Almost the entire nasturtium plant is edible, including the flowers, leaves, stems, and immature seeds. The flavor for each part is similar, but still unique in their own ways.
I've gathered over 25 nasturtium recipes that use the flowers, leaves, stems, and seeds, along with a lot of other ideas for inspiration (like swapping leaves in for spinach or stems in for chives).
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Nasturtium: what's edible?
All parts of the nasturtium plant are edible: flowers, leaves, stems, and young seed pods (mature seed pods have a very hard, unpleasant seed inside). The flowers, leaves, and stems can all be eaten raw, whereas the young seeds are best pickled.
All of these parts have a distinct peppery flavor similar to radishes or mustard. That peppery flavor is strongest in the seeds and lightest in the flowers. Nasturtium leaves can sometimes have a very slight bitter taste that isn't present in the rest of the plant.
While the whole nasturtium plant is edible, each part has various applications, like using the stems in place of chives or using large leaves as wraps. Let's look at each part in more detail.
Nasturtium flowers
All nasturtium flowers are edible and come in a variety of colors. The color can be an important consideration because petals will dye infusions. I grow the Kaleidoscope Mix and haven't noticed a flavor difference between the different colored flowers. They all taste very slightly floral with that spicy bite at the end.
Picking & washing the flowers
Nasturtium flowers are best picked in the morning after the dew has evaporated but before the midday heat sets in. The heat can make the flowers wilt.
That being said, most of the time I pick the flowers around 6pm, right before I finish making dinner. They are usually a bit more delicate when I do this, but still work out just fine.
Wash the flowers gently in cold water to remove bugs and dry on a paper towel or salad spinner. Then you're ready to use the flowers in any of the recipes below.
Salad
The flowers can be used to add a pop of color and flavor to a salad, which always delights dinner guests. Don't add them ahead of time or stir them in, as they are too delicate and will wilt. Instead, add the nasturtium flowers right before serving.
More nasturtium salad recipes to try:
- Spring salad with edible flowers by The View from Great Island
- Edible flower salad with basil balsamic vinaigrette, recipe by At Home with Rebecka
- Tomato and nasturtium salad with elderflower dressing from Salisbury Magazine
Baking
Nasturtium flowers add pretty red, orange, and yellow flecks to baked goods. Their flavor is more subtle, adding just a hint of pepper flavor. Add them to muffins, quick breads, pancakes, and even cookies.
- My Life and Family from Scratch shares a nasturtium honey muffin recipe
- Nasturtium and pumpkin seed bread recipe from The Edible Flower Garden
- Dragon's bread with smoky paprika and nasturtium (uses nasturtium pesto), from The Wonder Smith
- For the prettiest rustic loaf inspiration, check out this TikTok video that uses nasturtium flowers in the dough AND flower designs on top.
Vinegar
A nasturtium-infused vinegar is peppery and works great in salad dressings or anything that benefits from a splash of vinegar. It's also a bright red-orange color that looks cute for gifts.
Jelly
You can also make a nasturtium jelly that tastes both spicy and sweet. Ashley at Creative Canning has a recipe that she says is great on plain butter biscuits so the flavor can come through, as well as a glaze for meats - maybe some summer grilling?
You can also experiment by adding nasturtium flowers to other jams and jellies. For example, Culinary Blossom sells a nasturtium pepper jelly that shouldn't be hard to recreate at home.
Hot sauce
Work with nasturtium's natural spiciness for a unique homemade hot sauce. Larder Love has a recipe to check out. It's a pretty color too, since it uses only the flowers.
Compound butter
Make a spicy (and pretty) compound butter using nasturtium flowers. Leaves can be added in as well, imparting even more of that green-spicy flavor. The butter will look like colorful red, orange, yellow and green confetti was stirred in.
Try this recipe from The Runaway Spoon. Spread it on some toast for a simple application, or use it in pasta, on fish, or to butter some cornbread. Or use it on some garlic bread, following this recipe from The Edible Flower.
Infused alcohol
Infuse alcohol with nasturtium flowers for a peppery flavor and a pretty color. Fill a jar (like a mason pint jar) with the flowers then cover them with your spirit of choice. Here's a recipe from The Other Andy Hamilton.
