Simple Uses for Nasturtiums

When you have a large crop of nasturtiums from the garden or farmstand, you don't have time to casually include them in complicated recipes or to frantically figure out how to use them up before they go bad without getting sick of them. You want to make the most of your harvest and to actually enjoy it.

Here at Plant to Plate, we like to keep things simple! Here are some of my favorite ways to use or preserve nasturtiums:

Sauté them with garlic and lemon balm or lemon verbena.

Sauté them with chicken and garlic.

Sauté them with fish and garlic.

Add them to egg dishes such as omelets and quiches.

Make a simple soup with nasturtiums, lovage, onions, and garlic.

Add the flowers, leaves, and stems to other soups and broths.

Add them to sandwiches.

Add them to a grilled cheese or panini.

Make a pesto with nasturtium leaves, pumpkin seeds, garlic, and basil or tulsi.

Make a dip with nasturtium flowers, cumin, and yogurt of any type, including cow, sheep, almond, or coconut yogurt.

Use the leaves as a Base or Partial Base of an Interesting Salad. (Wondering why I capitalized those letters? Read more about Interesting Salads here!)

Use the flowers as Decor in an Interesting Salad.

Make a Simple Salad with nasturtium leaves and flowers, arugula, and strawberries.

Add them to other salads.

Add them to egg salad.

Add them to chicken salad.

Add them to pasta salad.

Add them to potato salad.

Make infused vinegar. Nasturtiums can be infused in vinegar on their own or with any combination of the following: peppermint, spearmint, lemon verbena, garlic, onions, leeks, shallots, ramps.

Make infused oil. Nasturtium-infused oil can be used as-is or further processed into other preparations such as lotions.

Make a tea. Nasturtium flowers, stems, and leaves are best as an infusion or in infusion blends.

Make a tincture. An herb:solvent weight ratio of 1:4 at 40% alcohol is suggested for a nasturtium tincture.

Add them to pickles. Nasturtium leaves, flowers, and stems can all be pickled with vegetables such as radishes, carrots, cucumbers, parsnips, and others.

Dry them to save them for later. See our How to Dry Your Herbs articles here for more information.

Chop and freeze them as another preservation method.

Further Reading

Growing nasturtiums? Check out these quick facts like their best growing conditions, companion plants, and expected yields.

Nasturtiums are also featured in these articles:

Quick Facts: Growing Nasturtiums