Best edible weeds: 4 tasty wild plants that can grace your dining table – or picnic

Enjoy foraging? Here are four tasty weeds that will grace any dining occasion

Published: Monday, 20 May 2024 at 14:20 PM

There is a wide variety of food you can forage for in Britain, including nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and more. Here are five of our favourite edible plants that grow in abundance in the wild

Best edible weeds

‘Alexanders’

Smyrnium olusatrum, common name Alexanders, is an edible cultivated flowering plant of the family Apiaceae.

A mediterranean plant now thriving in our hedgebanks and near the sea. Eat it with butter, like asparagus

Dandelion

Use the young leaves as a salad plant, or with Worcestershire sauce as a tasty sandwich garnish.

Dandelion guide: where to find, how to pick and recipe ideas

Fat hen

Abundant on both cultivated and waste ground. Eat raw, or prepare and cook in the same way as spinach.

Hairy bittercress

A common garden weed. Substitute it for shop-bought cress, use in salads or sandwiches.

* Please ensure you know exactly what you are picking and that no chemicals have been used before eating

Enjoy foraging? Try;