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    Home » Wild Herbs and Spices

    Spruce Tips: Harvesting, Cooking and Recipes

    Published: Mar 27, 2018 Modified: Mar 21, 2023 Author: Alan Bergo

    Spruce tips are one of the best wild herbs available to foragers. Literally the young growth on branches of spruce trees, spruce tips aren't an herb in the typical sense, but, they are for all intents and purposes. Here's everything you need to know.

    Edible white spruce tips

    Harvesting Spruce Tips

    All spruce species taste different. I worked with some local Amish farmers a few years ago. They'd agreed to sell me spruce tips, but we had to figure out a good tasting species on their property.

    Every week for about 3 weeks, they would send me a couple different types of tips from different trees with my vegetable delivery. Eventually we hit on a tasty species before the Spring was officially over, but it took some time.

    Spruce Tips, Frozen_
    Perfect tips, at this stage you won't have to remove the paper covering. 

    Every young spruce tip I've tasted will have a good flavor, but some have intense bitterness too. The goal is to find spruce tips that have the least amount of bitterness or astringency.

    No species of spruce is poisonous though, so what you can do is just go around to different trees and taste them until you find one that tastes good.

    Blue spruce tips.
    Blue spruce tips.

    You'll want to bring a bottle of water to rinse your mouth out, otherwise after you get a bitter one they might all start to taste the same. When you find a tree that you like the taste of, remember it, and then find other trees that are the same species of spruce.

    The only tips I know I really don't like are balsam fir, although their cones are fun and can be used to make an interesting version of Mugolio.

    Spruce Tips in Sugar
    Spruce and pine tips love sugar, and make excellent desserts. 

    Sustainability

    Like with many foraged foods, you need to be careful with how you treat the trees. Here's my rules that I follow when harvesting tips:

    • I always pick from elder, mature trees, young trees need time to grow
    • I never pick more than 20% of the tips from a single tree
    • I never pick tips from the apical meristem, or top of a young tree, which would stunt it's growth

    That being said, spruce tips are one of the most easy to harvest and sustainable things you can forage, and the aforementioned details are relatively minor details as far as sustainability goes.

    Harvesting spruce tips with a blickey
    Use a blickey (or a milk jug with the top cut off attached to a belt to make harvesting easier. I've really liked this one, it's a Swedish model. 

    Even if you tried, it would be hard to pick all the tips from a tree, since only the lower hanging branches are accessible most of the time, unless you have a ladder. Also, spruce tips have a strong flavor, and you don't need a lot of them to make things, a handful or two will be enough to serve dessert to 10 or more people.

    Spruce Tip Species

    As I mentioned, each species of spruce tip is going to taste a little different. Some will have a strong citrus note to them, some will taste a bit bitter.

    All the types I've had have a strong piney-citrus note to them, but some have more of the astringency than others. Let your palette be your guide here. By far, my two favorite species to cook with so far are:

    • White Spruce (Picea glauca)
    • Blue Spruce (Picea pungens)
    • Norway Spruce (Picea abies)
    edible, mature spruce tips
    These tips are a little past prime, but you could still use them for syrup, or pureeing in a blender.

    Storing Spruce Tips

    Spruce tips have a fantastic shelf life. Picked fresh and cooled, they can last for multiple months under refrigeration at a restaurant, or a few weeks at home.

    I store spruce tips in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel to help hold in moisture. If you'll be keeping the tips for a month or longer, make sure to keep an eye on them as they can mold. They can also be frozen, and used for my ice cream and syrup recipe below at the bottom of this post.

    Spruce syrup.

    Using Spruce Tips

    Here's a few things I find helpful.

    • "Cooking" with spruce tips is misleading as I rarely, if ever cook them using heat since they lose their vibrant color. Think of them as an herb you would use raw. When I cook with spruce tips, I usually add them raw to salads or sprinkle over vegetable dishes.
    • If I use spruce tips in desserts, they will typically be pureed or in an infusion, and always strained if possible since leftover particles can get bitter.
    • Remove the paper covering of any tips before eating, just as you would fiddleheads.
    • Sure, people make spruce tip salt, breads and cookies and all kinds of stuff. I've made them too, and there's a reason you don't see recipes for them posted here. You'll have to search for the flavor in most of the finished products that are cooked and most of the time it's barely noticeable.

    Spruce Tip Look Alikes

    Conifers are some of the safest edibles I know, but when foraging spruce tips, we have to mention that you need to be able to identify common yew (Taxus spp) from spruce tips. It's pretty easy.

    Poisonous yew tips, spruce tip look alike
    Toxic "look-a-like" Yew showing very young growing tips. They share only a passing resemblance to spruce tips.

    Yew grows typically  as a low-growing shrub, while spruce are young growth of tree branches. To me, yew doesn't really resemble spruce tips, but to someone very new to foraging, they could.

