Edible flowers are super trendy, decorative, and tasty. And yes, it’s best practice to only eat the petals. You can find all kinds of delicious recipes online. If you grow the flowers yourself, make sure you buy organic seeds. When sowing your organic seeds, use organic potting soil. This ensures a healthy basis for your healthy recipe.

Buy edible flowers

Edible flowers are not only tasty but they also contain many healthy essences, such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. You can buy the flowers at the greengrocer and sometimes at the supermarket. Don’t wash the flowers before you put them in your fridge for keepsakes. If you do, it reduces the preservability of the flowers.

Watch out for picking edible flowers in the wild. It is not without risk. Picking, for example, wild garlic, which also has an edible flower, is prohibited. In addition, you don’t know if the soil is polluted or whether the crop has been contaminated by traffic or animal excrement. So buy the flowers as edible flowers from a grower, greengrocer, or in the supermarket. A rose from a bouquet is often grown using all kinds of chemical additives. This will therefore not be a healthy choice. Flowers intended for consumption are specially grown for this purpose.

Edible flowers to grow

You can also grow the flowers yourself. They fit perfectly between the vegetables and herbs in your vegetable garden. Growing in containers and pots is also possible. Besides the fact that the flowers are beautiful, edible, and tasty, there is an additional advantage. Bees visit the flowers and these little insects are needed to fertilize pumpkins and courgettes, for example. Edible flowers are therefore a good choice and fit perfectly in the vegetable garden.

Edible flowers seeds

If you want to grow edible flowers yourself, make sure you buy organic seeds from a reliable company. When you sow, please use organic potting soil. This gives you super healthy flowers, without any toxins. In addition to the satisfaction of growing your own plant, sowing has the additional advantage that the yield is a lot higher than when buying a plant. Provide nutritious, airy, organic soil. When you plant the edible flowers seeds, make sure that the seed is getting enough moisture, heat, and sun to germinate. When the first shoots appear above the ground, it is still important to give enough water during dry periods. The rest will pretty much go without saying, assuming you’ve chosen the right conditions.

Sowing tips:

  • Soak the seeds in water 24 hours before sowing to help them germinate faster
  • Sow as deep as the seed is big
  • Provide airy well raked slightly moist soil

List of edible flowers

Edible flowers list

Make sure that the flower you want to consume is an edible flower. The majority of all flowers are not edible. In general, the young leaves and young flowers are the tastiest. Below I will give you some examples of flowers that you can eat.

Garden nasturtium

Tropaeolum majus, commonly known as the garden nasturtium or Indian cress, is one of the best-known edible flower species. The bright red or orange flower tastes a bit like aniseed. The annual climbing, sometimes creeping herbaceous plant has green leaves with a round shape. Please note that this plant attracts aphids and therefore we recommend you place it near other plants that are sensitive to this. The louse will prefer the other crop instead of the Indian cress.

Violets

Violet flowers have a mild taste. This makes them suitable for desserts or pastries. Violets are offered for sale in many places, but if you want to use them for consumption, buy them at the organic garden center. You can also sow them yourself in the period from June to August. The flowers will appear in the following year.

Marigolds

Calendula Officinalis can be used for several applications. It is an annual plant that often has orange flowers, but sometimes also yellow. In addition to a medicinal effect, the petals are suitable as a garnish for a salad or for soup. The petals contain essential oils, which are often used in ointments. The taste of marigolds is spicy, slightly peppery.

Cornflower

A beautiful bee-friendly flower, known in Latin as Centaurea cyanus. The usually blue flower is used as a garnish. If you dry the cornflower, you can also make tea from it. The taste is spicy, you can compare it with garlic.

Lavender

Because the taste of Lavender is strong, just like the smell, it is advisable to put only small portions in your food. It is a spicy taste, which can be added in moderation in salads, or as a garnish with meat dishes. Lavender-flavored ice cream is also available.

Rose

All types of organically grown roses are edible. However, the scented varieties and the red varieties are the tastiest. Avoid the inner petal, where part of it is still white. Roses can be used in salads. Sugared roses can be used in desserts or cakes. You can also make rose tea from roses.

Orchid

In terms of decoration, this is of course a real eye-catcher on your plate. The taste is fairly neutral, so you can apply it whenever you want. In salads, garnish, or with delicious desserts.

