspoon dried dandelion leaves for each person
Throw in:
1 teaspoon dried dandelion leaves “for the pot”
Cover and let steep 3 minutes. Stir and let steep another minute.
Serve with your choice of:
(lemon)
(orange)
(mint)
(honey)
Or, buy some Dandelion Tea Bags now
Notes:
Use a non-metal pot, if possible.
Never boil tea.
May 3rd, 2009 at 1:40 pm
I’m still unsure of how to actually dry them out…
I’m worried that if I put them in a bag with holes in it that they will wilt, and not dry out…
Would it be effective to put them on a tray, and dry them that way? Do you have any other suggestions? Thanks
May 4th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Dear Annikah,
Thank you for writing! I appreciate your comments.
Dandelion leaves will store in the refrigerator quite a while, for salad, for tea, for whatever you want to use them. I like to store the leaves so they have a little water.
I don’t pay much attention to if the storage bag in the refrigerator has holes or not. That the leaves don’t wilt from lack of water seems to be more significant than air circulation when they’re cold. If the leaves stay in a plastic bag that is not kept cold, holes help with air circulation and they will stay fresher for a little while, as long as they don’t get too warm, and as long as they have enough moisture not dry out.
Now, away from storing the leaves (or the whole plant) and directing attention to making tea:
You can make the tea with fresh leaves, or like you said, dry the leaves out (on a tray). You don’t want the leaves to wilt, closed up in some bag, whether or not it has holes in it. You are correct to be concerned about that! If you are going to make tea right away with no leftover leaves, you don’t need a bag at all! Dandelion roots also make great tea, especially if you dry, grind, and roast the roots.
I would love to hear back from you!
Sincerely yours,
Ruth
May 8th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Hi, I was recently told how to make dandelion tea, and wanted to share it w/ you and get your thoughts on it. I was told to did up the dandelions roots and all. wash them and put the flowers leaves and roots into a pan w/ 3 cups of water. add a pinch of backing powder and boil for 3 mins. strain through a coffee filter and drink, add sugar or lemmon to taste. You can of course eat the boiled leaves as well. I would love your imput on this. Thanks. Tina
May 9th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Thanks for writing, Tina, and for sharing your recipe on Dandelion Tea!
Out of curiosity, how did you get this recipe? It sounds delicious!
Of course, the first thing I wanted to do was try it! I dug up some magnificent dandelions, blossom to root, leaving a bit of the root to regenerate if it wanted, cleaned the plant, and put it in boiling water.
Three minutes later I didn’t bother with the coffee filter; the entire plant is edible, and I didn’t need it (any debris goes to the bottom and stays there). Your tea is delicious! I had never tried the pinch of baking soda.
I just put the cooked plant in the refrigerator to eat it tomorrow, and for now I’m enjoying sipping a delicious cup of dandelion tea, thanks to you!
Much appreciation, Ruth
May 12th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
I have been eating wild dandelion leaves for years and get excited each spring when they come out. I lightly boil them, and pull the leaves out with pincers, put them in a bowl with pats of butter, a bit of salt & pepper and sprinkle with vinegar. What a dish! The broth I save and flavor with pepper and a dash of salt. I microwave a mug and enjoy as a hot beverage.
In the summer, I boil them, change the water once and boil again because the bitterness increases.
I use a pitchfork to pull up some entire plants to get the root. The roots I wash, dry and then roast on a pan until they are dark brown inside, then grind and prepare like coffee.
May 13th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Dear George (I like your name–my brother & my father are named George!),
Thank you for writing! It is great to hear from you and to read your wonderful comments! I, too, get excited about dandelions, every time I see one–or more! In fact, I like to eat them in some form nearly every day.
I will go out this afternoon, get some dandelions, and make the dish and the beverage you described. I can hardly wait! Oh, boy! Thank you so very much!
Sincerely yours,
Your friend, Ruth
May 14th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
[...] 2. Stop worrying about the perfect lawn. Sure a weed-free lawn is nice to look at and nice to walk through and nice to lay in, but in order to maintain a weed-free lawn pesticides have to be used. Letting you lawn grow without the use of chemicals not only eases up on the use of pesticides that are harming the bees, but your lawn will begin to become a source of food for the bees. Dandelions, clover, buck wheat, and alfalfa grow easily in the yards. The dandelions that grow in your yard are also a good foraging food. Dandelion greens are great in salads, you can make dandelion wine, or dandelion tea. [...]
May 20th, 2009 at 2:14 am
HI there! Here at the equator, dandelions grow all year ’round, a little stunted, i.e. the flower lies lower to the ground. Was wondering if these are the same dandelions that you use. Will try to get you a picture or two of “our” local dandelions.
Regards,
kevin
May 20th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Hi, Kevin!
Thanks for writing! Dandelions grow on every continent (except Antarctica), some places long and lanky, other places stunted to survive — I’m looking forward to seeing your picture(s)! Dandelions do adapt in height to their environment (they bloom short in lawns, tall in unkempt areas), and they have a lot of look-alike relatives. I’m eager to see what you have locally!
