How to make Dandelion Tea

Somebody asked me how to make dandelion tea so I thought I would do a quick post on it. I can’t post pictures since our dandelions are not growing yet.

You can make tea from the leaves , flowers or root.

For fresh leaves use about a 1 to 2 ratio ½ cup leaves to 1 cup water.
Put leaves in pan and cover with water let boil about 3 minutes then strain and add sweetener of your choice. You can drink it hot or iced.

You can also dry the leaves for storage to have year round. If using dried leaves use 2 Tablespoon dried leaves per cup of water.

　

You can add the blossoms to the leaves if you would like or you can make a tea with just the blossoms. I found this recipes over at http://wellnessmama.com/4505/iced-lime-dandelion-tea/

I haven’t tried it yet, but can’t wait to, it sounds so good
Lime & Dandelion Tea
1 quart of dandelion flowers (or more)- Pick them fresh and use immediately so they don’t wilt! Get only the yellow parts, and pull off any leaves (use in salads) or stems
3 quarts of cold water
1 cup of hot (not quite boiling) water
The juice of 3-4 limes
2-3 tablespoons dried stevia leaf or sweetener or choice (honey, cane sugar, etc, to taste)
1/2 cup dried red raspberry leaf (optional)

In a jar or cup, pour the hot water over the stevia leaf and dried red raspberry leaf using) and stir well. If using another sweetener, put it in the warm water instead. Let steep 5-8 minutes and then strain off the herbs.

Pour the sweetened liquid from the stevia

Add the Dandelion flowers and mix gently. Refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours or until completely chilled and serve. You can strain out the flowers or pour them into the cups. Bonus points if you freeze them into ice cubes for decoration!
You can also make a tea with the roots most people dry the roots but you can use the fresh root if you like. If using fresh roots clean and chop add 2 tablespoons fresh root each cup of water.

To dry the roots start by washing the fresh roots make sure they are clean you may need to soak them in water for a little while to help get the dirt off.

Preheat your oven to 150. In the meantime chop you roots into about ½ inch pieces spread the roots on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven to dry about 2 hours when they are brittle turn the oven up to 375 degrees and cook them for another 10 minutes. Use 1 Tablespoon of root per cup of water. Put the root in the water and bring to a boil and simmer for 5 to ten minutes until desired strength. Drain off the roots and add a sweetener of you choice, you could also add some cinnamon , Ginger or lemon if you would like..
You can also make a tea with the whole plant make sure it is clean chop in to smaller pieces then add 1 ½ cup dandelions to a pot and cover with 3 cups water then add a pinch of baking soda and boil for 3 to 4 minutes strain add sweetener of your choice you can add some lemon , cinnamon or ginger if you would like.

If you would prefer Dandelion coffee there is a real good recipe here .