This would work best with the following spirits:
- Vodka to make a spicy martini or bloody mary
- Tequila for a fun twist on margaritas (you could even use a homemade nasturtium-leaf salt for the rim)
- Gin for some gin & tonics with bite (and a gorgeous color!)
Charcuterie boards
Decorate your charcuterie & cheese board with nasturtium flowers, which pair incredibly well with creamy cheeses. Be sure to tell everyone they are edible and watch them have fun adding them to some cheese and cracker bites. For inspiration, check out this board on Instagram.
Nasturtium leaves
Nasturtium leaves are completely edible. Small & large, young & old leaves are all safe to eat. The young leaves are usually more tender than the larger ones, but that's not always the case.
In the spring and early summer, I notice the large leaves are just as tender as the small ones. But later in the season, and especially in the fall, they are tougher.
Tough leaves are actually preferred for nasturtium chips and hold up better for stuffing and rolling (like grape leaves). The toughness also doesn't matter when blended into a pesto, finely chopped for other dishes, or used for infusions.
On the other hand, tender leaves are best as salad greens or when you want a more melting texture like creamed spinach (that uses nasturtium leaves instead).
Nasturtium leaves have a generic green plant-like taste (like a lot of salad greens), with the sharp peppery bite that shows up several seconds later. That flavor is delayed because as you chew the leaves, an chemical reaction creates the mustard-like sharpness. It's much milder in young leaves and stronger as they mature. In fact, it's the same chemical family that creates the bite in mustard, wasabi, and horseradish.
The leaves sometimes have just a slightly bitter taste on the finish as well. Heat waves and water stress can increase bitterness.
How to use nasturtium leaves
You can pick nasturtium leaves any time of day. You might want to pick only small or only large ones, depending on the use. For example, small nasturtium leaves can be used whole in a salad, whereas large ones work well for stuffing.
Wash the leaves in cold water before you eat them. They are quite sturdy and will hold up in a salad spinner to dry. Try using nasturtium leaves in any of these recipes below or browse for some inspiration.
Pesto
If you're trying to use up a lot of nasturtium leaves, make a quick pesto. Just blend the leaves in a food processor along with some olive oil, grated cheese, nuts, and a little lemon juice and you're done! You can make large batches too since it freezes well.
Salad greens
Use whole or chopped nasturtium leaves for salads. If you want to mix them with other salad greens, my favorites are arugula for added bite and spinach when I want to neutralize some of the bite.
Nasturtium leaves' peppery flavor goes well with creamy cheeses (like goat cheese), fresh and dried fruits, and nuts.
Try taking your favorite spinach or arugula salad and replace some (or all) of the greens with nasturtium. Or try one of these specific recipes:
- Nasturtium salad with creamy tahini dressing from The Peasant's Daughter
- Radish, burrata and nasturtium salad with quinoa, recipe from BBC Good Food
- Nasturtium and basil salad with lemon dressing and toasted pecans from Food52
- Tomato and nasturtium salad with dates and pistachios from Simple Bites
Pasta
Most nasturtium pasta recipes use nasturtium pesto for a good reason - it's delicious. Add spring vegetables like asparagus or snap peas to the pasta, or hot peppers later in the season for a calabrese-pizza style pasta.
Alternatively, you can chop the leaves up and add them to pasta like you would spinach. Try this creamy nasturtium risotto from Made Local Magazine. It calls for chives, but I'd just go ahead and use chopped nasturtium stems.
Pizza
I suggest 3 stellar pizzas that use nasturtium leaves, all taking advantage of their spicy flavor:
- Margherita pizza: use nasturtium pesto as the base sauce, rather than tomato sauce or basil pesto
- Calabrese pizza: add finely chopped nasturtium leaves to the tomato sauce to spice things up a bit, and drizzle nasturtium pesto over the top when it comes out of the oven
- Spinach and artichoke pizza: replace the spinach with nasturtium and let the peppery flavor cut through the heavy cheese
Replace grape leaves
Later in the season, when you have some giant nasturtium leaves, you can use them to stuff like grape leaves. Here's a Greek dolma recipe that uses nasturtium.
Replace spinach
Anywhere spinach is used, not just in a salad, you can try substituting in nasturtium leaves. This includes recipes for lasagna and other pasta, minestrone, creamed spinach, eggs of any kind, a quiche, quinoa or veggie patties, or a spinach artichoke dip.