Elder

The plant on which the elder flower grows is the Sambucus Nigra. The most famous application of elderflower is syrup. Other consumption options are fleece blossom fritters and elderflower pancakes. This particular flower is full of vitamins. The refreshing syrup or lemonade is used as a home remedy for stomachaches and sore throats. The black currants are used to make fruit juice, wine, spirits, jam, jelly, and syrup.

Daylily

The daylily is known under the name Hemerocallis. This flower is also mainly used for its decorative property. The light-colored flowers are crisp and reminiscent of iceberg lettuce. The darker the flour, the spicier it tastes.

Edible flowers from herbs

Herbs are mainly known for the use of their leaves. With the right preparation, they bring flavor to your meal. The flowers of many herbs are also good for consumption. I’ll give you some examples.

Sage

Salvia officinalis is a well-known herb in the kitchen. It has a strong spicy, sometimes bitter taste. You can use the flowers in salads or as a garnish. The taste of the flower is somewhat fruity, depending on the variety.

Chives

Allium Schoenoprasum has a light fresh onion flavor. The flower also tastes similar to the herb. Especially delicious in cold salads. The plant is easy to propagate by tearing and replanting in the spring.

Mint

Mentha is a perennial with strong odorous substances, which are used in candy, tea, or toothpaste. The flower tastes about the same as the plant but is slightly milder.

Oregano

Oregano herbs come from the plant Origanum vulgare. The herbs are well known and are often used in Mediterranean cuisine. It has a spicy, slightly sweet taste. The flowers taste pretty much the same, only milder.

Rosemary

The flowers of the Rosmarinus Officinalis taste spicy and sweet. Rosemary is a popular culinary herb, so both leaves and flowers are edible. Leaves of the Rosemary are needle-like and can be added to sweet dishes, meat, and fish. The flower tastes milder than the leaf.

Coriander

Coriandrum Sativum is an annual plant. The herb is widely used in Eastern cuisines. All parts of the plant are edible. The powder from the fruits is called ketoembar. The white coriander flowers taste spicy and are very suitable for garnish.

Borage

The flower of Borage, also known as starflower, tastes fresh, cucumber-like, delicious on or in a salad. Watch out for the spiny sepals. It’s very classy to have a blue flower of the borage in a glass of bubbles.

Dill

Anethum Graveolens has very fine needle-like leaves. The herb is widely used in northern European cuisine. This herb is mainly used in soups and sauces, where the herb is not boiled to prevent it from losing its flavor. The green fresh green umbel is edible and tastes like dill. The flower is also widely used in spring bouquets.

Edible flowers of vegetables

Next to the flowers of herbs, there are also many flowers of vegetables you can eat.

Broccoli or lettuce will overshoot if you harvest it too late. Flowering broccoli looks a bit different, but the yellow flowers are edible and taste pretty good. You can put the large flowers of the courgettes in pieces through the lettuce. You can fry them, stuff them, or stir fry them. The same goes for the flowers of the pumpkin. Arugula, also known as rocket or rucola, also has yellow, edible, light-scented flowers. The longer the argula grows, the more spicy the taste. You can use it in salads, pesto, and sauces.

dishes with flowers

Which flowers are absolutely non-edible?

Before you go munching your entire garden, please check each flower whether you can eat it or not. Hereby is a list of common non-edible flowers: asparagus, tomato, potato, eggplant, peppers, and bell peppers.

Use edible flowers

You can use flowers in many dishes. Just google ‘recipes with edible flowers’ and you’ll find plenty of delicious recipes. Use the flowers in a salad, as a garnish, with meat or fish dishes. Furthermore you can use flowers in drinks such as tea, lemonade, sparkling wine, spirits, cocktails, or syrup. Sugared flowers are delicious in desserts or pastries. You can make fritters out of it in the frying pan, or stuff the flower with a filling and then fry it or not.

edible flowers on cake

Edible flowers on cake

Flower cakes are beautiful works of art. It is mainly the decoration on top of the cake which is formed by edible flowers. Edible flower mixes are available at the more extensive greengrocers and can be ordered online. You can combine the flowers with marzipan or fresh fruit for decoration.