Check out this list of edible wild flowers to find your next favorite garnish. Many of the beautiful blooms on this edible flowers list can also be found in your herb garden.
Edible flowers are becoming more popular, but the spicy ones aren’t as well-known, and they can add a revelatory amount of flavor to your meal.
Elegant with a touch of whimsy, a garnish of edible blossoms will elevate any dish. But will the flavor of the blooms live up to their visual appeal? For these six often-overlooked, spicy edible flowers, the answer is an enthusiastic yes. Far from the expected floral notes, their pep will likely astonish anyone who hasn’t tasted them before. And best of all, these multitasking blossoms deliver a healthful surprise that rivals their flavor.
While many of the plants on this list will be familiar to gardeners, working with the blossoms instead of the leaves will bring a twist to your cooking. You can use edible flowers in salads, soups, and even on toast. A great way to start is by mixing the spicy flowers with butter, and you’ll find one of my tried-and-true recipes below.
Before we begin, there are a few things to know about edible wild flowers:
- Not all flowers are edible. In fact, some are poisonous. Have a 100% accurate identification of the flowers you use. The blooms covered here are common in gardens, but when in doubt, consult someone with experience in plant identification.
- Harvest from clean areas. If you’re wildcrafting, be aware of what’s nearby. For example, don’t harvest near roads, golf courses, or dog parks. Don’t use flowers from a bouquet or arrangement, unless you’re certain they haven’t been treated with pesticides. Practice responsible foraging: Harvest thoughtfully and leave the majority for others.
- After harvesting, leave your flowers outside in the shade in a basket, colander, or plate for 30 minutes to give the insects time to crawl away. That way, there’s no need to wash the flowers.
- Some flowers will keep for a day or two in the refrigerator, but I usually eat them the same day I harvest them.
Wild Edible Flowers List
Thyme
Flavor: Spicy and pungent. Some varieties may have a citrus flavor.
Use: Garnish just about any savory dish, soup, or stew. Sprinkle atop rice, millet, or quinoa for added flair. Thyme flowers are delicious in a flower-infused butter, and they can really enliven potatoes or your morning toast routine.
Identify and harvest: While there are hundreds of varieties of thyme and all are edible, you’ll have the most success with one that has relatively large flowers — and even these will be small. Look for tiny white, pink, or purple flowers that bloom in spring and summer. Common thyme (Thymus vulgaris) is low-growing, reaching 6 to 12 inches in height, with tiny leaves that grow in clusters on square, often woody stems. Thyme releases a distinctive aroma when the leaves are brushed or crushed. To harvest, clip the flowering tops and remove the flowers from the stem.
Health benefits: Thyme is full of trace minerals, including iron, and is a wonderful carminative herb that enhances digestion by stimulating the movement of blood and oxygen to the digestive tract. It’s a warming and drying herb, and in higher doses, it offers support for ailments associated with the lungs and throat, speeding recovery from sore throats, sinus infections, and bronchial infections.
Nasturtium
Flavor: Spicy, piquant flavor that leaves a hot, biting aftertaste.
Use: These bright blossoms are a vibrant, peppery garnish for any savory dish or salad. Put whole nasturtium flowers on a sandwich as you would lettuce or pickles. For an appetizer or side dish, stuff the largest flowers with quinoa pilaf, tabbouleh, or tuna salad. These can also be eaten as finger food.
Identify and harvest: All varieties of nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) are edible. Look for shield-shaped, almost circular leaves with white, spoke-like veins and orange, yellow, or red flowers with five petals. Gently harvest the flowers with scissors when they’re first budding or fully opened.
Health benefits: The flowers are a good source of vitamin C, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc.
Society Garlic
Flavor: Pungent with a kick, and often compared to garlic.
Use: Add society garlic flowers to any food in which you’d add raw onions. Try mixing society garlic flowers with golden mustard flowers to garnish a green salad. Society garlic adds a delicious kick to sandwiches, wraps, spring rolls, and kale salads. I love to snack on them while working in the garden.
Identify and harvest: Society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) is in the same family as garlic and onions, Amaryllidaceae, though not in the same genus. Growing about a foot tall, society garlic is often planted as a border or ground cover. Look for a starburst bloom with six points from midsummer to fall. The flowers are typically purple, though some varieties may produce white or pink flowers. Harvest the flowers with scissors.