Muffin tin liners
There are a lot of fun recipes out there that use various food to make edible muffin tin liners and then fill them with eggs or potatoes (among other things) for quick bites. Here's a recipe on Sustainable Holly for mini nasturtium quiches.
Salt
Nasturtium leaves can be added to salt once dried, making a fun finishing salt for your table (and to gift!). Here's a nasturtium salt recipe to try from the Gourmantic Garden.
Infusing alcohol
Just like flowers, nasturtium leaves can be used to infuse alcohol. I've found the leaves don't dye the infusions, unless you're muddling or blending it up. The flavor will also be sharper than when you use flowers.
This works well with the same spirits: vodka, tequila, and gin. Gardenista shares a Nasturtium gin martini recipe (courtesy of Olmsted) that you should definitely try out.
Chips
If you've made kale chips before, try making nasturtium chips next. It's a similar process and doesn't take that long for them to crisp up in the oven. Flouwer Co shares instructions (along with a lot of other edible flower inspiration).
Stems
Nasturtium stems are crisp, yet tender. They are very similar to the texture of fresh chives. The stems can be used to replace chives in any recipe where you want to add nasturtium's characteristic bite.
Corn on the cob
After grilling some corn on the cob, slather it in butter, salt, pepper, and then sprinkle with chopped nasturtium stems and parmesan cheese. You won't be disappointed.
Baked potatoes
Chives and baked potatoes were meant to go together, and chopped nasturtium stems make an even better stand in. Their peppery bite livens up starchy, cheesy potatoes in the best way.
Sandwiches
The best sandwiches have layers of flavor, and nasturtium stems do just that. Mix them in with some mayo, use liberally in place of mustard, or add them along with some arugula for extra bite.
Use a complimentary cheese like a pepper gouda, or soften the spiciness with a creamy cheese like mozzarella or havarti.
Cream cheese
Instead of buying (or making) a chive cream cheese, use nasturtium stems. Spread that on a morning bagel with some smoked salmon. Or use it to make a savory veggie dip, stuff some chicken breasts, or make some stuffed mushrooms.
Use this chive cream cheese recipe from Heather Christo for reference.
Omelets
Mix the stems into omelets along with some red peppers and cheese for a spicy bite. As you can imagine, this works with any egg dish from scrambled eggs to a quiche.
Other garnishes
Anywhere chives are called for as a garnish, try replacing them with chopped nasturtium stems. You can chop them up and store them in the fridge in an airtight container for a few days so they are ready to use when you want them. I'm constantly sprinkling mine on soup, pasta, stir fries, and garlic bread.
Seeds
Nasturtium seed pods are also edible and have the strongest flavor. Seed pods grow in groups of three and hide on long stems under the foliage. Pick them anytime they are green and still slightly soft. Avoid the mature yellow ones that have dried out (which contain a very hard, unpleasant tasting seed).
The seeds have the strongest bite, often stronger than most people want. However they mellow out when pickled and make an excellent replacement for capers (get pickling recipe). Try them in chicken piccata, potato-lentil salad, or pasta with garlic caper butter.
Varieties
All nasturtium varieties are edible - just like all tomato varieties are edible. Nasturtium plants are safe to eat and are not poisonous to people (but could be for cats and dogs).
In fact, several major seed distributors (Burpee, Johnny's Selected Seeds, and Baker Creek Heirloom) all mention the edibility of nasturtium at the top of the nasturtium varieties pages.
"Nasturtiums have delicious flowers and leaves, perfect for salads and soups, and this plant makes a world-class pesto!" - Baker Creek Heirloom
"A popular edible flower, the trumpet-shaped blooms of nasturtium have a sweet, mildly spicy flavor, making a colorful garnish or addition to salads. The peppery-tasting foliage is also edible." - Johnny's Selected Seeds
"Cute as can be, nasturtium bloom in cheerful colors and are prized by cooks for their slightly peppery flavor - a delicious ingredient in stir fries, pesto and omelets, as well as a very pretty salad garnish." - Burpee
If you want to grow your own nasturtium, try one of these varieties.
