Dandelion jelly perfectly captures the essence of spring. I think it tastes like honey & sunshine. It’s a sweet, delicate addition to your morning routine. So easy to whip up and makes a wonderful gift! I just can’t recommend it enough!
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Jerry and I have an ongoing battle about dandelions in the yard. He thinks they’re a pain, always walking around picking the little puffballs and carefully escorting them to the yard waste bin.
I, on the other hand, secretly walk around blowing the seeds out into the air, hoping the little golden beauties will multiply. That’s because dandelions are a wonderful, tasty, medicinal treat that has gotten a horrible wrap over the years.
Benefits of Dandelion
If you didn’t know, dandelions can be turned into a wide array of products that are nutritious and have great medical benefits. They’re an excellent source of vitamins C, A, and K when cooked or eaten raw.
They have anti-inflammatory properties, which I successfully tested out last year making a dandelion infused massage oil. Plus, they’re also full of antioxidants and are great for your skin.
All in all, they’re more helpful than harmful, depending upon how strongly you’re tied to having a pristine yard.
This year, I wanted to try something fun and different. Not too long ago, our yard was chocked full of dandelion blooms. Jerry was chomping at the bit to mow the lawn, so I darted outside and picked every bloom I could find.
Staring down the barrel of a FULL mixing bowl of blooms, I had to come up with a game plan. I scoured the internet and dandelion jelly was the top thing that piqued my interest, so I figured I’d give it a try.
Turns out, it’s simple to make and so delicious that it’s definitely something I’m going to make for years to come!
It tastes like sunshine…
If you have an abundance of dandelions available, I highly recommend giving it a try!
Dandelion jelly is light, floral, and sweet – I feel like a little bee every time I eat it.
It’s also so simple to make that it’s a great idea for beginner water bath canners. This jelly is fabulous on toast, waffles, scones – basically anywhere you can smear a little jelly.
Let’s Get Down to Business…
What You’ll Need
- Dandelion flowers
- Sugar
- Water
- Powdered pectin
- Measuring cups
- Bowls
- Scissors
- Large Pot
- Large Spoon
- Fine mesh strainer
- Towels
- Water bath canner
- Canning jars
- Jar lifter, canning funnel, and spatula
Step 1: Harvest Your Dandelions
The first step in this process (as you might have guessed) is harvesting the dandelions. For this recipe, I ended up with about 4 cups of petals, which is a whole mess of flowers, so just try to grab as many as you can.
Honestly, the specific amount of petals isn’t of too much concern. You’ll see later that the petals get turned into a tea and ultimately, the amount of tea is the important part.
For a single batch (which makes about 6 half pints) you need a minimum of 2 cups of petals.
You can gather up to four cups of petals for the same amount of servings. More petals would mean a stronger tea – and stronger flavor – though I haven’t done any official taste test comparisons.
Make sure that the dandelions you’re harvesting are free from pesticides and I would avoid flowers that are roadside, with all that nasty exhaust.
You can cut them with scissors, but I found that just tugging the blooms off the plant worked great.
Step 2: Process the Blooms
Now we have to separate the yellow petals from the green base because the green part is very bitter.
There are a couple of different ways you can tackle this and I think it boils down to how badly you want to get every bit of the petal and how messy you want to get.
I preferred to get maximum blooms and get my hands dirty, so I pressed the base of the flower between my fingers and rolled. This kinda loosened the petals from the base, so I could pull them out much easier. You’ll get a few little green bits in there, but not enough to worry about.
The other way you can process the blooms is to take scissors and cut right at the base of the flower. Your hands will stay much cleaner, but I felt like I was leaving a lot of the petal behind, especially that base where all the pollen lives.
Step 3: Make Dandelion Tea
Now that we have our petals, we have to find a way to impart that flavor on the jelly. We do that by creating a dandelion tea.
It’s super simple to make. Take your minimum of 2 cups of dandelion petals and pour 4 cups of boiling water over the top. Store that in any sort of container and steep in the fridge for 24 hours.
After the tea is done steeping, strain out as much liquid as possible. I started with a fine mesh strainer, then took to just wringing it out with my bare hands. You should get about 3-4 cups of liquid.
Step 4: Making Your Dandelion Jelly
Now it’s time to make the dandelion jelly. It’s super simple to put together. Just combine your dandelion tea, in a large pot, with 2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 box of powdered pectin. Bring that to a boil.
Add 4 cups of sugar and bring it back to a boil. Boil your jelly for 1 to 2 minutes. Beware that it will foam up and rise quite a bit in the pot, so make sure your pot is very large.
