Stinging Nettle-Ade Recipe (2024)

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Do you have foraged stinging nettle that you’ve dried or recently collected? Make this stinging nettle-ade! It’s a refreshing sugar free lemonade recipe that’s easy to make and sugar free. It’s the perfect foraged drink recipe.

Stinging Nettle-Ade Recipe (1)

Wildcrafting Weeds

If you want to learn more about the edible and medicinal weeds that surround us and how to use them, check out my eBook: Wildcrafting Weeds: 20 Easy to Forage Edible and Medicinal Plants (that might be growing in your backyard)!

Gather & Root Online Foraging Course

My online foraging course is a great way to learn about wild edible and medicinal plants! Learn more about the gather + root online foraging course here.

Stinging Nettle Benefits

Many people know about stinging nettle, but it is much more well-known for its painful sting than its edible and medicinal qualities.

If prepared the right way, stinging nettles are delicious and nutritious! So many edible wild “weeds” are brushed off as being a nuisance, when they are actually quite tasty, and often have medicinal value as well.

Stinging nettle is a very nutritious superfood. It has a large amount of many vitamins and minerals, but is particularly high in vitamins A and C, iron, potassium, manganese, and calcium.

Related: 40+ Stinging Nettle Recipes (without the sting!)

Stinging Nettle-Ade Recipe (2)

Nettle is also a potent medicinal plant. It is commonly used for kidney and bladder problems, including urinary tract infections.

Stinging nettle is known as an all around tonic for women’s reproductive system, and is often used when trying to conceive, as well as throughout pregnancy (check with your doctor or midwife before using it during pregnancy).

Because of its high concentration of minerals, nettle is also commonly used for bone ailments such as arthritis and osteoporosis.

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Stinging Nettle-Ade Recipe

The book by Mia Wasilevich titled Ugly Little Greens tells us how to cook these overlooked plants in delightful ways! That is where I got this recipe for Nettle-Ade that I’m going to share with you today.

If you don’t have any dried nettles on hand for this recipe, you can always purchase them from Mountain Rose Herbs, my favorite place to buy high quality, organic herbs.

First, steep the dried nettles. Place the nettles in a teapot or a nonreactive pot and pour the boiling water over them. Let the nettles steep for 15 minutes, then strain them from the water.

Stinging Nettle-Ade Recipe (4)

Add ice to a tall glass and muddle the honey with the preserved lemon. Pour in ½ cup (120 ml) of the strong nettle tea and finish with the sparkling water.

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Photo credit: Mia Wasilevich

This Nettle-Ade recipe is surprisingly delicious!

Slightly sweet from the honey, and a pleasant tartness from the lemon make it really wonderful. It is super refreshing on a hot day!

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It’s nice to know how healthy it is, too.

Nettle infusion is something that we could all use a little more of, and this is the perfect way to make it more enticing.

I’m pretty sure I’ll be making this nettle-ade all summer long with my stash of foraged dried stinging nettle!

Ugly Little Greens Book

I really love the book Ugly Little Greens by Mia Wasilevich!

She takes underutilized wild plants like dandelions, mustards, nettles, plantain, cattail, thistles, lambs quarters, mallow, watercress, and elderberries and turns them into gourmet recipes such as:

  • Plantain and Purslane Poke
  • Cattail Pollen Madeleines
  • Nettles Benedict
  • Salted Dandelion and Plantain Two Ways
  • Lambsquarters Marbled Bread
  • Elderflower Sangria with Summer Fruit

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Both this wonderful book and this amazing Stinging Nettle-Ade recipe are highly recommended!

It’s always so much fun to actually make awesome recipes from foraged and wildcrafted ingredients. Mia’s book will help you with some of the best recipes I’ve seen for these wild edible weeds!

What is your favorite way to prepare stinging nettles?

Stinging Nettle-Ade Recipe (8)

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5 from 2 votes

Nettle-Ade

Make this refreshing Nettle-Ade with foraged stinging nettles!

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Steeping Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 8 servings

Calories 16kcal

Author Colleen @ Grow Forage Cook Ferment

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

  • Dried nettle leaves and stems as needed (see note)
  • Boiling water as needed (see note)
  • Ice as needed
  • 1 tbsp honey per serving
  • preserved lemon or a ½-inch chunk per serving
  • 1 cup sparkling water per serving

Instructions

  • To steep the dried nettles, place the nettles in a teapot or a nonreactive pot and pour the boiling water over them. Let the nettles steep for 15 minutes, then strain them from the water.

  • Add ice to a tall glass and muddle the honey with the preserved lemon. Pour in ½ cup (120 ml) of the strong nettle tea and finish with the sparkling water.

