Fried dandelion fritters are a nutritious and delicious snack foraged right from your backyard. With tons of vitamins and minerals, making these fried dandelions is a healthy way to enjoy the honey taste of dandelion blossoms with a savory batter.
Eating Dandelions
Dandelions are commonly known sunny-faced flowers that are wrongly seen as a nuisance and a weed that must be eradicated. They are actually edible, nutritious, and taste delicious!
Plus, they’re one of the easiest flowers to identify, forage, and use. In fact, sometimes, the best place to harvest fresh dandelions is right in your backyard, where you know they haven’t been sprayed with herbicide.
Dandelions are delicious either raw or cooked. The blossoms, leaves, and roots are all edible, have medicinal qualities, and are highly nutritious.
People don’t usually eat the stems, as the milky substance that resides in them is quite bitter and can have an undesirable laxative effect.
To make fried dandelions, it’s okay to harvest with the stem on, so they’re easier to dip in the batter and oil, but just eat the blossoms. And don’t forget to save any greens for other uses!
Dandelions Flower Benefits
The dandelion plant is known for aiding digestion, helping kidney and liver function, and helping to treat UTIs. Dandelion greens are full of vitamins A, C, K, and E, as well as iron, folate, and calcium.
There are thousands of uses for dandelions! My favorite way to eat the greens and blossoms fresh is this dandelion salad, and my favorite dandelion dessert is dandelion cupcakes.
The roots make a delicious caffeine-free coffee substitute. Topically, dandelions make a lovely skin-calming and healing salve. These are the most humbly useful wild-growing plants around!
Fried Dandelion Fritters
Flower fritters are an easy and tasty way to benefit from and eat dandelion blossoms. The petals taste sweet, like honey, so frying them with a savory batter makes for a well-rounded and complex flavor.
Fried dandelions are good for you, super tasty, and are a super simple way to snack on these nutritious blossoms!
In summer, feel free to fry up some Queen Anne’s lace fritters while you’re at it.
Ingredients
Fresh dandelion flowers: Forage dandelion flowers from a place that isn’t sprayed with chemicals and is free of pet waste.
Organic canola oil: It’s important to use a light oil for this recipe, so canola oil works best. I prefer to use organic.
All-purpose flour: I use organic flour, you can use what you prefer. Feel free to substitute with a gluten-free flour, just be sure to read the ratio instructions on the flour.
Arrowroot powder or Cornstarch
Baking powder
Spices: Salt, paprika, and black pepper.
Egg
Sparkling water: When you make the dandelion fritters, make sure the sparkling water you use is chilled.
How to Make Dandelion Flower Fritters
Once you’ve foraged and harvested some fresh dandelions, prepare them by rinsing them lightly in cold water to remove dirt or bugs.
To make these healthy and mega-delicious flower fritter snacks, first heat the oil on medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed 10-inch skillet.
Note: I usually use my cast iron skillet, which I recommend using for this recipe if you have one.
While the oil heats, stir together these ingredients:
- flour
- arrowroot powder
- baking powder
- salt
- paprika
- pepper
Then add the egg and the sparkling water to the flour, and stir it to combine. The batter might be a little bit lumpy, but that’s ok.
Now test to see if the oil is hot enough to use by dripping a tiny bit of the batter into the pan. If it’s hot enough, it will sizzle immediately. If not, let it heat for a few more minutes.
Once the oil is hot enough to pass the sizzle test, use tongs or chopsticks to dip the dandelion flowers into the batter, coating them evenly.
Then carefully place the dandelions into the hot oil. The flowers will immediately sizzle!
Note: You may need to work in batches depending on the size of your skillet.
Fry each flower for 30-60 seconds, then flip and cook another 30-60 seconds until they are a light golden brown all over.
Use tongs or chopsticks to carefully remove each flower from the hot oil, and transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.
A Backyard Snack
Enjoy these backyard snacks right away! They make a lovely snack on their own, or a perfect happy hour appetizer.
Try pairing them with a summery drink like elderflower sparkling mead or a delicious rose gin cocktail.
Dandelion fritters are perfect for kids and adults alike! They make a lovely addition to a fairy-themed picnic or party. Serve them with rhubarb strawberry crisp topped with whimsical candied rhubarb ribbons.
Make sparkling water sweetened with rhubarb syrup for the kids and a rhubarb gin sour cocktail for the adults for a truly magical spring feel with flower snacks to feast on!
More Dandelion Recipes
- Dandelion Pesto
- Dandelion Mead
- Low-Sugar Dandelion Jelly
- Dandelion Kombucha
- How to Make Dandelion Tea
- 50+ Dandelion Recipes
- Dandelion Soap
- Make and Use Dandelion Salve
- Dandelion Lotion Bars
- Infused Dandelion Vinegar
- Dandelion Syrup
Dandelion Fritters
Equipment
- Tongs or chopsticks
Ingredients
- 12-18 fresh dandelion flowers
- 2 cups organic canola oil
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup arrowroot powder or cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup cold sparkling water
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed 10-inch skillet (cast iron works well) over medium-high heat.
- Stir together the flour, arrowroot, baking powder, salt, paprika, and pepper.
- Add the egg and sparkling water to the flour, and stir to combine. It may be a bit lumpy, but that’s ok.
- Drip a tiny bit of the batter into the oil to test for heat. It should sizzle immediately; if it doesn’t, let it heat for a few more minutes.
- Once the oil is hot, use tongs or chopsticks to dip the dandelion flowers into the batter, coating them evenly. Then, carefully place the dandelions into the hot oil. The flowers will immediately sizzle. Depending on the size of your skillet, you may need to work in batches.
- Fry each flower for 30-60 seconds, then flip and cook another 30-60 seconds until they are light golden brown all over. Use tongs or chopsticks to carefully remove each flower from the hot oil and transfer it to a plate lined with a paper towel.
Can I use regular water instead of sparkling water?
You certainly can, but be aware that the primary reason for using sparkling water is its carbonation which starts working as soon as it mixes with the dry ingredients, creating an instant leavening effect. It also creates small bubbles in the batter that expand due to the heat during cooking, helping the batter to become light and crispy.
I live in Portugal and I haven’t seen any dandelions around. Can I use Cat’s Ears instead?
You can try, but they tend to be more bitter than dandelion flowers.