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    Home » Flowers and Buds

    Steamed Milkweed Buds

    Published: Jul 2, 2022 Modified: Feb 2, 2023 by Alan Bergo This post may contain affiliate links 11 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    Milkweed flower buds were one of the first wild foods I harvested, and steaming them has become one of my favorite milkweed recipes. But, before you go out and gather a bunch, there's a few things to know to make sure you have the best experience. 

    Steamed Milkweed Buds (24)
    Steaming milkweed buds is officially my favorite way to enjoy them.

    If you're new to eating this plant, it's important to remember that only a few species of milkweed are edible. I have only cooked common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), but showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) can be eaten too. For more info on milkweed as a food in general, I recommend reading Sam Thayer's Book The Forager's Harvest.  

    Milkweed buds or Asclepias syriaca outside
    Milkweed buds at the perfect stage for harvesting.

    The buds (or milkweed raabs as I call them) are the unopened flowers of the plant, harvested when they're green in the early summer. At a glace they resemble broccoli broccoli florets with a taste reminiscent of green beans.

    While the buds and flowers of the plant are edible at any stage, I like them best when they're tight and compact. Loose or floppy buds won't keep their shape after cooking and get kind of flat.

    Harvesting

    First you want to find a large colony of milkweed. I don’t typically harvest any buds from plants unless I’m in a field of them with more than I could ever harvest.

    Chef Alan Bergo in a patch of milkweed
    One of my favorite patches is filled with thousands of plants.

    You can harvest the entire tender tops of the plant, or just the tightly clustered flower buds. I always like to leave a couple buds on each plant for the monarchs too.

    Monarch caterpillar eating milkweed
    I inspect each plant for monarch caterpillars when I'm harvesting so I don't disturb any. 

    As milkweed sap is sticky and can gunk up my harvesting basket, I like to put the buds in a polycarbonate container or plastic bus tub. It’s also a good idea to wear gloves to prevent your hands from getting sticky, but if you don’t have any the sticky sap is nothing some hot soapy water can’t fix.

    A basket of milkweed buds
    Baskets full of food look pretty, but this basket was eventually ruined from sticky milkweed sap. Now I use polycarbonate containers or paper bags.

    Before you take each bud, make sure to look it over for insects. Insects rely on milkweed for food too, so If I see any ants, bees, or especially monarch caterpillars on the plant, I leave it alone and move onto the next plant.

    Cleaning

    When you get home, lay the buds out on a tray in a flat layer and inspect them visually again for insects, rehoming any you find.

    Next, I remove any leaves larger than 1 inch. Older leaves are tough an unpalatable, and I use them primarily for making purees. You want mostly buds here, but a few small leaves here and there won’t bother anyone. After you’ve inspected the buds, store them in a large zip-top bag in the fridge. They’ll last for 5-6 days just fine. 

    Edible milkweed buds (Asclepias syriaca)
    Spread the buds out when you get home and inspect them for bugs. 

    Safety

    Milkweed is a traditional food, but it does require some thought when you're preparing it. The most important thing to know is that the plant should never be eaten raw, with the exception of the occasional sprinkling of raw flowers that I've used to garnish plates for years now.

    Asclepias syriaca milkweed flowers
    Raw flowers make a good garnish too. A sprinkle on a plate is harmless.

    The other important thing to consider is the amount of milkweed that's suitable to eat. I'll going to break down the cooking methods and importance of portion size below.

    Steaming vs Blanching

     If you look at most resources or field guides, the cooking recommendations vary wildly. Some will claim that any part of the plant must be boiled in multiple changes of water. I think repeated boiling is unnecessary, and a borderline insult to the plant. 

    Sure, you can blanch or boil milkweed buds and it can be ok, but at the most you only need a minute or two before you cook them again in a pan. I'd wager I served a couple hundred pounds of milkweed buds cooked like that at my restaurants over the course of three years to the general public and never had an issue.

    Steamed Milkweed Buds
    Steaming is a great technique for these. All you need is a basket and a pot.

    The multiple boiling, in my opinion, is just a catch-all technique for many wild plants that gets applied to milkweed because it will make it safe, but it isn't the only way. Steaming works just fine too, and the buds will keep a better texture. 

    Portion size

    Whether you boil or steam them, it's important to know that individual sensitivities vary greatly, and while I may be able to sit down and eat 8 ounces of steamed milkweed buds in a sitting, most people should start with a much smaller portion. Eating too much cooked milkweed, just like eating too many brownies, can make you sick.

    Halibut With White Bean Puree, Chickweed, Milkweed, and Flowers
    From my first restaurant. For the general public, I served 1 oz portions of blanched buds as a garnish. A small amount of raw flowers as a garnish is harmless. 

    What I recommend is starting with a portion size of 2 ounces raw milkweed buds as a serving for one adult. If you know you digest them well, you can try a little more, but after eating more than four ounces of cooked buds, I start to get tummy rumbles-nothing painful or uncomfortable, just a little gurgle here and there. The same thing happens when I eat a large bowl of cooked morels.

    Serving and enjoying

    This is one of those recipes that's so easy I feel like it hardly needs a description, and the most basic version really doesn't. When I just want to enjoy a few cooked buds I'll steam them for five minutes, then remove and nap with soft butter, a pinch of salt, and a squeeze of lemon.

    Steamed milkweed buds with butter and lemon
    The simplest way to enjoy the steamed buds is with butter, salt and lemon as a side dish.

    There's something really special with steaming. When the buds are blanched, their structure is such that they tend to soak up a lot of water and get a heavy feeling to them. This isn't bad if they're tucked into a sauce or tossed with pasta, but it's noticeable.

