I have an exciting foraged food recipe to share with you today! I’ve wanted to make dandelion pesto for a long time, but have recently been inspired by a brand new book by Rosalee de la Forêt, Alchemy of Herbs. This book is full of amazing herbal recipes, I really want to try them all! But, I really love pesto and the dandelions are starting to pop up, so this pesto made with bitter dandelion greens was first on my list. It’s tasty and gives you some beneficial herbal actions, all at once!
Harvesting Dandelion Greens
Since it’s so early in the year, combined with the fact that we’ve had a rather cold winter, our local dandelion greens are rather small and not quite abundant yet. They are still around, though.
I didn’t think I had quite enough to forage for this recipe, so I cheated slightly and bought a beautiful bunch of dandelion greens at my local food co-op.
In a month or two there will probably be so many dandelion greens in and around my yard that I won’t have to do this, but for now I thought I’d leave them be to grow a bit bigger.
Anyways, I feel lucky to have access to such awesome food in my community! And these dandelion greens are absolutely gorgeous. They must come from a cultivated variety that are grown just for their large greens.
How to Make Dandelion Pesto
This dandelion pesto recipe is fairly standard as far as pesto recipes go, with a few minor changes. First, dandelion leaves replace basil, making it great for digestion and for the liver.
The addition of lemon zest and juice tempers the bitterness of the dandelion greens, and the turmeric and black pepper gives the pesto anti-inflammatory properties.
If you can’t find any dandelion greens, perhaps you’ll have better luck making homemade pesto with arugula pesto or chickweed pesto. They’re both delicious!
Place the dandelion greens, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, and spices into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. If it’s too thick, slowly add a bit more olive oil.
Add the Parmesan and continue to blend until the mixture has a smooth consistency.
Refrigerate, and eat within 3 days. You can also freeze the pesto into ice cube trays for later use.
This dandelion pesto is so amazingly delicious! It has a little bite from the dandelion greens, but not overwhelmingly so. It’s bright and fresh, and full of nutrition. I even made a double batch and froze some for later!
I highly recommend the Alchemy of Herbs book! It has so many great herbal recipes that you and your family will love.
I hope you try this dandelion pesto this spring! I definitely think it’s going to be a new favorite in this household.
More uses for Foraged Dandelion
Did you know there are over 50 ways to enjoy this amazingly versatile backyard “weed”? I love dandelions and write about then frequently! Here are some of my other dandelion posts:
- Dandelion Root Muffins
- Dandelion Mead
- Roasted Dandelion Root Coffee
- Dandelion Salve
- Dandelion Kombucha
- Dandelion Soap
- Dandelion Vinegar
Do you ever cook with dandelion greens? What is your favorite thing to make?
Dandelion Pesto
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups chopped fresh dandelion leaves loosely packed
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Place all ingredients except the Parmesan into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. If it's too thick, slowly add a bit more olive oil.
- Add the Parmesan and continue to blend until the mixture has a smooth consistency.
- Refrigerate, and eat within 3 days.
I made dandelion pesto after harvesting all the dandelion leaves from my garden last week. I added some fresh basil and fresh mint too, along with the rest of the ingredients used in this recipe. I usually make wild garlic pesto, but the wild garlic is coming to the end of the season now. I doubled up on ingredients as my neighbours love home made pesto too. I made a nice tea from some of the Dandelion heads and a few of the leaves. I have left the roots in the ground but will pull some up on my next harvest to dry and try dandelion coffee.
Wonderful! Sounds delicious!
I was wondering why mine turned out so bitter!
Mine too!! I got about halfway through the bowl and couldn’t finish it… :(
I have that excellent book!! thanks so much for all great recipes!
Do you have a recipe to ferment the dandelion leaves?
I believe you are not using a wild dandelion in the photo in this recipe but an Italian endive or chicory, which is not a dandelion (although they look similar)
Hi Eve, I bought them at my local food co-op and they were labeled as dandelion greens, so I’m pretty sure that’s what they are! They are probably a cultivated variety grown for its greens.
I would try to incorporate nutritional yeast instead of parmesan for additional health.
You just ruined the pesto by taking the parmesan out..!!
real fresh parmesan is the top pesto flavor..!!
just adding yeast is grat and also licithn granules..!!
I am allergic to raw garlic, what could I use as a substitute?
You could use bittercress leaves instead of garlic. They are in the mustard family. Have a nice slightly spicy zing that would compliment the flavor profile. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardamine_hirsuta
that is a great idea! Thanks!
Roast the garlic with all the skin intact , then squeeze out the garlic with a spoon
, you are probably alergic to that sharp smelling compound in garlic , this paste should be ok
Just discovered your blog and love the idea and recipes. I am always looking for ways to use dandelion greens so I’m going to try this recipe tonight on some zucchini spiral noodles.
Can you can this in jars to have some stored for later?
If you save your small jars, or something of equal size, you can freeze it in the right proportions. That is what I do. Although I must admit, last month was the first time trying pesto. I also read you could freeze it in ice cube trays, then put the cubes into Ziploc bags.
I love adding dandelion greens to lots of recipes, a touch to quiches and salads, a larger serving amount blends well into any tomato sauce/italian pasta or soup and also lends a beautiful green flavor to my red pumpkin dahl or any red lentil curry.
I’m excited to make this pesto! I love the added benefit of turmeric and black pepper!
When in season, see if you can forage beech nuts. They work as a great substitute for pine nuts.
And wild hazelnuts!! I made basil pesto last year with foraged American Hazelnuts!! I was hesitant but it turned out so amazing!!
I’d love to use pine nuts for this but they are soooo expensive. I noticed that someone else used walnuts, any other pine nut replacement suggestions that won’t affect the overall result too much?
Thanks!
Walnuts or cashews are great substitutions!
Cashews and almonds are great substitutes, actually I make my pesto with cashew nuts an I think it’s much nicer
I was impressed. I did not think the recipe could could convert the bitter greens into a tasty pesto.
I made 2 batches. For the first batch I added about 1/2 the measurement of the lemon zest. The second batch was with a fuller tablespoon of zest. I liked the first batch much better. Also I did 1/2 the measurement of turmeric (1/2 t) for both batches.
Also I took someone’s recommendation of adding a small amount of basil leaves.
I added basil to both batches.
Thank you for the recipe. I will definitely make it again.
It is really bitter…how can I balance it?
Dandelions are one of the most nutritious and healthy foods. Thanks for the recipe!
The dandelions are slow to sprout where I live in FL, believe it or not. You can bet I’ll be trying the pesto recipe, and thanks for the line on the book deal. I anyone is interested, I use the following recipe for dandelion wine. It’s worked well many times:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/162202/dandelion-wine/
Awesome! But Vegan~much healthier!
Beautiful! Are the dandelions easy to start
in a pot at home from dandelions I
pick outdoors?
Year after year I read about dandelions
but this helps inspire.
Congratulations on your book!
I love flowers and herb gardening and the joy of perranials! Natalie Marie
thank you! What a great idea! Making it tomorrow, but vegan. ;)
OK Thanks — making this today! But vegan, with walnuts on hand.