Notes

This recipe is from the bookUgly Little Greensby Mia Wasilevich, Page Street Publishing Co. 2017

A general rule of thumb is to use 1 tablespoon (1 g) dried nettles per 1 cup (240 ml) water. But I like to make this strong so I can enjoy it with ice and sparkling water, so I use 2 tablespoons (2 g) dried nettles per 1 cup (240 ml) water. For example, to make 4 servings, use 8 tablespoons (6 g) nettles and 4 cups (960 ml) water. It’s OK to eyeball this, as dried nettles weigh practically nothing and you won’t get a significant measurement by weight.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 16kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 8mg | Calcium: 10mg

Stinging Nettle-Ade Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Does stinging nettle detox your body? ›

Nettle is believed to be a powerful blood air purifier that removes toxins from the body, making it an excellent addition to your daily routine.

Who should not drink nettle tea? ›

Avoid if you're pregnant or breastfeeding because there isn't enough information on its safety. Use with caution if you're elderly because of the potential of causing low blood pressure. And use stinging nettle with caution if you have diabetes because of the potential that it may lower or raise blood sugar levels.

How much stinging nettle should I take for my prostate? ›

Dosage information Medical disclaimer

For allergic rhinitis, the recommended dosage is 600 mg of dried nettle leaf per day taken in three separate doses. In benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a daily dose of 360 mg of aqueous root extract taken as 3 divided doses is suggested for up to 6 months.

Is it okay to drink nettle tea every day? ›

The bottom line. Whether you forage for your own leaves or buy it in a more convenient teabag form, having a cup of nettle tea every day offers a range of health and nutritional benefits, from reducing blood pressure to offering protective anti-inflammatories and antioxidants.

What are the negative side effects of stinging nettle? ›

Occasional side effects include mild stomach upset, fluid retention, sweating, diarrhea, and hives or rash (mainly from topical use). It is important to be careful when handling the nettle plant because touching it can cause an allergic rash.

Is stinging nettle bad for your liver? ›

Stinging nettle extracts are generally well tolerated and have not been implicated in instances of serum aminotransferase elevations or cases of clinically apparent liver injury.

Does nettle raise blood pressure? ›

Stinging nettle was traditionally used to treat high blood pressure ( 21 ). Animal and test-tube studies illustrate that it may help lower blood pressure in several ways. For one, it may stimulate nitric oxide production, which acts as a vasodilator.

How many cups of nettle tea per day is safe? ›

There's no one recommended portion size for nettle leaf or nettle leaf products, though the Arthritis Foundation suggests these amounts for arthritis benefits: 1 cup of tea three times a day. Up to 1,300 milligrams a day in capsule form. As a tincture (a solution in alcohol), 1-4 milliliters, three times a day.

What cannot be taken with nettle? ›

Interactions ?
  • Medications for diabetes (Antidiabetes drugs) interacts with STINGING NETTLE. Stinging nettle might lower blood sugar levels. ...
  • Warfarin (Coumadin) interacts with STINGING NETTLE. ...
  • Lithium interacts with STINGING NETTLE. ...
  • Water pills (Diuretic drugs) interacts with STINGING NETTLE.

Does nettle tea make you pee a lot? ›

As a diuretic, nettle tea can help increase urine production and promote the excretion of water and salt from your body. This may help to reduce bloating, water retention, and weight gain. In addition, the diuretic effects of nettle tea may also be helpful for treating urinary tract infections (UTIs).

What does stinging nettle do for men? ›

The root of the stinging nettle is used to treat mictional difficulties associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia, while the leaves are used to treat arthritis, rheumatism, and allergic rhinitis.

Is stinging nettle good for hair growth? ›

In fact, nettle is one of the oldest recorded remedies used for treating and preventing hair loss. This is primarily due to the high amount of sulphur and silica in nettle, which improve hair health by strengthening the hair shaft. Regularly using nettle shampoo can promote hair re-growth and reduce hair loss.

Is it better to drink nettle tea at night or in the morning? ›

Since nettle tea has a strong diuretic effect, avoid drinking it before bedtime.

Do you drink nettle tea hot or cold? ›

Cold brewing protects delicate compounds and nutrients from nettle leaves, ensuring your tea retains its full spectrum of health benefits, including antioxidants and enzymes.

Is nettle tea and stinging nettle the same? ›

Nettle tea consists of the leaves from the stinging nettle plant infused in hot water. It tastes similar to vegetable broth and can have a mild or strong taste depending on the concentration.

What does stinging nettle do for the body? ›

Anti-inflammatory activity. Nettles are useful for a variety of inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and chronic myalgia. Nettle tea or herbal supplements have been shown to effectively treat gout, relieve muscle aches and minimize the symptoms of arthritis.

Does nettle detox the liver? ›

Packed with a variety of polyphenolic compounds and pigments, nettle leaf detox drinks reduce liver inflammation. A regular cleanse with nettle leaf detox drinks can help lower blood pressure and improve the heart's antioxidant defenses.

Is stinging nettle good for gut health? ›

Nettles are known for their sting, but research by Dr Diana Obanda at the University of Maryland in the US suggests that eating them could strengthen our gut and protect us from obesity.

Can nettle balance hormones? ›

Nettle. The nettles that you see when you're out on a walk, are actually great for balancing hormones and supporting our bodies through periods of stress. Nettles can help to fight inflammation and stress, and positively impact our hormones addressing multiple sources of hormone disruption all at once.

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