    Steaming bypasses the waterlogging issue. But, after cooking, the buds will taste a little dry, and they cry out for fat and seasoning. There's a lot of different ways you can quench the buds thirst for seasoning.

    To give you some ideas, in the video in this post I demonstrate two different methods. First, the most basic: a side dish with a little butter, olive or sesame oil. Secondly, with a special sauce I make from fermented ramp leaves garnished with fresh herbs and flowers. I also like them steamed in the morning with eggs and hot sauce.

    Steamed milkweed buds with ramp sauce, herbs and oxeye daisies
    Restaurant side dish version with ramp sauce, herbs and oxeye daisies. I like the crunch and subtle taste of the flowers.
    Steamed Milkweed Buds (24)
    Print Recipe
    5 from 3 votes

    Steamed Milkweed Flower Buds

    Simple steamed milkweed flower buds make a great summer side dish with soft butter, salt, and lemon wedges.
    Prep Time5 mins
    Cook Time8 mins
    Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Milkweed, Milkweed Buds
    Servings: 2
    Calories: 26kcal
    Author: Alan Bergo

    Equipment

    • Steamer basket
    • 3-4 quart pot with a tight-fitting lid

    Ingredients

    • 4 oz fresh milkweed buds or tender tops
    • Soft butter and kosher salt for serving (it’s ok to use salted butter too)
    • Water for steaming, about 3 cups

    Instructions

    • To steam the buds, put the water in a pot, then put in the steam insert, top with a lid, and turn the heat to high. When the pot comes to a boil, add the milkweed buds, distributing them so they’re in a uniform layer to promote even cooking.
    • Put the lid on the pot, then start a timer for 5 minutes, turning the heat down to medium-high.
    • After five minutes, remove the buds to a serving dish, drizzle with melted butter and a sprinkle of kosher salt and enjoy, starting with 2 oz of steamed buds per adult.
    • Alternately, put a bowl of steamed buds on the table and spread them with a knob of soft butter as you would rice or other steamed vegetables. Pass some nice salt or kosher salt and lemon wedges at the table.

    Video

    Notes

    I love these with nothing more than salt, butter and lemon, but another really good thing to serve them with is chives and herbs. If you have some tarragon, chives, parsley, mint or basil, you can quickly toss the buds with butter, and the herbs, and serve them as a simple dish dish after steaming. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 2oz | Calories: 26kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 43mg | Potassium: 225mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 0.4g | Vitamin A: 5761IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 106mg | Iron: 2mg

    More 

    Forager's Guide to Milkweed 

    Milkweed Bud Huazontles

    References 

    The Forager's Harvest 

    « Oxeye Daisy
    Green Black Walnut Jam / Preserves »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Laura

      July 02, 2022 at 8:58 am

      I've heard that the recommendation to boil milkweed in multiple changes of water came from Euell Gibbons, who may have confused dogbane for milkweed with some unpleasant gastric side effects. This was probably shoots, if it's even true.

      Reply
      • Heather

        July 02, 2022 at 11:02 am

        Euell Gibbons was an expert who really knew his edible wild plants. I doubt he confused milkweed with dogbane. His recommendation was probably influenced by the cooking practices of his time and "just to be safe". His books are full of wonderful and creative ways of using wild plants for food- spoken of in a way that tells me it's first hand knowledge.

        Reply
        • Alan Bergo

          July 02, 2022 at 5:44 pm

          I just love him.

          Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 02, 2022 at 5:46 pm

        A long time ago I confused the two. Dogbane is so bitter it's a mistake you only make once.

        Reply
        • Will K.

          July 06, 2022 at 3:26 pm

          5 stars
          I did the same thing when I first started foraging, probably 45 years ago. No matter how many changes of water I used, the dogbane shoots never lost their bitterness- good thing I couldn't choke them down. I'll have to try steaming milkweed buds; I mostly blanch them quickly, then toss in a pan with olive oil and garlic, then hit them with a squeeze of lemon.

          Reply
    2. Coop

      July 02, 2022 at 2:36 pm

      If you pick milkweed buds, please don't take the entire young top of the plant. Each healthy plant will produce up to 8 to 10 flower clusters if left to bloom. If you pick the entire tip, that's it for the season. If you harvest only individual bud clusters as they reach the perfect size, you can harvest large quantities for yourself repeatedly over a long period, while still leaving plenty for wildlife and to go to seed. There's no reason you should ever have leaves included if you pick this way. There are a number of other fairly uncommon insects that depend on milkweed, not just the monarch butterflies. One of these is the Red Milkweed Bug, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus, which is one of the few insects that vocalizes; making both squeaking and purring sounds. Please harvest wild plants responsibly and don't be greedy!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 02, 2022 at 5:46 pm

        I agree, but this is beyond the scope of this post. I cover sustainability in a longer article.

        Reply
    3. Katie Goin

      July 02, 2022 at 7:51 pm

      Well ! I just cooked a bunch of milkweed buds today … boiled for 8 minutes like the internut told me 🥴 they were soggy and sad. Thanks for this ! I will head out tomorrow for more and try them steamed! Excited 👍🌿

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 03, 2022 at 9:12 am

        Yep, that's exactly what happens. Steaming keeps their integrity much better.

        Reply
    4. Lisa Solomon

      July 04, 2022 at 7:10 pm

      5 stars
      I’ve never tried milkweed before - Delicious! I wish it was the start of milkweed bud season and not the end. Thank you for sharing your recipes.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 06, 2022 at 3:21 pm

        Thanks Lisa.

        Reply

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    Chef Alan Bergo

    HI, I'm Alan: James Beard Award-winning Chef, Author, Show Host and Forager. I've been writing about cooking wild food here for over a decade. Let me show you why foraging is the most delicious thing you'll ever do.

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