What Is Lavender and How Can I Use It?
Here's everything worth knowing about lavender and how to pick it, what it is, how to store it, and what to use instead, plus 10 recipes to cook tonight.
Key Points
- Culinary lavender is dried English lavender buds, sweet and floral, used as an herb not a fragrance.
- A teaspoon or less goes a long way; too much turns a dish perfumey and bitter.
- Steep buds in warm cream, honey, or sugar for baking and drinks, then strain.
- Pairs with lemon, honey, blueberry, vanilla, and its Provençal cousins rosemary and thyme.
- Buy food-grade buds, never craft-store lavender, and store airtight away from light for about a year.
What is lavender?
Lavender sold for cooking is the dried flower buds of the lavender plant, used as an herb and not just a scent. The variety that belongs in food is English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia).
Its flavor is sweet and floral with a faint mint edge, and none of the soapy harshness of the camphor-heavy ornamental types.
A little goes a long way.
The buds are intense, so most recipes call for a teaspoon or less. Overdo it and the dish turns perfumey and bitter, the most common mistake cooks make with lavender.
Cooking With Lavender
Lavender leans sweet, which is why it works so well in baking and drinks. It carries beautifully in butter, cream, sugar, and honey, so the classic move is to steep the buds in a warm liquid and strain them out.
Honey-Lavendar Biscotti and Lavender Scones build the flavor straight into the dough. Pink Lavender Lemonade and Blueberries with Orange Liqueur & Lavender instead lean on a quick infused syrup that you stir in cold.
It works on the savory side too, as part of an herb crust. A pinch ground together with rosemary and salt is wonderful on lamb, which is exactly how Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with Roasted vegetables uses it.
Want lavender sugar? Bury a tablespoon of buds in a cup of sugar for a week, then sift them out. The sugar takes on the scent with no gritty bits left in your batter.
Pairing and What to Watch For
Lavender loves lemon, honey, blueberry, vanilla, and chocolate, and it plays well with its fellow Provençal herbs rosemary and thyme. Citrus in particular keeps the floral note from tipping into perfume.
The mistake to avoid is heavy-handedness. Start with ¼ teaspoon of buds for a batch of scones or a cup of cream and taste before adding more, because the flavor strengthens as it steeps.
Skip the dyed or sprayed lavender from a craft or potpourri shelf. It may carry pesticides that were never meant for food.
Substitutes
If you are out of lavender, rosemary is the closest savory stand-in for a meat rub, since it shares the same piney, resinous backbone. For sweet recipes, a split vanilla bean or a few drops of rosewater give the same aromatic lift, though neither tastes of lavender exactly.
Dried rose petals come closest to that perfumed floral character in baking. In every case use a light hand, the same as you would with the lavender itself.
Buying and Storing Lavender
Look for buds labeled food grade, ideally English lavender, with a strong clean scent and good purple color. Pale, dusty buds have lost their oils and their flavor. Whole buds keep far longer than ground.
Store them in an airtight jar away from light and heat, the same as any dried herb. Kept that way they hold their aroma for about a year, after which they fade rather than spoil.
If you grow your own, snip the flower spikes just as the buds show color but before they fully open, then hang them to dry in a dark, airy spot.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 薰衣草
- British (UK) term
- Lavender
- en français
- lavande
- en español
- lavanda
Recipes using lavender
There are 10 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with Roasted
Herb-crusted rack of lamb seared and finished with compound herb butter, served over mesquite-grilled pepper ragout with socca and olive tapenade. Restaurant-level Provencal cooking.
Pink Lavender Lemonade
Pink lavender lemonade naturally colored with hibiscus flowers or strawberries, infused with fresh lavender leaves. A floral, refreshing summer drink from scratch.
Pink Lavender Lemonade
Pink lavender lemonade naturally colored with hibiscus flowers or strawberries, infused with fresh lavender leaves. A floral, refreshing summer drink from scratch.
Lavender-Pepper Pears
Lavender-pepper pears are ripe Bartlett pears sprinkled with crumbled lavender, cracked black pepper, and lemon juice. An elegant no-cook fruit dessert.
Lavender Jelly
Lavender jelly made with champagne, apple juice, creme de cassis, and fresh lavender flowers set with gelatin. An elegant, fragrant dessert jelly with a pale purple hue.
Blueberries with Orange Liqueur & Lavender
Preserved blueberries in orange liqueur syrup with fresh lavender flowers, canned in a boiling water bath. Spoon over vanilla ice cream, fold into yogurt, or gift a jar to someone who deserves something truly special.
Lavender Angel Food Cake
Lavender angel food cake with 12 egg whites beaten to stiff peaks and dried lavender folded into the batter. Light, fragrant, and fat-free. Ready in about an hour.
Honey-Lavendar Biscotti
Honey-lavender biscotti with orange zest and dried lavender blossoms baked into a crisp, twice-baked Italian cookie. Fragrant, floral, and built for dipping.
Lavender Herb Bread
Lavender herb bread baked in the bread machine with cottage cheese, honey, thyme, and basil. A floral, savory loaf with tender crumb that slices beautifully for sandwiches or toast.