    Poisonous yew tips, spruce tip look alike
    Yew branches, viewed from above.
    Poisonous yew tips underside, spruce tip look alike
    Underside of Yew branches.

    Cooking with Spruce Tips

    By themselves, spruce tips taste strong, so a little goes a long way, especially if you have a more aggressive tasting species.

    a slice of spruce tip key lime pie on a plate
    Spruce key lime pie.

    It's helpful to think about the spruce tip flavor as tasting like honeydew melon or mint. From there, I just imagine what a dish would taste like if I added one or both of the two. Here's some examples of flavors spruce likes be paired with.

    Savory

    • Sweet green vegetables, especially peas, fava beans, green chickpeas, asparagus, etc.
    • Radishes, raw lamb, goat, bison, game, etc.
    • Organ meats from all above animals, especially heart and liver
    • Citrus, and anything flavored like citrus, especially lime

    Sweet

    • Berries, especially dark ones like blueberries, serviceberries, aronia, cherries, etc.
    • White chocolate
    • Chocolate, like spruce tip ice cream with chocolate shavings
    • Citrus, and anything flavored like citrus--especially lime
    • Cream, as in ice cream, panna cotta, mousse, etc
    • Nuts, especially creamy ones like pistachios, macadamia, and cashew
    Spruce and white chocolate terrine
    A terrine of spruce and white chocolate.

    Indigestion from too much Vitamin C

    The strong taste of spruce tips should be a deterrent from eating multiple handfuls, but, it is possible for some people to get an upset stomach from eating them, which should due to the fact that spruce tips are naturally high in Vitamin C.

    A salad of green vegetables and spruce tips is one of my favorite ways to serve them, but you'll want to serve small amounts of it to start as the spruce tips are raw.

    A salad of fiddlehead ferns and spruce tips in a bowl.
    Spruce and fiddlehead salad.

    That being said, the tummy rumbles I've been notified and experienced myself are only from consuming raw, un-processed spruce tips straight from the tree, and I have never had a problem serving someone a dessert where the tips are pureed in cream, as they are in just about every dessert I make with them.

    Preservation

    There's only one way I preserve the tips in their fresh form: frozen. If you strictly want to preserve their flavor, vacuum seal them and freeze, although you can put them in a tightly sealed ziploc too.

    Frozen spruce tips in a vaccum bag.
    Frozen in a vacuum bag.

    Freezing some is a good investment as the tips are sold wholesale too. If you're looking for spruce tips for sale, the price is usually $ 25-30 / lb through companies like Foods in Season.

    A price list of foraged foods including spruce tips.
    Market price.

    Frozen spruce tips have their limits. They won't have the soft texture of freshly picked tips. If I'm using frozen spruce tips I'm probably making ice cream or syrup, or something that will be pureed-not eaten raw.

    Spruce Tips, Frozen_
    Tips freeze like a dream. These were a little older so they'll be pureed into desserts.

    Other Edible Conifer Tips, etc

    • Pine trees have edible tips too, and I've eaten many of them. The best thing you can do with these is make them into pine cone syrup.
    • Pine cones are also edible if harvested young. Make them into pine cone cider jam (varenye).
    • If you want to cook with the mature, long needles, I make them into a brine for spruce ham or chicken.
    • Cedar tips aren't that great, but young cedar cones are excellent.
    Young red pine tips on a wood background.
    Red pine tips.
    Unripe red pine cones for pine cone syrup
    Young pine cones.
    Cedar cones on a tree in the spring.
    Cedar cones.

    Spruce Tip Recipes

    Classic Spruce Tip Syrup

    The classic syrup that tastes like spruce and pine trees. Each species will give you a syrup with a unique taste.

    Traditional spruce tip syrup recipe
    Classic spruce tip syrup should be one of the first things you make.
    Get The Recipe

    Spruce Tip Ice Cream 

    The first spruce ice cream on the internet was created on this site and has a borderline cult following.

    Spruce tip ice cream recipe with chokecherry sauce by chef Alan Bergo
    Spruce tip ice cream is one of the most popular recipes for spruce tips on this site.
    Get The Recipe

    Winter Radish Salad with Spruce Tips and Spring Vegetables

    One of my favorite savory ways to use the tips is in a salad of fresh Spring vegetables with herbs.

    Fiddlehead, Asparagus Salad with Spruce Tips Violets and Chickweed
    Get The Recipe

    Spruce Posset

    A delicate, easy to make custard from the U.K. with the taste of spruce.

    Spruce tip posset recipe
    Spruce tip posset-an eggless sweet custard.
    Get The Recipe

    Spruce Tip Panna Cotta

    Classic panna cotta flavored with young spruce or pine needles is easy to make.

