When you have a large crop of geraniums 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 geraniums:
- Sauté or stirfry the leaves and flowers with garlic and lemon balm.
- Add the roots to beef, lamb, pork, or turkey dishes.
- Add the leaves and flowers to egg dishes such as omelets and quiches.
- Add the whole plant to soups and broths. This includes above- and below-ground parts of the geranium plant.
- Use the flowers as Decor in an Interesting Salad. (Wondering why I capitalized those letters? Read more about Interesting Salads here!)
- Add the leaves and flowers to other salads.
- Make a tea. Geranium flowers and leaves are best suited for infusions. Geranium roots are best suited for decoctions.
- Make a tincture. The whole plant can be used in a tincture. An herb:solvent weight ratio of 1:3 at 40% alcohol is suggested for a geranium tincture.
- Dry the petals and roots for later use. See our How to Dry Your Herbs articles here for more information.
- Make ice cubes with the petals. Learn how to make herbal ice cubes in our Freezing Overview article here.
- Chop and freeze the roots.
Further Reading
Growing geraniums? Check out these quick facts like their best growing conditions, companion plants, and expected yields.
Geraniums are also featured in these articles: