Homemade Dandelion Liqueur Recipe - Larder Love (2024)

Deliciously sweet and almost floral, homemade dandelion liqueur is like heavenly honey with the kick of booze. The perfect liqueur for spring and summer.

What’s to love about this recipe

• Dandelion liqueur is super easy to make
• This is a really different liqueur and tastes delicious, plus, you can’t buy dandelion liqueur in the shops!
• It’s a great way to use dandelion flowers and make something useful out of something folks normally think of as a weed.

Last year I made dandelion jelly so this year I thought I’d hit the booze with my dandelions and make a dandelion liqueur instead.

Are dandelions flowers or weeds?

Dandelions are not actually weeds at all. In fact, they are part of the sunflower family. It’s just their abundance that makes people think of them as weeds.

Are dandelions edible?

All parts of the dandelion are edible. From the petals and leaves right down to the roots. In the Mediterranean dandelion greens are used in many recipes, especially in springtime. Here is my recipe for Greek greens with eggs and it’s delicious.

Are dandelions good for you?

Yes, they are. Dandelions contain lots of vitamins and minerals. In fact, 1 cup of dandelion greens contains more than your daily requirement of both vitamins K and A. Dandelion tea made from the roots of the plant has been drunk for centuries for its health benefits.

Fun facts about dandelions

In France they are called Pis en Lit, meaning pee the bed as they are well known as a diuretic.

Up until the 1800s dandelions were actually grown instead of grass as they were considered so beneficial to health.

You know those puffs of dandelion seeds? Well, one of those seeds can travel up to five miles before it lands, thus spreading that goodness everywhere.

Ingredients for dandelion liqueur

There are only 4 ingredients in this homemade liqueur. The main one of course being dandelion flowers. The other ingredients are vodka (not the good Stolly, supermarket vodka is just fine here), sugar and lemon.

Foraging for dandelions

Don’t pick flowers at the edge of busy roads as they will be polluted with fumes from cars and lorries.

Do not pick dandelions that have been sprayed with chemicals/weed killer – this more applies to those in a garden. Be careful, ask first!

Watch out for dandelions in areas that dogs pee in, another no-no!

While we are only using the yellow petals to make this dandelion liqueur you can use the leaves of the dandelions to make a delicious salad. The leaves have a bitter flavour rather like rocket.

Or use them with other greens to make my Greek style greens with eggs recipe or for my springtime weedy relish

The complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this recipe can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

How to make dandelion liqueur

It’s so easy to make this homemade dandelion liqueur, in fact, the most difficult and time-consuming part of this recipe is removing the dandelion petals from the green bases of the flowers.

This does take a bit of time and can be fiddly and dirty work so wear plastic gloves for this part of the recipe. You only want the yellow petals of the dandelions for your liqueur as the green parts of the plant are bitter.

Throw all the dandelion petals into a nice big jar and add the sugar and lemon plus the all-important vodka.

Now pop on a lid and leave your liqueur to mature for 2 weeks in a cupboard.

After that simply strain the dandelion liqueur through muslin or 2 layers of kitchen roll into a jug then pour it into a sterilised bottle.

How to serve dandelion liqueur

You can serve this liqueur ice cold in tiny shot glasses or as part of a co*cktail like a dandelion martini. You can also serve your dandelion liqueur just in a small glass with ice, cheers!

How long will this keep?

Your dandelion liqueur will easily keep for up to a year in a cool dark cupboard.

Looking for more springtime foraging recipes to try? Then check these out before you go;

Dandelion jelly

Homemade wild garlic butter

Homemade elderflower liqueur

Cream of nettle soup

Wild garlic pesto

Or why not check out my entire Foraging Recipes Section for lots of wild inspiration!

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.