Cooking Dandelions and Removing the Bitterness
Answered by: Yvonne Tremblay
Question from: Audry
Posted on: February 26, 2007

How do you cook dandelions and take the bitterness out of the taste?

Smaller, paler green young dandelion leaves have a slightly milder flavour. To minimize the bitter taste, mix them in a salad with other greens (so you don’t get so much of it all at once). You might try a heated dressing with lots of flavour or one that is sweet and sour. Try with bacon or ham, Dijon mustard, sweetened with honey, added garlic or dried chile flakes, nut oils, balsamic vinegar, add flavoured croutons to the salad, add goat cheese, red onin, toasted walnuts or pine nuts. Try also braised dandelion leaves cooked in olive oil and garlic. You can also boil leaves until tender, then quickly blanch them in ice water, drain, chop and add to dishes as you would use cooked spinach.

Back to Culinary Herbs and Their Uses | Q & A Index

Copyright © 1997-2024 Otto Richter and Sons Limited. All rights reserved.