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Dandelion Fritters

dandelion fritters

Happy Earth Day!

To celebrate, I’m going to continue my “backyard foraging” kick, with a recipe for the under-appreciated dandelion.  Eaten plain, dandelions are sustainable, “easy” to grow, and very very good for you.  You can eat the root, the greens, or in this case- the flower.  They are certainly more nutritious when eaten raw… but when they are eaten battered and fried, they are simply delicious.

I am not sure how to describe the taste, other than possibly comparing these particular fritters to vegetable pakora, with a cornmeal twist.

If you haven’t yet delighted in eating what your neighbors probably loathe- now is the time. While you’re at it, go ahead and don a dandelion crown.  People will know you mean business.

These things are so fun to harvest, batter and fry, you’ll be foraging in your (or someone else’s)  front yard every time you get a hankering for a fried treat.  See ya later tater tots.

 

Dandelion Fritters

makes about 30 fritters

Ingredients

  • 30 dandelion flower heads
  • 1 1/4 cup cornmeal
  • 1 1/4 cup almond milk or other non-dairy milk
  • 1 flaxegg *
  • some oil for frying
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions

First -make sure you harvest your dandelions from a patch of land free from all those yicky pesticides that people sometimes have sprayed on their lawns.  You do NOT want to eat that stuff, this I am sure.  After you have chosen a safe spot… just get on the ground and start plucking off the little yellow flowers from the dandelions.

Do this on a sunny day, so that the flower heads are wide open.  For the amount of batter given, you will need about 30.

dandelion

Once you have picked all the flowers, bring them inside and get ready to fry em up.  You don’t want to wait too long after your harvest to fry these guys, or the flowers will close up on you.  Still tasty, just not as beautiful.

dandelions

Rinse off the flowers and pat dry.  I skipped this step because I am a rebel.

Next prepare your flaxegg by mixing one tablespoon of flaxseed meal with 2 tbsps of water. Let rest 5 minutes, until gelled.

Combine your almond milk, salt, flaxegg and cornmeal to make a thick batter.  Set aside.

Prepare your cooking oil by placing enough oil in pan to make a depth of bout 1/4 inch.  Over medium high heat, let your oil get hot.  If you aren’t sure if it’s hot enough… just drop a dab of water in the pan, it will sizzle up when it’s ready to go.

Grab the little green stem on the flower and dip the flower head into the batter, turning to coat thoroughly.  I had to sort of scoop the batter up onto the flower head rather than “dip” them to make it stick well.

dandelion fritter process

Place the flowers into hot oil- flower side down- and fry until you can easily flip them with a spatula.  Don’t force these things into turning over, when they are ready, they will be very easy to get a spatula underneath them.  When they are not ready, they will fall apart.

dandelion fritters frying

Flip over and cook until the other side is nice and golden.  Remove from the oil with a spatula and place on a surface covered with a paper towel to absorb the extra oil.  Keep frying them up until you are either out of batter or dandelions.

Enjoy with a nice dipping sauce, or eat plain.

Here is my favorite sauce to use:

  • 1/4 cup Vegenaise
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • dash of black pepper

Enjoy!  And Happy Earth Day! :)

dandelion fritters

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22 Responses to Dandelion Fritters

  1. Tipsy Martin says:

    Sounds great – will try those as soon as we have dandelion flowers. My chap just made fritters with the leaves, with a soya yoghurt sauce and that was pretty good….

  2. Andrea says:

    Ah I just came back from collecting more dandelions cause I had some batter left.
    They are SO good, thanks for the recipe :)

  3. Claire says:

    There’s only one thing better than edible flowers, fried edible flowers. Looks delicious!!!

  4. doggybloggy says:

    great idea for the flowers – I eat the greens but this is so unique – I will be making this in the next few days (probably non vegan though) and I will link to you as my inspiration…if you dont mind.

  5. WOW! I had no idea you could eat dandelions! They look so pretty and delicate, and absolutely delicious. I love anything fried so if I can ever find dandelions I will definitely give them a try. I really like the idea of backyard foraging – you rock!

  6. Glad to see someone else loves fried dandelion heads! I dredge them in dry breadcrumbs with extra garlic powder and greek herbs mixed in, then fry in olive oil. So good! A bit like wild mushrooms. I adore them. And you can serve them with a dandelion leaf salad too!

    Dandelion leaves and flowers (served fresh) are a big hit with small pets too! Mice, rats, degus, hamsters, chinchillas, they all love them! I foster these little animals for rescue and dandelions have always been a special springtime treat for the little guys. :)

  7. Mihl says:

    I know fritters made from elderberry flowers and I’ll totally give these a try! What a wonderful idea!

  8. Katrina says:

    This is so unusual…but I’ll try it!

  9. These are so creative! Definitely going to try them out~

  10. miss alix says:

    i love these, they’re so lovely!

  11. Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by ManifestVegan: Happy Earth Day! We foraged in our yard for some dandelions to make into delicious fritters- yum. http://tinyurl.com/3xbx6cw #vegan…

  12. Becky says:

    This is genius!

  13. […] more Earth-friendly than eating vegan right from your own backyard? Manifest Vegan has a recipe for dandelion fritters. Yes, […]

  14. Wendi says:

    Dandelion crown. That is rich. I think coupled with the previously posted nursing image, topping it off with the dandelion crown…remove all doubt.

  15. Lisa says:

    Wow! Lovely idea Allyson! I only have one dandelion flower in my garden, but I might just have to pick it.. :P Happy Earth Day :)

  16. Sara says:

    How awesomely simple! Thanks for the recipe and beautiful photos. xx

  17. Rose says:

    This is a fantastic idea…this is really fun, and so pretty too. I’ve got lots of dandies in my garden; I’ll be trying these soon for sure.

  18. Nikki says:

    Gorgeous!

  19. The robber baron says:

    These are so good served over sausage!

  20. […] of the finest food porn I’ve seen this year, complete with recipe. Link. Spread the […]

  21. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Allyson Kramer. Allyson Kramer said: Happy Earth Day! We foraged in our yard for some dandelions to make into delicious fritters- yum. http://tinyurl.com/3xbx6cw #vegan […]