One of my favorite things to do with stinging nettles is to turn them into a dip. And my favorite flavors to combine them with are roasted garlic and fresh mint, along with some tangy Greek yogurt. This is really easy to make, and is so fresh and delicious. We like to eat ours with cucumber slices, or heaped onto slices of grilled eggplant, or used as a sauce like tatziki.
Creamy Stinging Nettles Dip with Roasted Garlic & Mint
What You’ll Need
- 1 C blanched stinging nettles
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 5 cloves roasted garlic* or one clove fresh garlic, or a few wild garlic leaves
- 1/4 C fresh mint leaves
- 1 T fresh lemon juice
- a dash of cayenne pepper, 0r to taste (optional)
- 1 t sea salt, plus more to taste
- 3/4 C Greek yogurt (creme fraiche or sour cream will also work)In terms of equipment, you will need a food processor, a blender or a mini chopper, plus a silicone spatula.
* You can roast garlic by just wrapping a whole head in foil and slowly baking it in the oven. I usually make mine while I’m cooking something else. Some people swear by ceramic garlic roasters, (and I should probably get one since I burned my garlic a little because I was in a hurry this time.) If you want the roasted garlic flavor but don’t have the time, you can slowly cook some sliced garlic in olive oil in a skillet, and use that instead.
What to Do
1. Put the nettles into the food processor and blend until roughly chopped.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. (Note: I usually blend before adding the Greek yogurt so I can set some aside for my dairy-intolerant daughter. Then I blend in the yogurt for the rest of us.)
3. Taste and adjust seasoning. The two things I always look for especially are whether I need to add a little more acid (lemon juice) or salt, and whether an extra dash of cayenne pepper would kick it up a little.
This is so quick to make, and tastes fantastic. As I mentioned earlier, there are so many uses for this nettles dip once you make it. I have even made a thinned- out version into a nice, cool soup. I hope you’ll try it! For more ways to use stinging nettles, check out this post.
Ariana, I haven’t tried stinging nettles in a dip, but I can’t wait to give this recipe a go soon (probably using a few wild garlic leaves)!
Sounds great! Hoping to get some wild garlic tomorrow afternoon, and do it all over again that way. Enjoy!
A great site with information on how to forage for nettles, pick them, deal with getting stung as well as additional nettle recipes is at https://www.nettlesforhealth.com/#!nettles-in-the-garden/czq
This looks REALLY delicious! I have a couple questions for you: What sort of mint do you use? I have spearmint growing around my area… will that work? Also, have you ever frozen this recipe? Do you think you could double it a freeze half for later? Or would it taste weird? 🙂 Thanks!
Hi Jacquelyn, and sorry for the late reply! If you like the flavor of the spearmint you have growing, then go ahead and try it! I am not sure I’ve had spearmint in a while, so you will have to use your judgement on that one. 🙂 I would recommend freezing the nettles, but not the whole dip. I think the cream will separate a bit when you defrost it. But maybe you could just blend it again after you thaw? Again, have not tried freezing it myself, so be sure to let me know the results if you decide to try that!
Hello ma’am.. I just wanted to know what if we can use the nettle powder… Will it work??