At this point, you remove from heat, skim off the white foam floating on top, and put into jars. If you want to store your jelly in the fridge, just ladle it into jars and store. If you want to water bath can for stable shelf storage, continue to the next step.
Step 6: Water Bath Canning
You’ll need 6 sterilized half-pint jars, with sterile lids and rings. Using your canning funnel, ladle the hot jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace.
Run a knife or your canning spatula around the edge to remove any air bubble.
Screw on the lid, finger tight, and process for 10 minutes (15 minutes if you are above 6000 ft elevation).
Using your canning tongs, remove the jars from the canner and place on a towel.
Leave undisturbed, in a draft free area, for 24 hours.
Step 7: Enjoy
There you have it! It’s that easy to make! This delicious treat makes a wonderful gift. It’s been very popular at our monthly bartering meetups. It goes great on toast and I love it on our sourdough waffles.
It’s Delicious on Homemade Bread…
What do you think? Are you ready to give dandelion jelly a try? It’s the perfect way to welcome spring and kick off the growing season.
If you enjoyed this article, please share it to spread the dandelion love.
Are you whipping up a batch of dandelion jelly? Send us an email or leave a comment below! You can also let us know on our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest pages.
Be sure to check out these helpful articles for more foraging ideas…
- Dandelion Cream Scone Recipe
- How to Make Lilac Blossom Jelly
- Foraging & Uses for Purple Dead Nettle
- Purple Dead Nettle Pesto Recipe
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How to Make Dandelion Jelly
A scrumptious jelly that tastes just like summer. Definitely a must try!
Ingredients
- 2-4 cups dandelion petals
- 4 cups water
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 box powdered pectin, (1.75 oz or 6 tbsp)
- 4 cups sugar
Instructions
- Remove the dandelion petals from the green flower base, resulting in 2+ cups of petals,, and put in bowl or quart container
- Pour 4 cups of boiling water over the petals and steep in the fridge for 24 hours
- Strain as much liquid out of the petals as you can (should get between 3 and 4 cups of dandelion tea)
- Combine your dandelion tea, lemon juice, and powdered pectin in a large pot. Bring to a boil.
- Add sugar and return to boil. Boil for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and skim off white film.
- If storing if fridge, then ladle into half-pint jars, label and store. Should keep for many months.
Water Bath Canning
- If canning, ladle your jelly into hot, sterilized half-pint jars. Leave 1/4 inch head space.
- Run a knife or spatula around the edge of the jar to remove any air bubbles.
- Wipe the rim with white vinegar (to remove any debris) and screw on lids, finger tight.
- Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes or according to your altitude.
- Remove from canner and let jars rest, undisturbed, for 24 hours. Label and store. Shelf stable and keeps for months after being opened.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
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It’s early February in Alabama right now, and I’m just starting to see dandelions. Do you think it would work to harvest these as I see them and freeze until I have enough to make my jelly?
You could definitely give it a try! I’ve not frozen them before. I might suggest though waiting until a little later in the season. It’s tempting to gather them now, but once spring hits, you should have no problem finding enough to make jelly. If you do try the freezer method, let me know how it goes!
Hi Laura! I am hoping to start this project tomorrow 🙂 I am new to using pectin. When this recipe calls for one box of pectin, does that mean a 1.75oz packet? I am just confused because there is different sized boxes. Thank you!
Hi Laura 🙂 I wanted to start this project tomorrow & had to reach out to ask how much pectin is in one package. I’m sorry if that is a goofy question, but i am new to pectin, and there’s different sized boxes, lol! Thank you!
That’s so exciting! The dandelions are popping up here too. You have a very good point. I buy in large containers and usually use 6 Tbsp of pectin per batch. I believe that equals a 1.75oz box of pectin. Let me know if you have any more questions & hope you love it as much as we do!!
I tried this dandelion jam yesterday, my question is how long does it take for it to set up, mine is still all liquid. Could you help me trouble shoot if I need to redo this can I just try to boil it all again or do I just ax this and start a whole new batch? Thanks Lisa
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that it didn’t set up. It usually happens right away. Sounds like maybe not enough pectin? If you’re storing it in the fridge, it should have gotten a little more set overnight. You can also reboil the batch with a little more pectin & sugar. After a few minutes of a hard-boil, check for gelling. I’ve not reprocessed myself but researched for when I underestimated pectin and one of my batches turned out pretty soft.
Lisa, I had the same problem! Did you ever figure out how to make it set up?
My ‘tea’ came out very murky looking. Did I do something wrong? I didn’t have a lot of the green parts of the blossoms when I separated everything. This is as far as I’ve gotten in the process. Nervous to move forward but super excited for this recipe to work out. Thank you!