Health benefits: Society garlic contains the same general constituents as garlic. Adding them to your diet can help maintain good health and protect against colds and flu. Early research suggests society garlic may reduce the risk of blood clots, and that a compound in society garlic, methyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside, may help protect against cancer.
Wild Mustard
Flavor: A spicy zip similar to fresh arugula or mustard seed.
Use: Mustard flowers are an excellent garnish for savory breads, cornbread, any kind of potato dish, or creamed soup. Cut all the flowers away from the stem and sprinkle the yellow flowers all over the dish, so each bite has a little pep to it.
Identify and harvest: Often considered a weed, wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis) is actually a brassica. The leaves are oval-shaped with irregular lobes. Wild mustard blooms in spring, and new plants may sprout and bloom in fall. Look for small blossoms with four yellow petals in a cross shape. The flowers grow in clusters at the ends of the stem, resembling broccoli in the budding and flowering phases. Snip or pluck in bunches from the tops of the plants.
Health benefits: This hardy plant might not be a welcome sight to all gardeners, but it has benefits similar to other brassicas. It’s a good source of antioxidants, vitamins A and E, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, selenium, and manganese. Antioxidants may help reduce systemic inflammation in the body. Spicy mustard flowers also help clear the sinuses and lungs.
Wild Radish
Flavor: Spicy and pungent, with a peppery bite like the raw radish root.
Use: Invigorate your salad with freshly picked wild radish flowers. Elevate brunch by sprinkling the blossoms atop an egg dish, or garnish a rice dish for dinner. Wild radish blooms are a great candidate for a flower-infused butter.
Identify and harvest: Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) is another brassica with large, lobed leaves and petals that form a cross or an “X.” Look for paper-thin flowers in hues from white to pink or purple, and any shade in between. The blossoms are delicate and don’t really last more than a day once picked. Wild radish is considered an invasive weed in some places; check with your state’s agricultural extension office before planting.
Health benefits: Wild radish blossoms may help improve digestion. Like other brassicas, wild radish is rich in nutrients: calcium, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, and beta-carotene.
Common Oregano
Flavor: Hot and spicy. Just a few of these small flowers will add a zing to any dish.
Use: Use common oregano flowers to garnish any dish that calls for oregano. They’re great with savory soups and salads, hummus, or atop a burger. Mix 2 tablespoons of fresh oregano flowers into a stick of softened butter, and use it on corn or bread, to top steamed vegetables, or as a base for sautéing onions.
Identify and harvest: Like other herbs in the mint family, common oregano (Origanum vulgare) has a square stem and distinct aroma. The leaves are small and ovate, and the small blossoms range from white to pink or purple. Look for these blooms from midsummer through fall.
Health benefits: This joyful and tenacious herb has carminative properties that enhance digestion and nutrient absorption. It also nourishes the central nervous system. Similar to society garlic, adding oregano and its flowers to meals regularly may help the body keep infections at bay.
Flower Power: Making the Most of this Edible Flowers List
Spicy edible flowers are a delightful, easy way to add interest to a dish. When we work with them, not only do we upgrade a meal’s flavor, but we also boost the health of loved ones and ourselves. Enjoy your nibbling, and my hope is that your meals will be topped with more spicy edible flowers!
Flower-Infused Butter: Using Edible Wild Flowers
An infused butter is a wonderful way to start using spicy edible flowers in food. The flavors of the flowers work well with many of the foods we love to eat with butter, from toast to root vegetables. And people are much more willing to try something new when it involves butter.
If you want an even easier start, simply mix thyme flowers into softened butter. Make what you think you’ll eat in one day, adjusting the ratios in the recipe. I like to use this butter up in a couple of days. The water in the fresh herbs tends to make the butter go rancid if it sits around.
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter
- 1/4 cup minced thyme flowers
- 1/4 cup minced red onion
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
- Let the butter soften.
- Add all ingredients to the butter and mix well.
Kami McBride is an herbalist whose courses and bestselling book The Herbal Kitchen have helped thousands of people learn how to use common kitchen herbs and spices in delightful ways. Connect with Kami on her website and herbal remedy and healthy living blog Living Awareness or on social media @KamiMcBride.
Originally published as “Edible Blossoms to Spice Up Your Cooking” in the April/May 2023 issue of Mother Earth News and regularly vetted for accuracy.
