Benefits of Dandelion and Learning to Love them

Benefits of Dandelion and Learning to Love them.

This post may contain affiliate links. See full disclosure page here. Your support is much appreciated and helps keep this site running. Thank you for being here!

I’m learning to love dandelions and making the case that you should too. Tis the season for them to be absolutely everywhere, and it’s either lovely or a nightmare depending on who you ask. I honestly don’t know why we’re taught to hate everything other than grass in our lawn. I wrote this article last year. I’m updating it as of March 2023, and now I can’t wait for dandelion season. I’ve been looking forward to them for months.

I gave up on having a grass lawn a long time ago. I’ve truly grown to love all the useful weeds in my yard. If you can’t beat them, eat them. I can’t make tea or jam with grass, and I don’t have to use a ton of water to keep dandelions alive. I’m pretty sure they will outlast every single one of us in an apocalypse.

My next article will be on reasons not to have a grass lawn and dads everywhere will hate me. I haven’t published it yet but it’s coming with lots of ideas for alternative ground covers. Anyway, staying on topic, let’s move on.

This article is for educational purposes and not medical advice.

Benefits of Dandelion by Each Part

Botanical name: taraxacum officinale. So what do we do with these fuzzy yellow little guys? Lots of things. Embrace them. They are great for our bodies and taste good. I’ll break down the benefits of dandelion by each part, how to use them, and their medicinal qualities.

Want to hear something funny? The French name is pissenlit which means “piss the bed.” according to the Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses. They certainly have a sense of humor. I don’t think you have to worry about soiling yourself, but dandelion is both a mild laxative and a diuretic. It’s full of useful active compounds that are made supportive of the liver, kidneys, digestion, high blood pressure, and more. It has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant qualities.

Flowers and Stems

The flowers are not only tasty but they are a mild pain reliever that can be used topically on dry skin, and useful for eczema and acne. You can eat the petals right off the plant or throw them in a salad. Kids love them. Pro tip: give them a bucket and let them go to town picking. My 4-year-old loves helping with stuff like this. My teenager was never as easy and usually would say something along the lines of “how about you do it and I’ll watch.” Your mileage may vary.

The stems in particular are supposed to have the most analgesic benefits although I’ve also read the milky sap can be irritating to some. You should always do a small allergy test when using new plants.

Leaves

The leaves are a completely different flavor. They can be bitter but also have some wonderful benefits, like cleansing the liver and kidneys. The leaves have the most diuretic power and are excellent for detoxifying and debloating. I have read they are the most bitter in the summer, and sweetest in the fall. I’ve also read conflicting info about this so I think it’s going to take some experimenting. I’ve been doing it wrong because I’ve always had super bitter ones but I honestly can’t remember what season I picked them.

Bitter isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. I’ve had them sautéed with garlic and oil and drizzled with vinegar to cut some of it. They go well with something rich and fatty. Years ago at a farm-to-table style restaurant, I had an amazing dish with braised oxtail and dandelion greens. They were not overly bitter at all and it was a perfect match. Try them in place of collard greens with some salty pork. Mmm.

Roots

My favorite part of the dandelion is the root. It has a sweet almost nutty flavor when roasted. I’ve been buying roasted dandelion root tea for years. The root supports healthy digestion. It contains a prebiotic fiber called inulin which increases in the fall, so that’s the best time to harvest. It also supports healing of the liver and can aid in clearing skin conditions. The anti-inflammatory properties can help relieve joint pain.

I finally just went digging one day and gather my own dandelion root. I always worried about pesticides and pollution and I wasn’t sure if the previous homeowners used chemicals on the lawn. However, judging by the way it looked when we got here I doubt they did anything. We’ve been here for nearly 4 5 years now so it’s probably safe!

If you use Roundup or anything like that in your yard (why??) then definitely don’t consume anything from it. I’ve seen varying timeframes for how long it takes for pesticides to clear but it is a few years at the minimum. Anyway as I’m sure you know if you’ve ever tried to rid your lawn of these stubborn things the roots don’t pull easily. I highly recommend one of these weed fork-looking thingies to avoid leaving gaping holes all over the place. Yes, that is the technical name.

Edit: after writing this article I proceeded to dig up my mother’s backyard and have at it before her patio was renovated. I still recommend the weed fork thingy, however, I broke hers. They were some tough dandelion roots.

Recipes Ideas

If you want the benefits of dandelion but you’re not sure what to do with them, Infusions are probably the easiest. That’s just a fancy word for herbal tea. When the flowers are in bloom again I’m going to make dandelion flower-infused honey. I’m also intrigued by dandelion wine and might take a stab at that. I’ve made basic fruit wines and ciders before. It can’t be that hard.

If you aren’t into eating it or drinking tea there’s always tincture. It has the longest shelf life. Read about how to make your own tincture at home in this post. For strictly medicinal use I just stick to cheap 100-proof vodka. For non-alcoholic tincture (called a glycerite instead) vegetable glycerin is used. You can purchase veggie glycerin on Amazon or Starwest Botanicals. You can also infuse dandelions and other flowers and herbs in apple cider vinegar.

Other things you can do with dandelion include infused oil to rub into your skin directly or add to a salve (stems are good here) infused honey, plain tea, to more involved recipes like cakes and muffins.

I’m obsessed with fermented anything so I’ve added the greens to my list for future ferments. A quick pickle sounds like it would be interesting too. I will update this post with some recipes as soon as these little guys are blooming again.

Now that you know the benefits of dandelion, hopefully you won’t be as quick to mow them down when they show their sunny little faces, and will learn to love them as I have.

---

References:
Herbal Medicine: 190 Herbs To Know And Use Kindle Edition
Northeast Medicinal Plants: Identify, Harvest, and Use 111 Wild Herbs for Health and Wellness Paperback