Dandelion Soup Recipe
I personally have never tried dandelion anything. I would probably enjoy them though because I think a lot of green vegetables taste like grass no matter how I prepare them. (I do eat vegetables anyway.) Dandelion greens would probably taste like most other vegetables to me. In many parts of our country people love them so I thought this recipe might be fun to give you.
After looking at my yard this week, which looks like it is 90% dandelions, I wish I could eat them because it would really save on my grocery bill for a couple of weeks. : ) For those of you who, unlike me, have perfect weed free yards and couldn’t find one dandelion in it even if you tried, you can substitute spinach for the greens.
-Jill
P. S. The day after I wrote this my son in law called and said that, for a couple of weeks now, my youngest grandson has asked God every day in his prayers to make the flowers grow very tall. (Maybe he is going to have his mom’s green thumb.) That morning, after many days of heavy rain, my son in law went to gaze at their yard wondering, “How in the world will we get rid of all of the huge dandelions?”
At the same moment, my grandson, standing at his side looking at the same dandelions said, “See dad, God made the flowers grow really big like I asked.”
As I have said before, it is all in the way you look at things. :-) Even the weeds in our lives, when looked at in a different way or with child like faith, can be things of beauty.
Dandelion Soup
1 pkg. (6.9 oz.) chicken flavored rice mix
3 cans (10-3/4 oz.) cream of chicken soup
5 cups water
2 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
4 cups dandelion greens, torn
Prepare rice mix according to directions. In a Dutch oven combine remaining ingredients, adding rice mix and heat through. Add dandelion greens and cook until tender, about 6-8 minutes.
photo by:brokenhrt2
jill for the dandelions, do you cook the little yellow flower and/or the green stems? … i always wondered about this…
thanks for posting this and what a sweet story aobut your grandson… thanks for sharing this with us…
rose
thanks!
Rose, I myself don’t usually fix them but as far as I know you cook just the leaves. I understand it is best to eat wild ones that haven’t been cut by a lawn mower and to pick the leaves before the plant blooms. This helps with the bitterness. Also you may need to be careful if you have sprayed weed killer on your yard.
If anyone else out there can tell us more please jump in and do.
Jill
Use tender young leaves before the plant flowers. DO NOT use if there is any chance of chemical pesticide or fertilizer. Make sure the dandelions are not too close a road where they will have been affected by vehicle exhaust.
Flowers can be used for wine :) with the same warnings listed for leaves.
Don’t know any uses for stems.
The only use I know for the fluff when the flower goes to seed is to make wishes ;)
Paula
Good info Paula. We even need the fluff from the dandelions. It has entertained and delighted every generation of children for along time, myself included. I don’t mean to get too deep here over a dandelion but it made me think how even the “weeds” in our lives if we look at them in the right way could turn into something we could use and make “soup” out of or learn to enjoy like the fluff.
Alright so that did go a little deep but hey what can I say in order to get rid of a dandelion you have to really dig deep to get rid of it’s root and what is causing it. : )
Boy I’m on a roll here maybe I could do a lecture on “Dandelions in your Life”. HA! HA! Just having a little fun this morning.
Jill
The stems are excellent for cleaning the gallbladder and liver. They are bitter, but not terrible.
use only very young dandelion greens. other wise they are tough and leathery.
dandelion wine is tasty though the greens are not very flavourful.
just a tip from someone who’s husband made her try cat tail roots on a canoe trip.
We try lots of different things out in the wilds which I really can’t understand since the same man refuses to eat broccoli.
gotta love him though he now likes onions.
My great aunt has tried a lot of natural healing. She’s always interesting to talk to as she’s always trying new herbs.
I used to stay at her house while my mom was at work. I remember picking dandelions with her to make a tea that was supposed to be good for some type of ailment. I can’t remember what…I’ll have to call and ask her. It’s been awhile since I’ve talked to her anyway. :)
thanks for sharing this again .. i love the story about the prayer ur grandson did .. so sweet ..
hubby wants me to cook him some dandelions .. but i have no clue to where to get them or even prepare them ..
we used to pick them and put them in a glass of water and set it on the table to see when we ate dinner ..
We too for years would have small bouquets of dandelions on the table. Do you or anyone remember making the dandelion chains and crowns to wear? Does anyone other then me have enough dandelions in their yard for the kids to do that? :) :)
Still have snow in most of the yard.
But when it is gone I will have the dandelions just no children.
Maybe I could borrow some.
My cats love when they go to fluff then they knock them a bit and chase the fluff as far as their ropes let them.
I don’t mind that it is when they catch the wasps and bees.
I have been using dandelion tea for edema.
