Green salad with borage and nasturtiums
I bet you eat edible flowers all the time and don’t even realize it. Because if you’re a fan of broccoli, cauliflower or artichokes, you are consuming the flowering bud of the plant. I’m always late in the game when it comes to picking my broccoli and find it produces these lovely yellowish flowers when overgrown. Although too bitter to eat at this point, I’m tempted to stick my flowered broccoli stems in a vase- if that didn’t seem so dorky. So today, I thought we’d take a pictorial edible flower tour. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizer, drink or dessert; the options are endless and inspiring. Let’s eat flowers because they are pretty, useful, tasty, fun, unusual and best of all….just because we can! And it’s not like you’re making a meal out of a flower, these are edible novelties intended to beautify your food and drink. They have faces….cute flower faces, yes? Some of the most popular flowers and my favorites are pansies, nasturtiums and borage. Here’s some inspiration to get you started on the right path.
homemade popsicles with edible flowers
Why flowers?
Pansies, nasturtiums and borage are edible flowers that add color and life to any dish. Use them in fruit salads, green salads, quinoa and spinach salads. Top cakes, cupcakes or ice cream with candied varieties. Garnish soups, cheeses or hors d’oeuvres with them. Decorate puddings, mousses and gelato with clusters of petals. Or, freeze the flowers into ice cubes for iced tea, lemonade or just plain water to add depth and beauty. And don’t forget to use them in popsicles just for fun. Forget that cherry on top of the ice cream sundae, use a pansy face instead!
What do flowers taste like?
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Pansies, violas, johnny-jump-ups
Unlike some edible flowers, you can eat the whole pansy, including stamen, pistil and all. If you eat just the petals, I find the flavor to be quite mild, sweet and almost grassy. But if you eat the whole flower, there is a wintergreen bite to it. |
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Nasturtiums
A whiff of a nasturtium reveals a sweet fragrance. But munching on it reveals a bold, peppery tang. If you like both the sweet and spiciness of watercress, you will love the taste of a nasturtium. The spicy flavor makes it an ideal choice for soups, stews, and salads. |
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Borage
Has lovely cornflower blue star-shaped flowers that have a cool, faint cucumber taste. Petals have that cucumber taste while the stamens add a bit of sweetness. |
Edible flowers for breakfast
Pancakes with pansies imprinted on them. Breakfast doesn’t get any prettier than this.
French toast and strawberries, garnished with mint and violas.
What a way to start your day ~ crepes with strawberries and borage accents.
Edible flower appetizers
Canapés with avocado paste and borage.
Cucumber toast with borage which also gives off a cucumber vibe.
Pomegranate and cheese toast with a pansy topper.
Edible flowers in salads
Mixed green salad with smoked salmon, strawberries, colored bell peppers and pansies. Lots of eye-popping color!
Flowers and herbs always make a great garnish for cheese.
Green salad with dandelions and blue pansies.
Edible flowers in soup
Single nasturtium in cucumber soup. Because of their peppery taste, nasturtiums pair perfectly with soup!
With flowers, you can even make goulash look appetizing.
Edible flower smoothies
Chia fruit smoothie with mango and johnny-jump-up topper.
Green smoothie is complimented with the bold, orange nasturtium.
Edible flowers on ice
Does it get anymore refreshing than lemon and flowers?
Flower ice cubes are a must-have at any bridal or baby shower.
Edible flowers for dessert
Tartlett with white currents and blueberries and johnny-jump-ups garnish.
Mini spicy cheesecakes with violas make a lovely dessert.
Raspberry tarts with a single nasturtium petal.
Warning….!!!
The flowers you use need to be organically grown and fit for human consumption. No fertilizers or pesticides will do. You don’t want to eat flowers bought from garden centers, nurseries or even the local florist. Grow your own from seed. Wash like you would any delicate salad green. Very carefully. And quite honestly, if your flowers are 100% organic then I wouldn’t obsess over washing them as they are so fragile!
A last bit of advice? Pick flowers in the morning before the dew has dried. And petals need to be eaten after a few hours of picking or they just wilt up. (If you were placing them on a cake or on a mousse dessert for example.)
Enjoy!
Which recipe do you want to try first?
The edible flowers really make the food look so pretty! I especially love the popsicles.
I love the popsicles.
I had no idea that a lot of these were edible. Some would be so cute for a wedding or party! I especially like the Canapés with avocado paste and borage 🙂
Those popsicles are beautiful. The colors would have made them match my wedding perfectly.
looks great
love the popsicles! its awesome
I recently tried edible flowers & other microgreens!! Really enjoyed & impressed ❣️
The homemade popsicles looks so beautiful and so do the others. It has been so hot this Summer.. so this would be something that I would love to try first.
I love the way the edible flowers look. They make everything look so pretty!