It should be just fine. It’s not an entirely clear tea. But if you’re worried, you could always run it through a coffee filter to get out some of the sediment.
It seems to be a very green murky in color only not so much sediment. I’ll carry on! Thank you for your quick response!
I am new to canning and this was my first attempt. Success ,loved hearing them pop.
Thank you
Yay!! I’m so glad to hear it went well for your first attempt!
Can I step longer? I won’t be able to get pectin until Friday. Today is Wednesday!
If it’s an option, I would wait to pick, otherwise you can actually freeze them. I’ve done some research and it turns out dandelion petals freeze wonderfully. I haven’t tried it myself, but it should work. I’m afraid oversteeping would change the taste.
Hi Laura,
Do you think you could use instant pectin to speed up the process?
You know, I’ve not really worked with instant pectin before, so I’m not sure. But if you give it a try, let me know how it turns out!
Would this recipe work with a sugar substitute?
I believe it is possible if you pair it with no-sugar pectin, but I think it depends on the substitute. There are some fine nuances though, so I would do additional research. For example, replacing sugar with artificial sweetener may reduce the shelf life of your jelly. I’ve only ever used sugar before, so if you use something else, let us know how it turns out!
The murky green color I was worried about cleared up and the jelly came out a beautiful golden color! Thanks for your help! The kids and wife and I love the jelly!
Oh yay! Thanks for circling back 🙂 I’m so happy to hear that it turned out and that your family enjoys it!!
Can you use instant pectin for this?
I’ve not used instant pectin myself, but from what I found, it looks like the two are not interchangeable. Instant pectin is only for freezer jams and cannot be used in cooked jams or jellies.
I am very new at this! I only have the gel pectin, they are 2 – 3 ounce packages. Will this be okay to use, do I need to make any adjustments?
It should work okay, but you will need to make some adjustments. I’ve not used gel pectin before, but from what I understand, one 3oz pouch is enough to process 2-4 cups of “product” – in this case, dandelion tea. However, one box of powdered pectin is enough for 4-8 cups of product. So that says to me that one pouch of pectin will barely do it. So you may want to use both pouches. Also, gel pectin gets added at the very end of the process, as opposed to powdered pectin, which is added at the beginning. I would definitely recommend reading a few articles on the subject, just so you have a good base on the details of subbing the pectin.
And definitely let us know how it turns out!
I’ve new at canning . Is there just one size of pectine box? I saw the brand that is advertised but being from Canada we don’t have it. Thank you for taking the time to answer me
I’m starting to realize that varying box sizes are more prevalent than I thought. I’ve updated the recipe. You’ll want a 1.75 oz box of pectin or 6 tablespoons if you’re using it from a bulk container.
Can is substitute honey for sugar? If so what would the measurements be? My tea is steeping now, I can’t wait to try this.
What an excellent thought! I’ve not tried it myself, but it looks like you can use 7/8 cup of honey as a substitute for every cup of sugar.
I made this for the first time today and it made 4 pints plus a bit more. I did 3 pints in the water bath and the rest I just left to set on my counter before putting them in the fridge. The ones I didn’t process have helped beautifully and the taste is amazing, sweet and lemony and just slightly floral. I’m a bit worried about the ones I processed jelling correctly, they’ve all sealed, but seem a bit watery. I’ll see what happens in the morning, but would definitely make this again.
Hopefully they turned out well! I’ve found that the canned ones set up more after a day or two & definitely once the lid is popped and it’s stored in the fridge.
I made the Dandelion jelly using one box of sure jell a couple days ago its still like water ….So I picked more Dandelion and used 2 boxes and the same ingredients and it turned out perfect thanks
With the shortage of canning lids, could I use paraffin to seal?
I’ve not used paraffin before, but I imagine it would work!
Hello ! I was curious if it is okay if it steeps longer than 24hrs !? I had made an order for pectin to be delivered to me before I even started for next day delivery and of course the package is MIA.
Hey Heather! I would maybe strain out the dandelion petals and then just keep storing the liquid until your pectin arrives. I think it should still work out just find though.
I just made this today. Turned out amazing.
Oh that’s so wonderful to hear!
Just found you! This was my 1st time. Made my tea, “brewed” it for 24 hours then strained it. Had to put the tea back in fridge because…WORK! Any way it was about 48 hours later before I could make the jelly. My jelly turned out honey colored, not the pretty yellow in you picture. Is it ok?
Oh that should be fine. My guess is that it just oxidized a little longer than usual – like when we leave hashbrowns in water too long for the exact same reason 🙂 As long as everything still taste yummy, you should be good to go!