Can You Use Dandelions From Your Yard to Make Tea?

I absolutely love dandelion tea, whether it be bought as tea bags from the supermarket or homemade in my kitchen. It is something that I find to be light and refreshing, yet also beneficial to your health. It is pretty neat that something as humble as the dandelion is packed with nutritional benefits. Here is everything you need to know about how to make dandelion tea from the dandelions from your yard.

Why Make Dandelion Tea?

Most people might think dandelions are just weeds that grow in your yard, but in fact dandelions have been used for their medicinal and culinary benefits for centuries. It is a very common plant that you can find and recognise. You might even be able to find them in your yard to make tea. 

Dandelion is a plant that is rich in vitamins and minerals. It has several potential benefits such as lowering blood pressure, improving liver health, supporting your immune system and also anti-inflammatory effects.

However, dandelion tea might also have potential risks for those who are drinking it. One of the biggest issue with dandelion tea is that it has natural diuretic properties. This means that if you are taking any types of diuretic, the effects might be enhanced. Its diuretic effect means that the tea can help encourage you to reduce your water retention by helping to flush your liver and kidney. Dandelion tea should also be avoided if you are pregnant or breastfeeding a baby. 

How to Make Dandelion Tea

You can use the whole plant of the dandelion to make tea. This means the flowers, stems, leaves and roots. However, most people generally prefer using just the petals of the dandelion flower as the other bits are slightly more bitter and might make the tea less tasty. Personally, I mostly use the flowers and do use a bit of the leaves. I find that drinking just the flowers do make the taste slightly better and less bitter. 

After you picked the dandelions from your yard, make sure you soak the plant and rinse it properly to remove it from bugs or dirt. This is very important and therefore you should thoroughly wash it at least twice. I like to use a sieve to rinse it at least twice and then soak it in a pot of water before rinsing it again. 

After it is washed properly, you can put your dandelions into a tea strainer and let it steep in boiled water for around 10 to 20 minutes. If you want a stronger taste, you can put it in a pot of boiling water and let it boil for 10 to 20 minutes and then strain the dandelions out. 

I like to drink the dandelion tea straight, however it is possible to add some sweetness to it. My personal choice would be putting a little bit of honey into it to help add a mildly sweet flavour. However, you can also use sugar, stevia, molasses, syrup and other ingredients that can sweeten tea. 

If making dandelion tea is not your cup of tea, they do sell dandelion tea that has been dried and put into tea bags. This is pretty easy as they can be used right away to make a nice cup of dandelion tea. Personally, I like the Traditional Medicinals’ Organic Roasted Dandelion Root Herbal Tea. It is slightly more bitter than making the tea with the flowers, but I really like the slightly roasted taste that comes with the tea bags.

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