Wow, gorgeous! Would love to try this one: French toast and strawberries, garnished with mint and violas
They are all so pretty, but I just can’t get myself to eat a flower.
i came,i went,i farted
I really like the flowers frozen as popsiscles
I love lavender especially in cocktails and cakes!
Cheesecake & Raspberry Tarts look amazing. Yum.
A fun way to add a unique look and taste to dishes for sure. 🙂
The edible flowers really make food look pretty, but I’m still too nervous to eat a flower. I just felt comfortable enough recently to eat my herb leaves I planted in the garden. I’m always afraid I’m going to eat the wrong thing and get sick.
they are too pretty to eat
It all looks too pretty to eat! I think I’d rather keep it on display.
Those edible flower popsicles are gorgeous!
Pretty and edible, perfect.
These ideas are so beautiful! Thank you for the tips and ideas,
Looks so pretty, I had a hard time eating flowers so this really helped, thank you for the great info!
Tried in Thailand.
Awesome
Too pretty to eat 🙂
Always adds a flair to any meal, use them in my salads from time to time
Such Pretty colors
The farmer who I help at the farmers market always puts edible flowers on top of her salad mixes. Nasturiums are most common, but she also includes rose petals and flowers from some of the greens.
Thank you for the awesome post. I am looking to go towards a plant based diet.
Beautiful ❤️
I had pansies on my wedding cake. So pretty!
Never have tried flowers, they always look so pretty in food, but I have always been unsure of how they would taste to actually try something with them.
I love the popcycles I never knew that you could eat certain flowers, I will have to check this out futher. Thank you for the great post
Very informative! And those popsicles are just lovely!
These flowers are such great choices to use in dishes and drinks. I love the color they add to the dish so pretty. I had bought some nasturtiums seeds now to plant them.
I love the extra colors edible flowers bring to a dish
all of them! and such beautiful presentations.
I like the look of using flowers, but not sure about eating them here!
We had edible flowers on our wedding cake nearly 42 years ago! Lovely!
All these recipes look lovely. I know I should try to do more edibles with flowers, especially in salads. I’ve done ice cubes fairly often, but need to do more.
Love to try a few of these they look good.
This is honestly news to me. I never thought you could actually eat flowers. They are to pretty to eat LOL. I don’t think I would even consider either.
The flowers are pretty but I’m not sure I could eat them! Lol
This was so interesting to read! I have never had edible flowers before, but they are so pretty!
i love this idea
looks good
The Cucumber Toast with Borage looks delicious & is the one I’d most want to try. YUM! While I’m not quite one to entertain with such beauty & flair in presentation, yet I appreciate the appearance of each listed floral/berry delight pictured. Thanks for these ideas Laura!
Chia fruit smoothie with mango and johnny-jump-up topper. Looks yummy!
We already have borage and violets growing around the house. Cool to know the flowers are edible.
I would try eating flowers. I’ve eaten capers so same thing!
I want one of those popsicles!!
VERY INTERESTING IDEA…BUT i’M NOT QUITE SURE ITS WORTH IT FOR ME.
Raspberry tarts with a single nasturtium petal.
Great ideas!
All of the food arrangements are incredibly attractive!
The presentation with the flowers makes the food so pretty. I have never tried, but willing to.
Great ideas. Thanks for the wonderful photos.
The tartlets look scrumptious, I’d start with those. The edible flowers make all the food look like works of art. I once froze a bottle of good vodka surrounded by ice with flowers embedding in it for a party. It looked lovely, but didn’t last very long, the ice or the vodka.
Wow so many cool things!!!
Wow How unique the popsicles 4 sure the flower just beautiful
Such tasty ideas for these beautiful flowers!
Our anniversary cake used edible flowers. Pretty, pretty.
The floweres are colorful and look picture perfect. I remember having Nasturtium flowers on plates at my wedding. One of my co-workers thought they were not edible, but I said it’s fine to eatt.
The flowers on the salad with salmon and strawberries look beautiful and delicious! I’d try that first.
The flowers look to pretty to eat. It makes the salad very colorful.
I just can’t get myself to try flowers.
Looks really pretty in their arrangement and overall seems like a beautiful concept. Eating bright colors and eating natural items from the earth is the way to go!
The edible flower popsicles look amazing, almost too pretty to eat
Edible flowers make every dish beautiful and unique. Haven’t tried eating flowers, but may have to give it a try. You posted so many wonderful ideas.
I’ve tried pansies before and found them more beautiful to look at than to eat, unfortunately.
Not into eating flowers… fruits and vegetables yes. Flowers in a vase on the table for this gal.
Great ideas never tried them before but I may try now .
Beautiful AND edible! Didn’t know.
i NEVER KNEW I COULD EAT FLOWERS!
win
I would try the mini spicy cheesecakes with violas
Edible flowers make every single food or drink 100 times prettier! I can’t wait to make popsicles with flowers, I’ve never even seen or thought of that before!
