If you grow basil, you’ll notice pretty white or purple flower buds emerging on the plants in summer. Many gardeners promptly pinch these off to encourage more leaf growth. But don’t toss those fragrant basil flowers! Both the buds and fully opened blooms can be used in a variety of ways. Read on for 12 creative ideas to make the most of basil flowers from your garden.
1. Garnish Salads and Dishes
Use basil flowers as an edible garnish for salads, pastas, pizzas, cheese boards, and more. The buds add a pop of color and delicate basil flavor. Whole flowers or petals can decorate anything enhanced by the taste of basil. Try scattering them over caprese salad, fresh mozzarella, bruschetta, fruit salads, or avocado toast.
2. Infuse Vinegars
Make flavored vinegars with basil flowers. Place clean buds or blooms in a glass jar and cover with white wine or cider vinegar. Let infuse for 1-2 weeks, strain, and enjoy the basil-infused vinegar in dressings and marinades. For an ongoing supply, top off the jar with fresh flowers and vinegar as needed.
3. Infuse Olive Oils
Follow a similar process to infuse olive oils. Layer fresh basil flowers in a bottle cover completely with extra virgin olive oil, and steep 4-6 weeks. Strain out the flowers and drizzle the flavored oil on everything from pasta to grilled meats and vegetables.
4. Brew Herbal Tea
Add fresh flowers or buds to boiling water and steep 3-5 minutes to make a mild, aromatic basil tea. Sweeten with honey if desired. You can also dry the flowers and use them for tea.
5. Float in Drinks
Use the blooms as a whimsical edible garnish for cocktails, lemonade, sangria, and mocktails The flowers not only look pretty floating on top, they’ll impart a subtle basil essence
6. Make Pesto
Incorporate basil flowers into homemade pesto for a more complex, rounded flavor. Use a 50/50 mix of leaves and flowers or adjust ratios to taste. The blossoms offer a delicate counterpoint to the stronger leaf flavor.
7. Toss in Salads
Mince or tear basil flowers and sprinkle liberally on all kinds of salads. Their edible petals will add texture, color and a mild basil taste. Toss blooms with mixed greens, tomato salads, potato salads, and pasta or grain salads.
8. Fold Into Omelets
Stir chopped flowers into egg mixtures when making omelets and frittatas. The basil buds cook down into flecks of flavor in the finished dish. They work especially well in any cheese or veggie-filled omelets.
9. Bake with Bread Dough
Knead whole basil flowers or torn petals into pizza dough, bread dough, rolls, and focaccia. You’ll get eye-catching pops of color plus little bursts of basil in each bite. The flowers retain their shape surprisingly well even after baking.
10. Make Jelly
Simmer basil flowers into a fragrant, soft green jelly. Use as a condiment for meats and cheeses or stir a spoonful into drinks for an herbal twist. Steep the blooms in apple juice then strain and follow a standard jelly recipe.
11. Candy on Cakes
Decorate cakes and cupcakes with crystallized basil flowers. Brush blooms with egg white and coat with superfine sugar. Let dry before placing the candied flowers on frosted cakes and desserts. The sweet treatment contrasts beautifully with the flowers’ flavor.
12. Craft Potpourri
Don’t let excess flowers go to waste. Hang small bundles of basil blooms to dry, then crumble and add to homemade potpourri. Mix with dried rosebuds, lavender, citrus peels, and spices for a refreshing scent.
Storage Tips
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Store fresh cut flowers layered between damp paper towels in an airtight container up to 5 days.
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Freeze flowers on a baking sheet then transfer to bags or containers to retain flavor.
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Air dry on screens or hang small bunches in a warm spot out of sunlight.
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Preserve in salt, sugar, vinegar, or oil. Refrigerate infusions for maximum flavor retention.
Handling Precautions
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Shake out insects before using. Avoid flowers treated with pesticides.
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Consume flowers in moderation first to test for allergies or sensitivity. Introduce new ones slowly.