It has been very helpful, also dandelions are
a good source of Vitamin D.
I don’t know how exactly how it was made, but I bought a small jar of dandilion jelly one year. It was very mild in taste, and i believe it was made from the flowers.
I love to use dandilion leaves when they are very young in place of lettuce in my sandwiches. Also good mixed in (when young) a salad.
Then just a little later I love Lambs Quarters ( didn’t know what they were for years and pulled them up in the garden as weeds. Once I found out and started to eat them we ended up with none in the garden LOL)
Lots of good eats at a great free price!
Dandelion jelly tastes and looks like honey. Yummy. When I saw it sparkling in the sun on a table at the Farmers Market I bought it having no idea what it would taste like, and was surprised at how honey-like it is. Dandelion wine might be good too. Jill, I like dandelion chains and necklaces. They are such a sweet thing for like kids to make. I like old-fashioned simple things.
I find dandelion too bitter to eat. You may want to taste the young tender leaves before “ruining” your soup. I thought they made a good tea for female troubles. I’m not sure.
A child’s prayer: my nephew told his 44 year old Mom, “Everyone is getting married and going off to college. I’m going to pray for God ot send us a baby!” We all yelled No! Stop! Too late! Baby 8 was on her way. Now if only I could get him to pray for me to be promoted…
The roasted root tastes like molasses and makes quite yummy ice cream. The leaves picked young and washed well make excellent pesto and the flower heads rolled in batter and fried is a delicacy to most. Dandelions are a blood tonic and are high in iron, truly these little rays of sunshine are a blessing and so not a curse! Wine is next on my list for this year, can’t wait to try it!
Thank you for that positive info. The roots go half way to Australia and one plant produces hundreds of seeds. I made dandelion wine once.but something went wrong. : (
Grizzly Bear Mom, LOL! Cute story about your nephew.
As a child, I prayed for a baby sister and got her. My mom was already having health issues when I was 5 years old…she wasn’t diagnosed with the CFS/Fibro until about 7 or 8 years later. Due to the health issues, my parents were not planning on having more children and were trying to avoid pregnancy. I started praying for a baby sister. I remember my mom explaining to me that sometimes God didn’t answer all of our prayers. About 10 months later, my sister was born. Mom and dad were so surprised! LOL! :)
Karen, what did I do wrong that my dandelions tasted bitter?
Angie M, now if I could get you and my nephew to agree about that promotion…
It might be worth covering a growing plant or two. The blanched leaves are less bitter.
Every spring my yard is covered in dandelions. Due to our daughters health issues we never spray (besides, I love those little bouquets she brings me). We have several great uses for our dandelions. We make dandelion jelly, we make dandelion tea, we feed the greens to our guinea pigs (and sometimes a few flowers) and sometimes we simply cook the greens for ourselves. Nothing goes to waste (not even the fluff as those are saved for wishes) and although they may not look as pretty in the yard to adults as the children think they do, they are a reminder that nothing should go to waste and everything can be used to save money on food. PS….the dandelion jelly is like a honey syrup and great on pancakes and waffles. (I just looked the recipe up on the internet one day).
I remember picking dandelions with my grandmother that she fried in pork which became crispy rinds and although I can no longer eat that way they were delicious. Of course all that grease is not good for you as most things fixed that way are not.
I love your website! It gives me good ideas and warms my heart. God bless you!
Grizzly Bear Mom, LOL! Yes, definitely ask your nephew to pray for your promotion. It seems like there is something special about the prayers of a child. I hear often of the prayers of a child being answered.
One of my close friends struggled with unexplained infertility starting when her first child was three years old. She and her husband desired a larger family so much and it was heartbreaking to them to be going through the infertility and the doctors could not offer a reason for it after extensive testing. They prayed and prayed that God would bless them with another child for five or six years. One night as she tucked her 8 or 9 year old son into bed he shared with her that he was asking God for a baby brother or sister. She became pregnant soon after that and was blessed with a healthy baby girl!
Yep, that dandilion flower wine tastes like honey :) Why? Dandilions are a significant pollen/nectar source for honey bees, especially in early spring. That’s when the bees are very busy, raising all those adorable little worker bees so there are as many as possible all grown up in time to help out with the big (nectar)honey harvests, and in the process, pollinate our gardens & crops.
So you can tell the neighbors that you are doing your part to Save The Bees, when your dandilions get ahead of you :)
Keeping bees has really changed the way I view some of the “useless” (inedible/not medicinal that I know of) weeds I encounter. I may not need/use them, but they do.
Yes, I really am a Beek (beekeeper). Who else could see, or say that thousands of wax cells filled with healthy, wiggling, larvae are adorable :) And there IS another use for Dandilion poofs (seeds). A FREE source of seed for FREE, easy to grow, almost impossible to kill, hi vitamin winter greens.