I have used flowers for decorating cakes but haven’t tried some of the other ones. Will have to try them. Thanks
I never considered adding flowers to food or drink, what a wonderful idea!
not feeling this to much lol
Beautiful and tasty ! I love this Thanks so much !
I’ve never eaten an edible flower
Just gorgeous, I love working with edible flowers and plants.
Not sure on eating flowers, bring on more meat
LOL My husband says you can’t grill a flower, but a zucchini now…. He is such a stinker.
The edible flower recipes sound so good and look great.
I would enjoy and like a Smoothie. I love smoothies!
I have seen some beautiful edible arrangements.
It’s a difficult decision to select just one when there are
so many terrific recipes.
The homemade popsicles with edible flowers look too good to eat. What a great idea for a backyard party.
thanks for these great ideas
Super Cool!!!
I love the look of the pansies. So colorful and easy to grow
I have to find somewhere to buy edible flowers. Unfortunately we planted some that would be like the pansies but they are in a bed where for about a month now every night my ring camera goes off because there are 3 fox in the flower bed.
I like to go hiking it’s nice to know what flowers you could actually eat if you needed to
interesting site
Edible flowers make the dishes very attractive.
Those popsicles are gorgeous!
I love the beauty of cooking or baking with flowers. I just wish more of the people I am living around knew they were okay to eat, I brought some baked goods and deserts in to where I volunteer and watched them picking the flowers out or off of the cookies and cakes before eating them and couple wouldn’t even try them! Oh well.
So pretty! Love flowers.
these items looks incredible
I had no idea these flowers were edible. I may still have to pass on it though…
They are beautiful in the salads and I love the popsicle.
I always think these recipes are so pretty, but tbh I’m skeptical of the taste. I guess the only way to really know is to just try it. Lol
I’m not a cow so I don’t eat weeds or grasses or even flowers. So all you who do, have at it.
I don’t eat the flowers, but I do make tea from them!
I’d like to try the Tartlett with white currents and blueberries and johnny-jump-ups garnish.
I’ve never tasted any flowers.
We love adding edible flowers to our mixed drinks! Add beauty and a little crunch 🙂
Edible flowers definitely make a pretty plate. I have tried most of the flowers listed in this post but I really did not enjoy the salads and desserts enough to want ti have them again. I do love violet flavored candies and lavender sugar is wonderful, though I do know lavender is actually an herb.
They give everything a special touch.
I am sorry but edible flowers weird me out. Yes, they are edible, but everything in my mind tells me to not eat that. Plus there are some that are not the best tasting to me. Yes, they are pretty and add something visually, I don’t think they pay off in the flavor department.
I have noticed on TV that a lot of chefs use flowers in their dishes, but the key to that is, edible flowers. This cleared it up for me as to which flowers are actually edible. Thank you for the lovely article.
I;d rather eat chocolate but I will put this on my bucket list. : )
Love the different ways you use flowers
I want to try the tarts. All the flowers look so pretty and I have never eaten a one.
Your flowers are so colorful ,they are so pretty
Oh my the popsicles really catch my eye! They would be a perfect addition to our summer pool parties! A must try for me!
I’m quite taken with the popsicles and the lemon and flower drink.
Every dish is pretty but I’d like to try the Canapés with avocado paste and borage because I love avocado.
I agree with the others, the popsicles are beautiful. But I like my flowers in vases. Some of them on the table were very pretty too, but I don’t think I will eat any, any time soon. Gorgeous pictures.
I’ve been wanting to work with edible flowers. I saved this. Thank you.
So creative
I am crazy about begonias! They have a nice sweet-tart flavor.
I love using edible flowers in my food! They look so pretty!
want to try borage but haven’t gotten mine to grow yet
I never thought about edible flowers! This is a very informative article!
Very interesting something to explore
This is so interesting I’ve never used edible flowers. 🌹
Looking forward to trying this
The popsicles and ice cubes are such a beautiful way to use edible flowers.
I actually think of them more as colorful accents than as part of the dish, but they do add a different look (and taste) to them.
Interesting article, but I would rather see my flowers than eat them!
These look amazing! I had no idea this could be done!
WOW! Yet more incentive to grow the cottage garden I’m planning. Am now putting your blog in my favorites bar so I can come back for more informative posts often!
So many beautiful flowers and they way they were added to food. I have never flowers before
Some beautiful options and tasty recipes – I’d do Pomegranate and cheese toast with a pansy topper first.
Great way to garnish foods. I love the popcycle idea.
I never knew there were flowers that are edible. I think they might be too pretty to eat but those popsicles are a wow!!!
Oh wow I never knew there where so many edible flowers that you could put in to your food
The flowers really make the food look beautiful.
I will have to try this
I will love to have this.