Dandelion Health Benefits: Nutrition, Medicine, and Recipes

Gardeners curse the ubiquitous dandelion and its pervasive nature. They pop up everywhere in spring and are so hard to eradicate—taproots go to China!

Dandelion History

Hard to believe, but dandelions were once absent from North America. They originated in Asia Minor, spreading through Asia and Europe.

• Normans called it "dent de lion" (tooth of the lion) for jagged leaves. Anglo-Saxons corrupted this to dandylion.
• Vikings brought seeds to Iceland and Greenland, where they still thrive.
• Chinese call it "nail in the earth" for its long taproot drawing nutrients from deep underground.
• Medieval times: dandelions gathered on St. John's Eve (June 24) were believed to repel witches. Milky sap ("devil's milkpail") cured warts and pimples.

Dandelion Health Benefits

Puritans brought seeds for herb gardens; plants escaped and spread nationwide. Since all parts are edible and vitamin-rich, that's not bad.

• Dandelions are more nutritious than spinach, have 25 times the vitamin A of tomato juice, and provide calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, lecithin, and vitamins C, B, and E. For early settlers, they made a life-saving spring tonic.

• Dandelion was a standard medicinal plant for generations. Latin name Taraxacum officinale means "remedy for disorders." Leaves are a powerful diuretic but don't flush potassium—safer than pharmaceutical diuretics. Roots are slightly laxative; tea from fresh or dried roots reportedly improves digestion.
• Like cousin chicory, roots can be roasted dark brown, ground into powder, and used as coffee substitute.

Dandelion Recipes

When life gives dandelions, make dandelion wine or jelly—sweet reminders of spring for winter.

Since dandelions are related to bitter epicurean greens (endive, chicory, escarole, radicchio), harvest free, rampant dandelion greens for good use.

• Young leaves are tasty in salads if picked before flowers appear to avoid bitterness.
• Blanch like endive by covering with a large pot or basket to exclude sunlight.
• Older leaves can be boiled with salt pork or bacon like collards, stir-fried with garlic and onions, or added to risotto/pasta. See Kentucky Dandelion Greens recipe.
• Dip flower heads in light batter and deep fry. See Fried Dandelion Blossoms recipe.

First year: only leaves while growing large sustaining root. Second year: many flowers in rapid succession.

Under magnification, each petal comprises five fused petals. Green bracts fold around flowers at night or on cloudy, cool, rainy days. More sun = more deeply notched leaf edges. Dandelions self-pollinate—every seed produces an exact parent copy.

Seeds are "achenes," white fluff is "pappus," connecting stem is the beak. As seeds mature, flower stalk lengthens, making puff more accessible to breezes.

You can curse dandelions, but what's now considered a noxious weed fed and healed us for thousands of years. Every part is edible!

Try making dandelion wine and raise a glass to spring.

For other culinary greens, see Leafy Greens: Health Benefits.

~ By Robin Sweetser

About This Blog

Get inspired by Robin Sweetser's backyard gardening tips. Robin has been a contributor to The Old Farmer's Almanac and the All-Seasons Garden Guide for many years. She and her partner Tom have a small greenhouse business and also sell plants, cut flowers, and vegetables at their local Farmer's Market.