    Spruce tip panna cotta recipe with wild grape sauce and pistachios
    Spruce panna cotta is easy, and delicious. Also, spruce tips LOVE pistachios.
    Get the Recipe

    More Spruce Tip Recipes

    « Watercress: Harvesting, Cooking and Recipes
    Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa) »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Z.B.

      December 30, 2024 at 3:22 pm

      Have you ever considered taste-testing Picea engelmannii (Engelmann spruce), Picea koraiensis (Korean spruce, not to be confused with Korean pine), Picea omorika (Serbian spruce, not to be confused with Macedonian pine), or Picea rubens (red spruce)? These seem like the most-likely rare species to find planted in Minnesota & Wisconsin. Additionally, have you ever tried hemlock (Tsuga) tips? I've wondered what various Tsuga species' shoots taste like but have never been around healthy trees when their shoots are emerging.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        January 04, 2025 at 8:28 am

        I haven't

        Reply
    2. Carol Radecki

      December 23, 2024 at 4:54 pm

      this is the first I have ever heard of spruce tips- found a recipe for homemade lox-
      it calls for spruce tips- can I use them fresh off the tree?- also can they be dehydrated- thanks for posting this very informative

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        December 26, 2024 at 3:21 pm

        Hello Carol. Fresh spruce tips won't add much flavor to lox. I've done what you're describing with fresh and mature pine needles and the method I preferred was grinding mature pine needles I'd cut with a scissors with the sugar in a food processor. Neither will add as much flavor as dill for example, but the mature needles will be more noticeable. The mature needles should also be scraped off the fish after curing, but fresh spruce tips could be minced and packed on after wiping off the cure, then vacuum sealed to help them hold in place, giving it a nice green layer out the outside, although it will lose color over time.

        Reply
    3. Sama Cunningham

      June 19, 2024 at 10:26 am

      Hi Alan,

      Thanks so much for this great post. I was wondering if it is possible, in a pinch, to use mature spruce needles (in this context, it’s in a nocino recipe that calls for spruce tips). Is the flavor of the mature needle too bitter or otherwise different to use as a substitute?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 03, 2024 at 6:45 pm

        Hi Sama. The only recipe I have that uses mature needles is for ham. I don't use them as a substitute for spruce tips as the flavor is slightly different-but not necessarily bad.

        Reply
        • Sama Cunningham

          July 11, 2024 at 3:24 pm

          That's good to know; thanks so much!

          Reply
    4. Leah Custard

      April 28, 2024 at 9:14 am

      Hi, I harvested spruce tips last year and I have had some sitting on my counter for almost a year now in the brown sugar syrup. There does not appear to be anything nasty growing in the jar and the tips are below the surface of the syrup. Should they still be okay to use? Thanks, Leah

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        May 02, 2024 at 8:57 am

        Hi Leah, as you're heating it, it's a kill-step. I've forgotten about jars for years without issue, as long as they're not covered in mold you're fine.

        Reply
        • Dan

          May 08, 2024 at 2:13 pm

          I had to make dietary substitutions but used fat-free lactose-free milk in the ice cream recipe to get a sort of ice milk and the flavor from the fresh spruce tips I collected is excellent. Thank you for posting the recipe. I believe what I collected with Norway spruce.

          Reply
          • Alan Bergo

            May 09, 2024 at 12:57 pm

            Hey Dan, glad that worked out for you. A good data point there.

            Reply
    5. Taija

      December 30, 2023 at 10:19 am

      Hello Alain. I've been reading your posts for a long time. You are extremely inspiring. I live in Switzerland. Have you ever juiced the pine tips with a professional juicer? ( not mixing) It could be very interesting... I think I'll try it out this spring...

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        December 30, 2023 at 11:59 am

        Hi Taija. Unfortunately there's not a lot of water in spruce tips. You could mix them with something juicy like cucumbers though.

        Reply
    6. Gloria

      May 28, 2022 at 2:40 pm

      I just found some spruce tips at my local farmers market and plan to make your great-sounding ice cream. Do you wash and dry the tips before using? I couldn't find any reference to that. Maybe I just missed it! Also, do you ever make a sorbet with them? And could you share any tips and/or a recipe for that? I had a spruce tip and lemon sorbet in Maine recently that was lovely. This would be helpful for friends who are vegan. I just discovered your website and totally love it. Your personal story is very powerful. Thank you for sharing so much of your expertise. My Greek grandmother used to stop the car and forage by the side of the road in New England when I was young which seemed strange and a bit embarrassing back then but, of course, now I know she was onto something!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        May 28, 2022 at 10:37 pm

        I haven't made spruce sorbet but that's a great idea. The only thing you need to do to clean them is remove any brown paper husk that may be present.

        Reply
    7. Monika

      June 14, 2019 at 9:27 am

      This is very exciting! My first time to work with spruce buds. (Just one editing comment: you said that you have 2 rules, but listed 3 🙂

      Reply

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