dandelion tea in tea cup with dandelion flowers

Dandelions are very common in New Zealand, most people think of this hardy plant as a weed but they are actually herbs that have a huge array of medicinal benefits.

They’re an excellent blood cleanser and are beneficial for the liver, kidneys and gall bladder as they contain iron, copper, silicon, magnesium, sodium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, sulphur, vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, C, and D.

The flowers, leaf, and root of the dandelion plant can all be used to make dandelion tea or ‘coffee’. This recipe is for the leaves, there are two options fresh or dried.

To make dandelion coffee click here.

For information on the medicinal benefits of dandelions click here.

And to find out about dandelions and spike proteins click here.

How To Make Dandelion Leaf Tea

To make fresh dandelion tea, take about six fresh young dandelion leaves and cut them into small pieces. Place them in your tea cup or tea pot and pour boiling water over the leaves, steep for 5-10 minutes. Strain and drink.

Do not add sweeteners, as they reduce the herb’s effectiveness when using the leaves. Milk may be used to taste, if desired. Garnish with a flower when serving but don’t eat it.

Drink 2 cups per day for general medicinal use.

To make dried dandelion tea, pick a bunch of clean leaves, younger leaves are better, place them in a food dehydrator at 60 degrees C and dehydrate until leaves are crispy. Or you can leave them on a try to dry in a warm spot, this takes a couple of days.

When dry take the leaves out and rub them between your hands to make crushed leaf tea, remove any large stems. Store in an airtight jar.

To make your tea place 1-2 teaspoons of dried leaves in a tea pot or in a tea strainer in a tea cup, add boiling water – around a cup – steep for a few minutes, enjoy hot or cold.

This recipe is from Dr. Nicole Apelian’s book the Lost Book of Herbal Remedies which has over 550 powerful natural remedies made from plants. Many of these remedies have been used by our forefathers for hundreds of years, while others come from Nicole’s extensive natural practice.

I highly recommend this extremely useful, well written, book.

When you order this book in hard copy you also receive the digital copy along with two other digital books:

Everyday Disaster Medicine Guide & 80 Square Feet Medicinal Garden Guide

For more information and to order the digital version click here.

To order a hard copy of the book from New Zealand, which comes with the digital copy, use this link The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies ordering from NZ.