Dandelions! Why and How to Eat Them

Published by Annie Barrett: 
July 8, 2020

The Mighty Dandelion
What is more hip than kale? Dandelions! Dandelions are some of the healthiest greens around, and, they are everywhere... in your yard and garden, along roads and pathways, in fields, and at your farmer's market.

Eating what's in season is good for your health. In the spring and summer, bitter greens are a great way to detox, and as the weather heats, bitter greens help beat the heat.

Bitter greens like dandelions grow abundantly through the spring and summer. As long as they have not been sprayed with herbicide or pesticide, they are perfect for your health. Dandelions are full of calcium, vitamin A and vitamin K, with twice as much iron as spinach.  Dandelion is a powerful healer, used to purify blood, detox the liver, settle digestion, and to treat inflammatory conditions.

Benefits of dandelion greens:

  • High in calcium
  • Rich in iron
  • Loaded with antioxidants
  • Detoxing power
  • Full of minerals
  • Free!

What to do with dandelions
You can enjoy dandelions in your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Use them in your morning green smoothies. Add them to your salads. Saute them with garlic.

Here’s some ways to enjoy dandelions:

  • Add them to your smoothies. (One combo I like is dandelion greens, banana, blueberries and ginger.)
  • Add them to your salads.
  • Add them to your sandwiches.
  • Sautee dandelion greens with garlic and add them to creamy white beans.
  • Make dandelion pesto. Here is a recipe.
  • Dehydrate them and make them into super-green powder for the winter.


Learn more
The Wild Wisdom of Weeds by Katrina Blair is a great resource for learning more about how to use dandelions and other common weeds for food and medicine.

Eat your weeds!

Subscribe