Edible flower jellies are a wonderful way to preserve both the beauty and flavor of your garden blooms, reduce food waste, and create a truly unique gift from your homestead kitchen. And unlike store-bought jellies laden with artificial colors and flavors, homemade flower jelly uses only real flowers, organic sugar, and simple, wholesome ingredients.
This basic flower jelly recipe can transform any edible flower variety into a fun, floral, jewel-like treat.
Choosing Your Flowers
The most important step to making homemade edible flower jelly is choosing safe, edible flowers—ideally from your own chemical-free garden, or foraged from unsprayed, clean areas. If you’re harvesting from your own garden, pick flowers in the morning after the dew has dried but before the midday sun. If foraging wild blossoms, always be 100% sure of your identification and the safety of the location before harvesting any wild plant. And always leave plenty for pollinators!
Never use flowers from grocery stores, nurseries or florists, as they are usually treated with pesticides that are not safe for consumption.
Some delicious, safe edible flowers include:
- Apple, Pear, Orange, Peach or Cherry blossoms
- Bee Balm – Monarda spp.
- Black Locust
- Borage
- Calendula
- Chamomile
- Clover – Red, white, and pink
- Dandelions
- Daylilies – Hemerocallis spp. only! Other lilies (Lilium spp.) are toxic.
- Elderflowers
- Fireweed
- Forsythia
- Grape Hyacinths – Muscari spp. only! Other hyacinths (Hyacinthus spp.) are toxic.
- Hawthorn
- Hibiscus – Very strong flavored; can be mixed with other flowers, fruit or fruit juice.
- Honeysuckle
- Hops
- Kudzu blossoms
- Lavender
- Lilacs
- Milkweed
- Nasturtiums
- Oregon Grape blossoms
- Pansies
- Peonies
- Redbud
- Roses
- Sumac – Rhus spp. only! Poison sumac (Toxicodendron spp.) is toxic.
- Violets – Viola spp. only! African violets (Streptocarpus spp.) are toxic.
Be sure to do some background research on any edible flower you’ve chosen. Many flowers are both medicinal as well as edible, and while the amounts used in jelly are very small and generally aren’t considered a “therapeutic dose,” you want to make sure that they will not affect any allergies or health conditions you may have. For example, hawthorn blossoms can affect blood pressure, violet and dandelion blossoms are mildly diuretic, hops can make you sleepy, and chamomile flowers can be allergenic.
Flower Jelly Variations
Although single-flower jellies have the brightest colors, you can make wonderful floral jellies from a mix of flower varieties for a more complex flavor.
It is also nice to mix flowers with fruit or fruit juice for exciting taste combinations, like Strawberry Hibiscus or Lavender Pomegranate! You can also try dropping in a sprig of lemon verbena, thyme, or mint during steeping for added depth.
Adjusting Sugar in Your Jelly Recipe
Homemade jellies and jams require sugar, acid and pectin to get them to gel or “set.”
When using a standard powdered pectin like SureJell, you must use a 1:1 ratio of liquid to sugar for any jam or jelly. In this recipe, this means combining 4 cups of flower blossom tea with 4 cups of sugar and 2 Tbsp lemon juice (acid) to get the jelly to set. This makes a very sweet, “old-fashioned” jelly.
Since flower blossoms have very little natural sugar compared to fruit, flower jelly will not be very delicious if made sugar-free. To reduce the sugar but still maintain good taste, you will need to use low-sugar pectin instead, and cut the sugar by about half (to taste). Lowering sugar will also lower yield, so expect fewer jars from this recipe if you use less sugar.
Pomona’s Universal Pectin is a commonly-used, low-sugar pectin, but it is different from other low-sugar pectins because each box contains one packet of pectin and one packet of calcium powder (Monocalcium phosphate) to be used together. The calcium powder allows the pectin to work without much added sugar, but it also increases the pH of the jelly. This means that if you use Pomona’s for a flower jelly, you’ll need to increase the lemon juice to 1/2 cup (from 2 Tbsp) to have enough acid for your jelly to set and be preserved.
The extra lemon juice required just for Pomona’s Universal Pectin does make lemon a more pronounced flavor in your flower jelly. Extra lemon juice could work quite well with strongly flavored flowers like sumac, elderflower, or hibiscus!
However, to preserve the unique flavors of delicate blossoms like violet, redbud, or forsythia, Pomona’s is not usually recommended for floral jellies.
Ways to Enjoy Edible Flower Jelly
Making edible flower jelly is more than just a culinary project. It’s a way to honor the fleeting beauty of the season, connect with nature, and reduce reliance on processed, packaged foods. And every time you open a jar in the middle of winter, you’ll be tasting a little bit of summer sunshine.
Homemade flower jelly is great to…
- Spread on morning toast, English muffins, or scones.
- Swirl a spoonful into plain yogurt, cottage cheese, or oatmeal.
- Pair with soft cheeses (goat cheese, brie) on a charcuterie board.
- Glaze cakes and pastries—brush lightly when warm.
- Give as a unique gift for birthdays, weddings, or holidays.
Basic Edible Flower Jelly
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups edible flower blossoms, loosely packed
- 4 cups filtered water
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice, (1/2 cup if using Pomona's Universal pectin) *See note.
- 2-4 cups raw cane sugar, *See note.
- 1 box powdered pectin, 1.75 oz box (Regular or Low Sugar) *See note.
Instructions
- Carefully separate the edible flower blossoms from any stems, leaves, sepals, or other green parts. Rinse the petals in cool water to remove any dirt or insects. Gently pat them dry.
- Pour 4 cups boiling water over the top of the flower blossoms and allow the tea to infuse for 30-60 minutes (or even overnight for strongest flavor). The water should take on the color and aroma of the flowers.
- Pour the infusion through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a saucepan or jam pot, pressing gently to extract all the liquid. Discard the spent petals.
- Add the lemon juice, which will brighten the color of the flower infusion, and provide the acidity needed to activate the pectin and safely preserve the jelly.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and add the powdered pectin, stirring to dissolve. Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute.
- Lastly, add the sugar, stirring to dissolve (See Note.) Bring the mixture back to a full boil for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Test for gel by placing a small spoonful on a chilled plate—if it wrinkles when pushed, it’s ready.
- Pour or ladle hot jelly into sterilized jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rims, apply lids, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove jars and let cool undisturbed for 12–24 hours. Store in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Refrigerate after opening.
- If not canning, allow the jars to cool completely on the counter before storing in the refrigerator for up to a month, or the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Recommended for This Recipe
Other Jelly and Jam Recipes
- Homemade Chestnut Jam
- Dandelion Jelly – Practical Self Reliance
- Honeysuckle Jelly – Rootsy
- Rose Petal Jelly – Creative Canning
- Wild Violet Jelly – The Nerdy Farmwife
- Smoky Tomato Bacon Jam
- Hops Pear Jam – Rooted Soul Apothecary
What is your favorite flower jelly? Share in the comments!