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Remove any hard, bitter stems or bracts. Only use the fragrant petals.
How to Get More Blooms
To encourage plentiful flowers for harvesting:
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Choose varieties bred for prolific blossoms like African Blue, Greek Columnar, and Aroma 2.
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Pinch off the central stem shoot to promote bushier, flowering side shoots.
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Cut plants back halfway through summer to trigger new growth.
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Make sure plants get 6-8 hours of sun and avoid letting them dry out.
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Add compost or fertilizer to fuel flowering.
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Plant basil near tomatoes, as the tomatoes’ emissions help basil bloom.
Why Remove Flowers?
Some gardeners advocate promptly removing all basil flowers to:
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Keep leaves tender and maximize flavor. Flowers signal the plant is bolting.
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Prevent self-seeding, which can cross-pollinate basil varieties.
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Stop leaves from becoming bitter as energy goes to seed production.
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Encourage more leaf growth instead of flowers.
But leaving some flowers won’t hurt and offers benefits like harvesting blooms. Find a balance between pinching off flowers and allowing some to remain.
Rather than discarding basil blooms, take advantage of their ornamental beauty and culinary potential. With so many edible uses in dishes, drinks, and preserves, the flowers can spice up recipes and crafts all season long. Get creative with these fragrant blossoms straight from your own backyard basil patch.
Make Basil Flower Oil
Infuse your favorite olive oil with basil flowers, replenishing with new flowers over time to intensify the flavor:
- Rinse freshly cut basil flowers and pat them dry.
- Put the flower stems still attached into a clean glass jar. Place the flowers in a jar and cover them with fresh olive oil. Note: The flowers must remain covered to prevent mold growth.
- Keep the jar in a cool, dark place for about a month with a tight lid.
- Before using, take out the flowers and/or strain the oil. You can also leave the flowers in the oil as long as they stay submerged. You can make the infusion stronger by adding fresh basil flowers to the same oil if you want to.
Make Basil Flower Vinegar
Basil flower vinegar works well with olive oil or any citrus juice in salad dressings. Heres how to make it:
- Cut up some fresh basil flowers and put them in a clean glass jar. Then, pour red or white wine vinegar over the flowers. As you have more basil flowers, you can put them in the jar along with more vinegar to cover them. Keep the jar covered in between basil additions.
- Leave it alone for at least a week after the jar is full.
- Take the basil flowers out of the mixture. You can compost them or throw them away.
- Put the vinegar in a clean jar or cruet made of glass and tightly cap or cork it.
Best Way to Eat & Preserve Basil Flowers When You Deadhead
What can I do with basil flowers?
Add a few basil flowers to salads, especially tomato salad and fruit salad for a blast of added flavor, and a beautiful look. Basil blooms make a great addition to most salads. 2. Enhance tomato sauce When making tomato sauce, add a few basil flower clusters for a more subtle flavor than when adding basil leaves. 3. Make basil salt
How do I take basil?
Basil leaves come from the mint leaf family, with the botanical name Ocimum Basilium. This serrated leaf has long been used as medicine in China as it contains vitamins C, A, and K. Basil can be used fresh to be mixed in salad, as a garnish, or mixed in cooked foods. They can be boiled and served like a tea drink. In fact, there is evidence that people have consumed basil tea for thousands of years, which was done in the Asian region of India or Bangladesh.
Can you make oil with basil flowers?
Yes, you can make oil with basil blooms – and it’s delicious! Basil flower oil is essentially your favorite oil (preferably olive) with a hint of basil added from the flowers. Enjoy your basil infused olive oil! Once you go to use it, you can either strain out the flowers or put some mesh over the top of the jar and strain them out that way.
How do you infuse basil flowers?
Here’s how to make it: Place freshly snipped basil flowers into a clean glass jar and cover them with red or white wine vinegar. You can add more basil flowers to the jar as you have them, along with more vinegar to cover. Keep the jar covered in between basil additions. Once the jar is full, leave it to infuse for at least a week.