The kids – or even you – will have a blast “harvesting” the seeds. Plant them for winter greens wherever you start your other early seedlings – under growlights, in windowsill, home made greenhouse/hoophouse etc.
Because Dandilions are best when snipped or pulled as a rosette of about 7-15 leaves, before any flower stalks come out, they are perfect to grow like those expensive lettuce mixes, in a tub/trays of potting soil! (WHEN your spinich or lettuce etc bolts to seed & turns bitter, don’t just pull it and toss it, let it go to seed, save it too, and make your own salad medley!)
But you let the Dandilions get bigger than that, you can keep snipping off the tender, still sweet outer leaves all winter long, though sometimes you have to trim the big plant to force it to grow more leaves rather than go to bloom. When they finally slow down, just plant more from your little bag of free seeds. A wish come true!
Busy beekeeper mom that sounds so cool!
Oop! did not mean to multipost – I thought that when I tried to add a comment, it was deleting the others, so I was trying to put it all into one…and it wasn’t LOL Sorry! I see I wrote a book by the end too…. Hope y’all don’t mind. Take care.
Don’t worry, we took off the second post. :-)
No problem Busy Beek we took care of it. It happens all the time. Glad to have you with us and giving such good info. Thanks
As you can see Tawra and I reply to the same question at the same time without knowing it. It’s called mother daughter mental telepathy or in other words we just happen to be on the computer at the same time. :) :)
Thanks for the info about dandelions feeding bee. We all need incentive to stop putting herbicides on the earth. I’d never thought of baby bee or their being cute though!
I used to make dandelion wine. It is quite good. Tastes a bit like sherry. You use the flowers. I have also heard that if you roast the roots you can use them as a coffee substitute. Knowledge that might come in handy with the present political situation.
I never thought of dandelions as weeds. I have wonderful memories of setting my nine-month-old daughter on the front grass, and setting dandelion crowns that I had made upon her head. She was a princess. And have you noticed that the dandelions appear just when baby rabbits come out of their nests looking for food?!! Not a coincidence!
For anyone with an overabundance of dandelions I have a recipe for dandelion flower muffins which I love:
2 C unbleached flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C clipped dandelion flowers (as little green as possible – I use scissors to just cut off the petals)
Combine & set aside.
1/4 C oil
4 T honey
1 beaten egg
1 1/2 C milk
Combine & add to dry ingredients. Batter should be lumpy. Spoon into oiled muffin tins & bake @ 400 deg, 20-25 min.
I wish I could remember where I got this!
Good job ladies,i just tried to make soup but failed to heed the warning about them being bitter after they flower,yet I ate it all,could not get my wife to though.
Hi Jill,
My family has been eating dandelion greens for years. They are a great salad green and can be prepared like collard or mustard greens. They are soooo full of nutrients (surprising for a plant considered as an annoyance and a weed). Very healthy!
My father made dandelion wine and I have made sauteed dandelion flower tops in butter that taste like fried mushrooms. Very Yummy! Just make sure you cut the bitter knob off the back of the flower before you roll in flour and saute in butter.
The dandelion root makes a tea that is good for:
a gentle laxative
a digestive aid
to treat liver and kidney problems
to relieve inflammation, boils, fever and diarrhea
to stimulate the appetite and promote digestion
to help regulate blood sugar levels
to lower cholesterol levels
Dandelions are full of vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D and vitamin B complex. It also provides zinc, iron and potassium, but could interfere with certain medications. Bottom line…all parts of this “weed” are beneficial to health. Love them! :-)
Cindi it really makes you wonder why they ever became known as a weed with so many benefits. :)
Can anyone tell me how to make dandelion jelly? Thanks
Dandelion Jelly http://www.food.com/recipe/dandelion-jelly-90601
Also, does anyone know how to make Johnny jump-up jelly? I read of this kind of jelly on another site but they didn’t post any kind of recipe for it. Thanks again.
Dandelions became know as weeds when someone learned they could profit by selling us chemicals to keep said “weeds”. I figure God knows what he is doing in sending me dandelions and lions quarters so the bunnies come visit my yard.
In the South kudzu is about to take over, I have heard you can eat, do you know?
Johnny jump up jelly, put it in your browser will take you right to it.
We raise rabbits for our own meat. Spring time is a boon to us because of the dandelions. Rabbits love them, and after eating pelleted feed all winter, they are very excited to get dandelions. We pick, pull, and scythe them down and feed them to the rabbits every other day, with pellets on alternate days. Free, fresh feed to build up our meat larder.