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You may make lemonade when life gives you lemons, but do you make dandelion vinegar when your yard is full of dandelions? Today I’ll show you how to make dandelion vinegar in two simple ways: infused vinegar or from scratch with sugar and water. Dandelion leaves and blossoms are edible and tasty. Try this recipe when the yellow flowers start blooming!
– Bettye
🌼 Dandelion Vinegar Recipe
The delicate floral flavor of dandelions is easily overpowered by other ingredients, so I find the best results come from making dandelion vinegar from scratch. Luckily, all it takes is three ingredients and a little time. Here is what you need:
- Fresh dandelion blossoms
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 cups water
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You need enough dandelion petals to fill a pint jar for this recipe. Make sure you’re picking in an area that is not near a road and that is unsprayed. If you aren’t picking on your own property, it’s important to get permission to pick at the site.
I know it’s just dandelions, but you never know. The person who owns the property might have plans to make dandelion wine ,delicious fried dandelions, or this dandelion flower vinegar.
How to Make Dandelion Vinegar
Dissolve the sugar in the water.
Gently rinse the dandelions to remove dirt and bugs. Separate the yellow petals from the stems, leaves, and green base of the blossom (the calyx). Pack the petals into a glass pint jar, ensuring some space remains at the top.
Pour the sugar water over the dandelion petals. Cover the petals completely but leave some space at the top of the jar. Use a jar weight to keep the petals under the liquid (any exposed to air will turn moldy).
Cover the jar with cheesecloth and a rubber band to keep flies and dust out. Leave the jar to ferment at room temperature for one week.
After one week, strain out the dandelion petals and discard them. Recover the jar with cheesecloth and allow the vinegar to ferment an additional 2-3 weeks at room temperature, agitating the jar periodically and skimming any foam off of the top.
Dandelion vinegar should smell like vinegar (not alcohol) when it is ready for use. Keep the vinegar in the fridge. Cover the jar with a plastic baggie loosely secured with a rubber band, allowing air to escape from the jar if needed.
Dandelion blossoms have none of the astringency of dandelion leaves and lend some of their sweetness to the vinegar here, with the flowers balancing some of the vinegar’s sharpness. This light, mild vinegar is great in vinaigrette and other salad dressings. You can also use it to make hollandaise sauce, in brines, or add it to braises.
Dandelion Infused Vinegar
It could not be easier to infuse vinegar; the technique barely requires a recipe. In its simplest form, you take your herbs, spices, fruits, or other ingredients and let them sit in vinegar.
I recommend using a mild and light-colored vinegar as the base for this recipe. White wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar (ACV), or white balsamic vinegar are good choices. Regular white vinegar would likely overpower the delicate flavor from the dandelions.
To make infused vinegar with dandelions, place clean dandelion petals and vinegar in a jar in a 1:1 ratio. Weigh the petals down so they stay under the liquid, cover the jar with cheesecloth, and allow to sit at room temperature. The vinegar should be pale yellow and ready to strain in a couple of weeks.
As with all of my slow food recipes, making infused vinegar takes time. I chose to infuse the vinegar for two weeks, but feel free to go for three weeks instead if you wish. More prolonged infusions will impart a deeper flavor.
Watch How to Make It!
Dandelion Vinegar Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups dandelion blossoms
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Stir to dissolve the sugar in the water.
- Gently rinse the dandelions to remove dirt and bugs. Separate the yellow petals from the stems, leaves, and green base of the blossom (the calyx). Pack the petals into a glass pint jar, ensuring some space remains at the top.
- Pour the sugar water over the dandelion petals. Cover the petals completely but leave some space at the top of the jar. Use a jar weight to keep the petals under the liquid (any exposed to air will turn moldy). Cover the jar with cheesecloth and a rubber band to keep flies and dust out. Leave the jar to ferment at room temperature for one week.
- After one week, strain out the dandelion petals and discard them. Recover the jar with cheesecloth and allow the vinegar to ferment an additional 2-3 weeks at room temperature, agitating the jar periodically and skimming any foam off of the top. Store the finished vinegar in the fridge.
Equipment
Notes
💭 Expert Tips from Dietitian Summer Yule
This is a level 1 recipe (may help support fat loss). According to the NCCIH, “there’s no compelling scientific evidence supporting the use of dandelion for any health condition.” So, take all of the purported dandelion cures and health benefits you find online for detox, belly fat, as a liver tonic, etc. with a grain of salt. A salad dressing of infused olive oils and vinegar is one of the easiest ways to dress a salad. This infused vinegar, like most vinegar, contains a negligible amount of calories. If you are on a weight loss journey, I recommend tipping the balance of your salad dressings to include more vinegar and less added oil. It will still be flavorful and delicious. Nutrition information is for one serving.
nutrition info disclaimer
All recipes on this website may or may not be appropriate for you, depending on your medical needs and personal preferences. Consult with a registered dietitian or your physician if you need help determining the dietary pattern that may be best for you.
