40+ Pansy Recipes (Yes, Pansies are edible!)

Edible pansies are delightful spring flowers that can add both color and brightness to a variety of recipes. Be they baked or used as a garnish, pansies are a pleasing floral embellishment with a subtle flavor.

Pansies are a lovely little spring flower, touted by flower enthusiasts to represent everything from platonic love to honesty, loyalty and remembrance. In addition to their pretty colors and charming symbolism, pansies are a delicate little treat that can be used in a variety of culinary situations.

Choosing the Best Pansies

Pansies bloom in early spring and fall when the temperature is cool and mild. When freshly plucked, they make a great addition to recipes be they used as a garnish or worked into the dish.

Although pansies are edible, you’ll want to make sure the ones you source are free of pesticides and chemicals. Be wary of pansies purchased from nurseries or florists – these aren’t generally organic. Growing organic flowers from seed is your best bet.

The blossom is edible – but not the leaves or stems. Feel free to eat the whole flower, or just pluck petals and scatter for beautiful pops of floral flavor.

Pansy Recipes

The flavor of pansies is milder than some other flowers – they are faintly floral with grassy notes. Some find certain varieties have a more pronounced wintergreen flavor. Eating the whole flower will have a stronger taste than consuming just the petals.

Before adding flowers to recipes, it’s always a good idea to clean them. This can be difficult however given the delicate nature of these spring flowers. Do not rinse flowers under running water as this can damage the petals – try dipping them in a bowl of water and gently swishing them to remove any dirt or debris. Don’t use a salad spinner to dry but place on a paper towel.

Always wash flowers just before use. The flowers can be used for visual embellishment atop cakes and desserts, garnishes for drinks and salads, or baked right into treats like cookies.

Pansy Salad Recipes

Pansies make a bright and beautiful addition to salads of all kinds. Try combining fresh flowers with arugula, carrots and cucumber for a healthy spring salad or mix with herbs and goat cheese for a stronger flavor. Pansies work well with fruits and berries in summer salads too. Try combining with strawberries, seeds and balsamic vinaigrette or blackberries and honey-baked walnuts.

Looking for something more filling? Add a light protein like chicken to balance pansy’s delicate flavor or keep it vegan and stick with purple kale, fresh herbs and a tangerine poppy seed vinaigrette.

Preserving Pansies

Preserving pansies is not an easy task. Unfortunately, there are few long-term storage solutions for keeping these pretty-petaled flowers besides freezing them into ice cubes or boiling them into preserves. A few additional options for preserving edible flowers include making flower vinegar, flower sugar or flower syrup.

For shorter-term storage, you can store edible flowers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This will work best for 2 to 3 days (4 to 6 days at most). For best results, pick flowers before use and make the most of these beautiful blooms while they last.

Pansy Breakfast Recipes

For a colorful and creative breakfast, add pansies to floral crepes. Combine with other edible flowers like violas or keep it simple. Crepes can be filled with both sweet fillings or savory.

For more filling morning delights, try adding pansies to a quiche. Combine with chopped onion, spinach, and cheese for this savory concoction. Pansy pancakes are another sweet and delightfully sweet-looking option for Sunday morning breakfasts. Simple drop petals into freshly poured batter for this delightful treat. Cook lightly on the flower side to preserve the petals.

Savory Pansy Recipes

Even more savory dishes can be made using pretty pansies. Try pansies in veggie-filled summer rolls stuffed with carrots, cucumber and rice noodles. Salad rolls are another vibrant option filled with purple-powered fruits and vegetables like purple carrots, purple sweet potatoes, red cabbage and currants.

Try incorporating pansy into flower and herb butter to slather on savory treats like baguettes and dinner toast. For a show-stopping appetizer add pansies to cream cheese along with mint, dill or chives. Serve with crostini. Pansies and other edible flowers can also be pressed into cheeses to garnish charcuterie boards. Try goat cheese with a drizzle of honey to accompany fruits and crackers. Even soups can be topped with pansies for added decoration and subtle flavor. Try using pansies in place of violets in this cold cucumber soup recipe, perfect for sweltering summer days.

Pansy Drink Recipes

This eye-catching colorful flower can also be used to flavor and garnish drinks. Try making a pansy simple syrup to add to cocktails and mocktails. Combine pansies with peach and strawberries for a beautiful sparkling punch – rum and prosecco are optional embellishments.

For more cocktails, add pansies to deep purple-hued berry cocktails or bright and cheery gimlets. Even autumn cocktails can make use of this colorful flower. Float flowers atop a mix of blackberry cordial and prosecco. Add a lemon slice and rosemary to complete the effect. For summer, consider topping all forms of drinks from lemonade to iced tea – flowers can even be frozen into floral ice cubes for a delightful visual effect.

Pansy Snack Recipes

For snackable sensations that are as pretty as they are tasty, add pansies to cheese or butter to serve alongside scones and tea biscuits. For a picturesque afternoon tea, bake flowers directly onto cookies for a fantastical treat. Both shortbread and sugar cookies are wonderful choices. Simply press flowers directly onto the dough before baking or place sugared pansies onto freshly glazed cookies.

On days too hot for oven use, add pansies to wildflower popsicles. For adults, blend with white peaches and prosecco – for the little ones try bananas and beet juice dipped in chocolate. For an even sweeter treat, try pansy lollipops for party favors or delightful Easter goodies. Try adding pansy petals and nuts to chocolate bark as well for a pretty and tasty tidbit.

Pansy Dessert Recipes

You’ll find dozens of desserts that use pansies as a garnish. You can use these lovely spring petals to top everything from tarts and cheesecakes to frosted delights like cakes and cupcakes. For a lesser-known dessert, try eton mess with meringues, yogurt, fresh strawberries and pansies.

Pansy ice cream is another delicious dessert in which you can mix in pansy blossoms in addition to topping your dish. Pansies can also be sugared and crystallized for adding to desserts. Additionally, consider using pansies as a garnish on chocolate truffle cake or lemon cake or combine with crushed oreos for a cake recipe with “edible dirt.”

Cultured & Fermented Pansies

You can add pansies to a few fermented recipes although their flavor will likely be light and best complemented with other herbs and flowers. You can incorporate flowers into flower wine or mead. Pansies can be used to make a wildflower cordial or be infused into cider like in the violet-infused recipe provided below.

Experimenting may be necessary! Try combining blossoms with berries and stone fruits like raspberries, blackberries, and peaches, or other florals like elderflower, lavender, violets, or rose.

Viola wine

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