Dandelion Juice
Hate those pesky dandelions in your yard? Consider making dandelion jam! But, first things first. Stop those pesky seeds right in their track. Send the kids out to pick the flowers. But before you start smacking your lips with anticipation, some prep work is necessary. (No groans, people. It ain’t that hard. Trust me.)
Word of caution: Make sure you harvest dandelions from pesticide free lawn or fields.
It’s is all in the Prep
Watch the video below as I describe how to soak your dandelions in order to prep to make dandelion jam.
The basic recipe in a nutshell:
- Harvest the dandelions and immediately soak them using 1:1 ratio of boiling water to dandelions.
- Snip off any stems and try and use only the flowers. Some people snip off the green part that holds the flowers but I found this to be a lot of work.
- Wait over night and then drain the brown liquid.
- Squeeze out the dandelions to get every last drop of dandy juice.
- Put the juice in the refrigerator or freeze it if you aren’t going to make jam in the next few days.
- If you taste it, it will be bitter.
You probably could use this juice in your smoothies or juices but as I mentioned above, it is bitter.
I will be posting the recipe for the jam shortly. I am re-working the recipe since it wasn’t sweet enough. I used Agar Powder in lieu of pectin and used too little sugar.
FYI, agar is seaweed which acts like gelatin. By using agar, you use significantly less pectin. How many pectin packages do you go through when you make jam?
So hang on and I will be posting both the recipe and video shortly.
Join the Conversation:
- Have you ever made dandelion jam?
- Have you ever used the juice from soaked dandelions in your smoothies or juices?
- Have you made any recipes using dandelion greens or flowers?
- Are you waiting with bated breath for my dandelion jam?
Julia says
June 4, 2012 at 6:50 amNice kind of video..I learn a lot while watching the video.. By using agar, you use significantly less pectin.
sarah says
April 23, 2015 at 3:01 pmHello, I came across the video and website because I was checking how other people make dandelion jam or jelly. Sadly all you have is the prep bit. Please post the recipe, too. I’ve got my recipe and way to do it, but I think others will profit from additional posts. Most people consider dandelions as weet at best. But it’s so versatile and healthy.
Anna@Green Talk says
April 27, 2015 at 12:00 pmSarah, working on it. I emailed your privately with a recipe close to what I am using. Anna