42 Flowers You Can Eat

The culinary use of flowers dates back thousands of years to the Chinese, Greek and Romans. Many cultures use flowers in their traditional cooking–think of squash blossoms in Italian food and rose petals in Indian food. Adding flowers to your food can be a nice way to add color, flavor, and a little whimsy. Some are spicy, and some herbacious, while others are floral and fragrant. The range is pretty surprising.

It’s not uncommon to see flower petals used in salads, teas, and as garnish for desserts, but they inspire creative uses as well–roll spicy ones (like chive blossoms) into handmade pasta dough, incorporate floral ones into homemade ice cream, pickle flower buds (like nasturtium) to make ersatz capers, use them to make a floral simple syrup for use in lemonade or cocktails. (See a recipe for Dandelion Syrup here.) I once stuffed gladiolus following a recipe for stuffed squash blossoms–a little out-there, I know, but they were great. So many possibilities…

Eating Flowers Safely
So. As lovely as eating flowers can be, it can also be a little…deadly! Not to scare you off or anything. Follow these tips for eating flowers safely.

Eat flowers you know to be consumable–if you are uncertain, consult a reference book on edible flowers and plants.

Eat flowers you have grown yourself, or know to be safe for consumption. Flowers from the florist or nursery have probably been treated with pesticide or other chemicals.

Do not eat roadside flowers or those picked in public parks. Both may have been treated with pesticide or herbicide, and roadside flowers may be polluted by car exhaust

Eat just the petals, and remove pistils and stamens before eating.

If you suffer from allergies, introduce edible flowers gradually, as they may exacerbate allergies.

To keep flowers fresh, place them on moist paper towels and refrigerate in an airtight container. Some will last up to 10 days this way. Ice water can revitalize limp flowers.

Related: How to Make Candied Flowers

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Deborah L.

2:34AM PST on Nov 15, 2011

Definitely must be home or organically grown! Wouldn't it be great to be able to use the flowers found in fields though?

send a green star

Sonny H.

5:42AM PDT on Sep 26, 2011

There is a lot of them. Thanks!

Michele W.

9:06AM PDT on Sep 22, 2011

Thank you

Belinda M.

9:48PM PDT on Sep 16, 2011

Thank you. I can't imagine having so many sunflowers that I'd eat a bud rather than let it bloom, though.

Faith B.

3:09PM PDT on Aug 18, 2011

Chive blossoms are my favorite :)

Nina A.

11:05AM PDT on Jun 24, 2011

thanks.

R Anna M.

12:39PM PDT on Jun 22, 2011

I ate rose jam (a speciality of Provin in France, Champagne), and also candy violets (apart from the most common ones like basil or mint of course). And let us not forget courgettes flowers in batter!
yum yum.

iii q.

5:23PM PDT on Jun 21, 2011

who knew? very nice.

ty