- Alaska mixes
- Bloody mary
- Cherry rose jewel
- Empress of India
- Orchid cream
- Tip top rose
- Tom thumb black velvet
- Whirly bird rose
- Yeti
Edible flower ideas
Try some nasturtium pesto, chive blossom vinegar, or candied lilacs (which last a year, by the way!), for interesting spring and summer treats.
If you're wondering what else is currently in season, check out my calendars to see what produce is in season each month (and coming up soon).
Kurt says
I was recently gifted a huge bundle of nasturtium leaves and stems, and I wanted some information on culinary applications.
Veronica. This is a incredible article. Thorough, thoughtful, clear, creative. Leads with a summary, then gets into a piece-by-piece breakdown of all the use cases and taste notes. Searching for answers in 2024 can feel like trudging through a dire swamp of AI-generated nonsense articles, SEO-optimised listicles and paywalled information... So I'm both stunned and super grateful for the quality of the work you've done here. What a fantastic resource you've offered to the world; I'll be sticking around. Thank you.
Veronica T says
Thanks so much and I'm glad I could help. I grow so many things in my own garden and I often have a lot of questions throughout the process. As I learn from experience (and from experts), I like to share that with people like you 🙂
Caroline Doyle says
Hi, do you know if nasturtium leaves and stems will freeze, like spinach, to preserve some and keep using them over winter?
Veronica T says
What a great question, and I can't believe I haven't tried that. I will freeze some next week and use them in winter to be able to report first hand. However, my suspicion is they will act very similarly to spinach (like you mentioned). I would also assume, like spinach, that they will be wet and wilty after freezing, and will need to be used in dishes that can accommodate that. If you do it, please stop back and report what you find. I'll also update the post this winter 🙂
Mia says
I'm adding nasturtium leaves to my green smoothies, and using as a replacement for spinach in salads. Hardly peppery at all. Not only are they fresh picked directly before using, they are also cheaper than buying spinach greens 🙂 That makes them a winner.
Vee says
Thanks for sharing these great ideas. You have a very good point: nasturtium makes a great spinach substitute 🙂
JM says
Hi, I was wondering if I could add the nasturtium seeds whole to a red lentil soup? I often add chickpeas but was wondering if it would be too much of a flavour pop to add those fresh green nasturtiums ?
Vee says
I have never done that, but can give it a try when mine go to seed this year. My gut says it won't work well, but I might be pleasantly surprised.
Marion says
Great info. Lots of ideas, I'llhave totrymakingthe vinegar.
I also use them as a groundcover, although last summer I ended up losing my wheelbarrow when it was temporarily grown over lol. The flowers are also a welcome snack when out walking the dog.
Mr Roy T Valerio says
There are many varieties of nasturtium. Which ones are edible? There's the Canary Creeper, Alaska Mixed, Jewel Mix, Whirlybird Mix, Salmon Baby and Tom Thumb Black Velvet. Would appreciate assistance in letting me know which ones are edible.
Vee says
Great question! All types of nasturtium are edible - they are not poisonous to humans (although it's possible they are toxic to cats and dogs). I'll update the post with links to different varieties and cite sources for the edibility.
Gloria Foster says
Great information about nasturtiums. I will try to stuff them. Thanks
Emily says
Same I didn't find this sooner mine are dying back and had left them for the caterpillars, black fly and lady bugs. Remember for next year
Vee says
At least the bugs got a feast 🙂
Mita says
This is my favorite plant to grow from seeds and hang them in my porch and deck and they flow so elegantly. I love diffrentcolor of the leaves (some speckled white) and colors of the flower. But never ate them. Lovely!
Jennifer says
This is amazing! This helps us to unlearn some ideas we have been taught around food and give us a little power back in creating edible treats from our gardens 🙂
Vee says
Glad I can help! Every time I add a plant to my yard, I try to pick something edible. My next plant might be a hibiscus 🙂
Sherry says
Do you have any hints to find the seeds? I have trailing nasturtium in a large window box in front and have yet to find one seed🧐 and I've looked these plants over. lol
Vee says
I wonder if the plant hasn't gone to seed yet? Or are there critters taking them for snacks perhaps? Here's a post that talks more about the seeds, as well as a link to a video. I hope that helps!
Peter Gillooley says
Thanks what great ideas
Felicia says
I love learning and exploring. This info is just wonderful. Thanks.