The nutrition information is an estimate provided as a courtesy. It will differ depending on the specific brands and ingredients that you use. Calorie information on food labels may be inaccurate, so please don’t sweat the numbers too much.
“To taste” means to your preferences, which may have to be visual to follow food safety rules. Please don’t eat undercooked food x
Nutrition
👨🍳 Dandelion Flower Recipes
Here are a few more ways to use fresh dandelions flowers in recipes:
- Dandelion Oil Recipe: To make dandelion oil, fill a jar with dandelion flowers and cover them with oil. Let the mixture sit for a few weeks, then strain out the flowers and use the oil as needed. Dandelion oil is for moisturizing dry skin, not for eating.
- Dandelion Flower Tincture: Dandelion flower tincture is a great way to add some flavor to your vodka. To make it, fill a jar with dandelion flowers and cover them with vodka. Let the mixture sit for a few weeks, then strain out the flowers and use the vodka as desired.
- Dandelion Tea: To make dandelion tea, steep dandelion leaves in hot water for a few minutes. Add honey or lemon to taste.
- Dandelion Lemonade: To make refreshing dandelion lemonade, mix chilled dandelion tea with lemon juice and honey to taste. Serve over ice.
- Dandelion Jelly: This sweet dandelion jelly recipe is reminiscent of honey.
- Dandelion Chips: Dandelion chips are a healthy and delicious snack. To make them, toss dandelion leaves with olive oil and salt, then bake in the oven until crispy.
- Dandelion Burger Recipe: To make vegetarian dandelion burgers, mix cooked dandelion greens with mashed beans, breadcrumbs, and spices. Form into patties and grill or bake.
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Hello! I’m Summer, a registered dietitian and home chef who loves to cook, eat, and create recipes for you! Every recipe on this site has been tested by me to help ensure your success in the kitchen. All eaters are welcome here 🙂
I make all my vinegars. Throw something edible in a jar, add some sugar, top jar with a coffee filter and stir daily until ready. Easiest thing I’ve ever learned. I take a shot of dandelion vinegar every morning with a tbl of sage infused honey and 2 Brazil nuts. I fill full and energized. I love shots of different vinegars throughout the day. The kids like to choose by color mostly. The crab apple vinegar is a favorite for its light flavor and cream pink color. Mine is dandelion because I just feel better after taking it. Another favorite is dandelion honey on toast. We don’t even strain it. Good article.
Hi Sandy, thank you! I recently started making my own vinegars from scratch this year and you’re right, it’s so easy! I’ve done apple cider and pineapple vinegar so far. Dandelion honey on toast sounds absolutely divine 🙂
I make soup with the whole plant. If you have plenty of other ingredients such as tomato, meat, and spices, you don’t notice the bitterness as much.
Hi Wanda, that’s such a neat tip! Thank you for sharing 🙂 I noticed on my walk today the dandelions are back in full force so I’m going to have to try a dandelion soup!
Awesome post.
Dandelion vinegar is one of the most original ideas I’ve come across in a long time! A high quality white wine vinegar will offer sweet and sour components to balance the natural astringent qualities of the dandelion. Thanks for posting Summer!
Thank you so much! It might interest you that I have seen vinegars infused with dandelion greens before. I’m thinking that would provide far more astringency than the dandelion blossoms I have used here! Honestly, I’m a bit hesitant to try a vinegar with the greens for that reason.
That makes sense! When using bitter flavors, subtlety works better than power.
Completely agree!
Great, Summer, and considerable honors to you for an intriguing, yet surprisingly simple, way to partner with the lion’s-mane. Internet travels here and there have produced a few ideas, but this is the first I read of making a dressing from the ever-present flower.
Dandelions seem to be having their moment. Recipes still are a little sparse (unlike the bloom that inspires them), but there are a few. Which is more than usual. Still, a vinaigrette is a new one. Summer for the first, and the win!
Those of our grandparents’ generation, and earlier, seemed to have better ideas for making use of the bounty. Since then, though, we’ve wandered from the culinary path. Way to resurrect the richness of worthy old folkways, Summer!
So kind of you! I am interested in traditional diets and the slow food movement, so I find myself exploring those areas often. There are so many dandelions right now that it just seemed natural to figure out something to do with them! I have a friend who would scatter the blossoms on her salads, so why not incorporate them into a dressing?