If you’re looking for an edible flowers list, we’ve got one for you. If edible flowers sounds weird to you, you’re not alone.
Most of us don’t grow up eating flowers… or do we?
Well, if you eat any of these cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower artichokes, cabbage or brussel sprouts, then yes… you’ve eaten flowers![1]https://www.ranker.com/list/vegetables-that-are-technically-flowers/diet-information-lists
Though I do wonder who decided to try the first artichoke, and how they figured it out! We love artichokes, but that was a leap of faith to discover how to cook and consume them. Probably someone hungry. No matter the origin, we’re grateful to those who’ve pioneered the way before us.
Still, eating these huge and substantial cruciferous “flowers” are really more like vegetables in taste, texture and density. To munch on cauliflower is vastly more like a vegetable than a flower, so it’s an easier concept to grasp than munching on pretty petals.
However, there are so many other edible flowers to enjoy for food and medicine as well. It’s really just a matter of what we’re used to. If we grew up eating florals, then that would be familiar and normal.
Like parsley, edible flowers aren’t just garnish… they’re delicious and nutritious too!
Flowers You Can Eat
To enjoy a cup of hibiscus tea or a bite of crystalized lavender on cake doesn’t seem so strange. But… pickled daylilies? Pansies in salad? How about dandelion wine? In Hawaii, a common edible garnish is the purple flower of the dendrobium orchid.
These “gourmet” treats and more are normal fare in many cultures, and for many gardeners. If you haven’t delved into delectable decorative edibles yet, you can fancy up any dish by adding even just one lovely edible flower.
We don’t often include flowers in our foods because we love seeing them on the plants, and leaving them to attract pollinators. However, just one blossom per salad served, or per plate at dinner, is just the thing to elevate the perception and experience of even a plain and simple meal.
Magical Moments in the Garden
Walking barefoot through the garden nibbling on flowers and herbs… a luna moth alights in my hair.
~GardensAll.com
More than Just a Pretty Face
It’s may be hard to want to eat flowers. Once you get past it seeming weird, if it’s a new concept, beyond that, I generally prefer to gaze upon a beautiful flower than to crunch it between my teeth. I’d rather see them on the bush or plant… or in a vase. However, flowers are definitely more than just a pretty face.
Flowers served with food, colors a meal with a lovely exotic presentation and can instantly transform any meal into an exotic presentation. But more than beautiful and edible, many flowers contain nourishing and even healing properties as well.
To add just one edible flower blossom to any meal can immediately elevate it to gourmet status.
~GardensAll.com
Eat the Garnish!
Did you eat that parsley garnish the last time it was served when you dined out? Gardeners and culinary fans know to eat parsley rather than toss it for it’s potent vitamin C as well as to freshen the breath after a meal.
However, having worked in a restaurant years ago, many are the plates that came back to the kitchen with the parsley garnish untouched. To toss the parsley, or that edible flower garnish, is like throwing vitamins into the trash, and of course no one would do that.
Vibrantly colored edible flowers add more than beauty to your foods; they also add nutrition.
Add Edible Flowers to Your Yard and Garden Landscape
Many folks are not able to have a vegetable garden where they live due to the rules of their home owners association (HOA). If that’s you, there are attractive edible plants that work well in landscapes that provide a work-around for you. Certainly edible flowers are one of those.
Flowers not only contribute a unique array colors and textures, but also add interesting flavors to any dish. You’d probably be surprised at how many edible flowers are already in your garden.
Naturally you’ll need to verify which flowers are edible before you pop them into your mouth or top off your salad.
To keep it simple, and especially if you’re just getting started in growing flowers, you might plant only edible flowers in and around your garden. That way you’ll know and if you have children, it will be easy for them to know which ones are safe. E.g. “In the garden = safe to eat.”
There are hundreds of flowers you can eat. In this article we’re covering a few of the most common edible flowers.
Flowers have been used as food, medicine and cosmetics for centuries.
Which Flowers Are Edible?
Most vegetables and herbs have edible flowers. There are exceptions, though, so always confirm before consuming, and if in doubt, don’t.
How Do Edible Flowers Taste?
Many edible flowers taste similar to their vegetable part of the plant, only stronger, and excepting for the flowers of herbs. Likely because herbs are already a concentrated and intensely flavorful edible and medicinal plant, it makes sense that the blossoms might not be as strong.
Be Careful – Warning and Disclaimer
We’re sharing information gathered from our own experience and that of many others, however, whenever consuming any new plant or flower, avoid those in the family of plants you may have allergies to and always consult with official books or practitioners.
- Never eat flowers from a florist, unless they’re certified organic as these flowers may be treated chemically.
- ‘If in doubt, don’t’, is a good rule of thumb when it comes to eating wild or unfamiliar edibles. Just do your homework on cautions.
- Forage wild food with an expert until you’re certain of identification.
This list is extensive, but for some flowers you can consume the entire flower and others, best just the petals. Once you identify the flower/s you’d like to enjoy for culinary delight, inform yourself on the specifics for each flower from extended information in this and other articles, some of which are linked below.
Listed alphabetically by common name. There so much more to write about all of this, so we’ll be updating this more over time. If you have some t