Sincerely yours,
Ruth
May 25th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
The dandelions in question survived a dose of weedkiller named “Roundup” by Monsanto®. Can I use these as root stock for my own batch?
Regards,
Kevin
May 29th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Hi, Kevin! So good to hear from you!
Thankfully, dandelions can replicate and make many more copies of themselves—and weed killer cannot, also it’s good that the potency of the weed killer toxicity “lifespan” shortens with increasing time.
So, yes! Grow those dandelions, and let them reproduce to eat the next generations! Some weed killer residue hangs around a long time; to be truly organic, the ground needs to be free of poisons for years:
After 1 year eat the greens, 3 years is considered transitional; after 7 years (by then the ground is fullly organic) eat the roots. You can eat roots before that, as the weed-killer will become less and less toxic.
Sincerely yours,
Ruth
June 3rd, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Dear Kevin,
Thank you for your reply! Great to hear from you! We enjoyed a great long weekend out of town to visit my parents on the occasion of my mother’s 81st birthday yesterday. Hope you had a great weekend, too.
Parts of plants to eat first that have been exposed to toxins (like weed killer) and yet are generally recognized as being safe (GRAS) are the parts that grow quickly, like dandelion leaves; limit eating the plant’s (concentrated) “warehouse” (starchy roots—storage facilities—and any slow-growing parts) for the full length of time the poisons are potent, as absorbed chemicals are stored along with nutrients and water.
If you transplant to clean dirt a root that has taken in toxins, you just introduced chemicals into a new place; it’s too bad poisons can’t crawl out or evaporate when they are moved to another environment. What I’d do for my food is to move the plant and take good care of it for it to get established in its new home while I wait out the length of time generally regarded as safe (GRAS) for the toxins, and then I’d harvest.
From years of experience, I’ve learned that when I cut off only the tender young dandelion growth, all leaves left on that plant will usually die, so now I cut the entire plant below ground. A vigorous dandelion can soon grow back not merely one plant, but perhaps ten times that many, and how wonderful is that!? As for any troublesome pesticide-infested roots, if you remove the “root” of the problem, and leave as little as a fourth of an inch (I like to leave an inch or more) of dandelion taproot to come back in clean ground, this can yield you many new plants, all of them regenerated clean and having fresh, new roots.
It is always recommended to read thoroughly any directions and warnings on weed killer labels. Manufacturers provide application instructions and the time they consider safe to grow plants in that area again. With weed killers designed to evaporate within 24 to 78 hours, many people plant things, edible or non-edible, in an area sprayed with weed killer after 3 days, or wait a week and then plant. Residual chemicals, left in the soil after the weed killer has evaporated, begin leeching away after one or two good rainfalls or waterings. (Of course, that same ground can be considered contaminated, and not organic, for years.)
Sincerely yours,
Ruth
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 am
I want dandelions to grow in my yard. Does anyone know how to accomplish this? I read in Dog Fancy that they are good for the stomach and liver in dogs also I would love to try the tea. Thanks.
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Hi, Leah! Thank you for writing! Wow! Hurray for someone who wants dandelions to grow in their yard!!!!!!!
I’ve got some very good news for you, Leah: dandelions are indeed good for the stomach in liver in dogs–and people–and, good for your lawn, as well!
Dandelion, an excellent plant, provides a good quantity of edible leaves if the lawn is cut no more than fortnightly. Of course, I personally would not eat the plants where the dogs have recently been busy with their business…
Because dandelion roots reach deep in the ground, up to three feet down, they have access to vitamins and minerals not available to plants with more shallow root systems. Dandelions bring up water to the surface along with those nutrients too deep for other lawn plants. As living fertilizer, they enrich the soil by converting nitrogen to nitrates. After the plant dies, earthworms later can travel up and down the hollow root like an elevator, quickly and easily reaching different ground temperatures or soil types.
How to enjoy dandelion tea and how to get dandelions to grow in your yard, like we do:
Click the sponsored links on our website: from the tea companies you can order tea; however, they don’t offer dandelion seeds. Click here to order dandelion seeds, or click the dandelion blossom link on our home page! Years ago we placed our first order with Whatcom, and have been very pleased with all their seeds and with their fine company.
Sincerely yours,
Ruth
June 25th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Are the benefits of dandelion tea still present if you drink it with milk?
June 25th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Thank you for writing, Pek! Great question!
It is indeed well known that some foods most certainly affect other foods when taken in together. Dandelion tea retains its benefits whether or not you drink it with milk.
Sincerely yours,
Ruth
July 7th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Hi Ruth, I saw on another Wikipedia (I think) that Dandelion is often confused with Catsear. If I use what’s growing in my garden, I’m not sure whether it’s really dandelion or catsear.
please can you advise?
many thanks,
Cathy
July 7th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Hi Cathy!
