21 Surprisingly Tasty Dandelion Recipes Straight From Your Back Garden (2024)

Dandelions. We’ve all run through fields of them as kids, sending their seeds flying through the air, but did you know that they’re tasty too?

From the flower to the root with all the leaves in-between, these common garden flowers are completely edible. Whether they’re raw in a salad, sautéed or brewed into a tea, they’re packed with a lot of vitamins and not a lot of calories. It’s a win-win.

So what are you waiting for? Chances are your garden will be filled with these little beauties, just waiting for you to try out these dandelion recipes.

Tasty Dandelion Recipes

1. Dandelion Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Pesto is famously versatile, who hasn’t had about a thousand bowls of pesto pasta in their lives? Swap out the basil for dandelion leaves and whip up a batch of this green goodness.

Change it up a bit from the usual pasta and use this pesto as an alternative pizza base sauce, or as a flavoring for chicken.

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2. Golden Dandelion Tempura Blooms

I had never seen anything like this before, but now I am desperate to rush home and give it a try!

Go for a savory dip like teriyaki, pop some of your own chosen spices into the batter or change it up and go for sweet, tossing the cute little tempura flowers in sugar and cinnamon.

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3. Sautéed Spicy Dandelion Greens

It doesn’t always come as an automatic reaction to sauté greens, but it makes for an interesting alternative to a regular salad.

These dandelion recipes would work as an epic side dish with richer meat and comes straight from your own garden. Even better.

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4. Dandelion Salad with Goats Cheese and Tomato Dressing

This is basically summer in a salad. Make with or without the pasta, and pop it straight out as the star of your spread with such little effort.

There’s cheese, there’s bacon, there’s a sweet dressing, all-over crisp fresh leaves and of course, your new best friend dandelion.

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5. Cauliflower and Dandelion Soup

Coming into the colder months you can’t really beat a good soup. It’s both detoxifying and delicious, what more could you hope for?

Its vivid green color will surefire have your friends asking questions, so you can get them just as obsessed with cooking with dandelions as you now are.

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6. Warm Potato and Dandelion Salad

Potatoes are my favorite thing in the world, and I challenge you to think of something more versatile.

This isn’t just a potato salad, this is a trendy potato salad. These dandelion recipes would be just as yummy eaten on its own as it would be as a side dish with a meal.

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7. Sautéed Dandelion Greens with Eggs

You should make this just to Instagram it, look at those colors. This,in the center of a table, paired with a big loaf of crusty bread for dipping would be just heavenly.

Make sure to get a bit of everything in the dip, runny yolk, a sprinkle of feta, and of course those all-important dandelions.

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8. Pasta with Dandelion Greens and Pine Nuts

This dish looks to be smack bang in the middle of comforting and light enough not to leave you feeling like a hunk of pasta yourself when you’re done with it.

It is easy to adapt too, maybe throw in some chicken for the meat lovers out there.

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9. Linguini with Mussels and Dandelion Greens

I am a massively huge seafood fan, so this one is definitely making its way straight into my pot.

It’s also a more subtle way of introducing dandelion into your kitchen if you’re not quite ready to jump in at the deep end with the whole idea of eating weeds from your garden.

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10. Dandelion and Rosemary Shortbread

I, being the little Scottish thing that I am, am of course a big fan of shortbread, and this is no exception.

For anyone who can’t cope with anything too sweet, these are the perfect balance between your classic shortbread biscuit and something a little bit different.

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11. Dandelion and Lemon biscuits

If you have the sweetest of sweet tooth like me, I can imagine you’re sitting salivating at your screen right now. You are not alone.

These dandelion recipes actually uses the petals of the dandelions, so even after you’ve beaten up the mixture and popped it in the oven, they’ll still look pretty.

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12. Dandelion Banana Bread

Banana bread always takes me right back home to my mum’s kitchen.

Whether it’s fresh out the oven, the next day (if there’s any left), for breakfast, or with a cup of tea, you literally cannot go wrong with any form of banana bread, especially this one.

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13. Homemade Dandelion Honey

The possibilities for this are endless. You could spread it on toast, use it in baking or even as part of a glaze in savory meals.

For the ultimate cold remedy, mix a spoonful of dandelion honey with hot water, lemon, and ginger. We can all thank my Granny for that one.

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14. Dandelion Jelly

This is an incredibly similar alternative to real honey, and if you don’t believe me then you will just have to try it out for yourself. Give those little bees a rest and pop out into the garden, then get makingjelly.

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15. Dandelion and Lime Cooler

How suave and sophisticated does this look? I love citrus, and with the dandelion twist, this is a fresh drink you just have to try.

To really spice things up you could add a spirit and turn this into a co*cktail.

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16. Dandelion Berry Smoothie

I feel like smoothies have been all the rage for a while now and quite rightly so. They’re so so simple, and one of the best ways to pack a whole lot of fruity goodness into your day.

You could whip this up for an after gym pick-me-up, for a breakfast or just as a guilt-free sweet treat.

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17. Dandelion wine

Making wine yourself is one of those things that everyone wants to try, but always tends to shy away from.

Well, these are the dandelion recipes to stop you from doing that. It’s incredibly simple, especially considering it leaves you with a result that you will be totally justified in boasting to your friends about.

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18. Dandelion Iced Tea

Iced tea is good in any situation. If you make this recipe in summer, you could sit out in the garden and literally drink dandelions while surrounded by dandelions. If that isn’t just the perfect picture then I don’t know what is.

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19. Roasted Dandelion Tea

Apparently this winter warmer acts as a coffee substitute, so you can’t really say no to it, can you?

Not only is it delicious, but it holds great health benefits. If you’re going to be sipping away at something in the evening, you might as well make it something that your body will thank you for.

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20. Iced Dandelion Mocha

If you are someone who, like me, don’t like actual coffee, but instead likes all the sugary drinks with fancy spices and flavors in the titles which have a hint of coffee in them, then this one is for you.

I can see myself sharing this one with everyone I know, and everyone I don’t know for that matter too.

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21. Vanilla Chai Dandelion Latte

Step over pumpkin spiced, this is usually your season, but there’s a new kid on the block.

Vanilla is one of my favorite flavors, so this just looks like a cuddle in a cup to me, and I can’t wait to be cuddled up on the sofa with this mug warming my hands.

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Conclusion

So now that your head is ready to burst with the realization the potential of dandelion recipes, and you probably have the yellow flowers growing out of your ears, you will never look at your garden’s little visitors in the same way again.

I am a woman with a sweet tooth, so the cookies and banana bread are looking like new favorites for me, and just the thought of those paired with the chai latte is making my stomach rumble as it has never rumbled before.