Thank you for writing! What a wonderful and great topic, dandelions… including all their relatives! The entirely edible–thank goodness!–catsear does look “KIND OF” like dandelion, somewhat kind-of-maybe-ish similar. Being related, both sport bright yellow blossoms and other similarities one could expect. Yet nothing is just like, or equal to, a genuine dandelion!
Of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and catsear, also known as cat’s ear or false dandelion, some notable differences:
Notice first off, catsear (Hypochaeris [or, Hypochoeris] radicata) lacks our dandelion’s prestigious Latin “officinale” distinction, that is, official in most pharmacopoeias, carrying a treasured and trusted reputation world-wide.
Try making a wreath crown of dandelion blossoms and one of catsear blossoms. You will soon see that dandelion blossom stems are wide and hollow, catsear stems not. Dandelion blossoms come one per stalk; catsear stalks fork. Dandelion flower heads are more robust, catsear more sparse.
Compare the leaves of dandelion and catsear, if you will, by running a leaf of each over your nose or tongue; notice how catsear is rough and hairy.
Finally, enter “catsear tea” in any search engine and see if you get any results. Well, now that I’ve written that, this website will turn up…
I loved hearing from you, Cathy!
Sincerely yours,
Ruth
September 7th, 2009 at 7:08 am
Hi Ruth,
Sorry for the late reply…
I just want to thank you for your informative response.
Much appreciated!
Cathy
September 10th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
You are so very welcome, Cathy! Glad to hear! Write any time! Ruth
October 8th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Hi Ruth
I am happy to read your responses. Can I use the flower for tea and how?
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Hi, David! Thank you for writing! You can use the flower—and any other part of the plant—for tea. Just follow the recipe for tea, and use whatever part of the plant you want. I especially like to use the intact, entire dandelion. (And I eat the plant after I drink the tea!)
Another thing I do with blossoms—petals only, no green—is to make “honey”, heating the petals with an equal amount of water to just below a simmer for a half hour or so, strain out the petals if you like, and then heat at a simmer ’til thick like syrup (a lot takes a long time), sweetening to taste.
Dandelions bloom any time during the year, most prolifically in the spring.
Ruth
April 13th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
hello ruth
i’m 18 and still in high school
so i read this page and was amazed
so i made the tea and my parents went bokers lol
my mom was saying stuff like it “could put you in a coma” i laughed hard and drank it anyway it was sooooooo goooood thanks XD
April 24th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
dear ruth, what a find your page is! Here in Greece we eat lots of dandelions. My particular favourite way to eat them is as a salad. We clean the leaves and boil them, changing the water twice.(The older the leaves i.e those picked after the plant has flowered have the strongest and best flavour for me). Drain them and let them become cold. Season with salt, sprinkle with lemon juice and drizzle olive oil over them. Delicious!!
June 5th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
I am enthralled to read about dandelions. Have been told for years they were good for me but no one really knew how to prepare them. I have an abundance of them here in my acreage and was considering as a last resort to “rounduup” them but I hate chemicals so decided to boil water in large quantities and burn them out. Now that I have found out how to prepare them (whole plant) I am going to brew tea, eat as a vegetable and dry roots for coffee. I have type 2 diabetes and wonder if this could help my liver. Anybody heard about that??
June 17th, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Hi Adelina,
I’ve just myself been reading about this subject, diabetes and dandelion. Verified from two different herbal madicinal books I have learned that dandelion will not only help to lower blood sugar levels, and of course support the health of your pancreas, it also helps to ease diabetes’ secondary disease processes; high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol!
Please add not only dandelion to your diet and tea tottling, but try nettle as well, it is even MORE beneficial (if you can imagine that!) for this purpose.
A mix is even better! (I learned nettle will increase the benefit of other medicinal herbs).
And thank you Ruth for this fabulous page, I’ll have to check out the entire site now!
June 17th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Hi again Ruth,
Maybe you can suggest to me a better storage method for my tea bags. I love both of the brands you have here on the top of the page, but just tonight I went into my tea cupboard to make myself a cup of dandelion root tea and found it riddled with holes in every bag, and a mound of dead spice bugs in the bottom of the box, (most likely having died of engorgement on my dandelion roots!)
See we cook Indian food and always have these little critters crawling around the cupboards and invading the cereals, (their eggs are in the spices, especially the coriander seed and dried red chilis). We now keep the spices in the freezer and only bring out a little at a time in closed mason jars on the countertop beside the stove for daily use.
But with cereals and pastas everywhere (can’t keep EVERYTHING in the freezer), they still manage to eek out a living in my kitchen, I usually just sieve everything first, (it all comes out in the wash, right?)
Soooo, if I freeze my dandelion teabags, will it effect the potency of the medicinal value?
June 17th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Forgot to mention, the little buggers chew right through plastic bags, gotta keep the dhaals in jars too!
June 17th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
ok, silly me, I guess I just answered my own question.
I could keep my tea in a mason jar, eh?
LOL
August 24th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Great to see you promoting the great herbal remedies of the Dandelion. Used way back in the tenth century, the common dandelion does have some great herbal remedies, it certainly does meet the criteria of a healthy herb keep producing the great iformation.