Nettle infusion
This stinging nettle infusion is a strong immunity-boosting and nourishing drink. it’s a true testament to the power of wild and foraged food. With a mildly grassy, and slightly sweet flavour, this can be enjoyed by adults and kids.
This is a slow infusion (ideally overnight) because the stinging nettle mineral extraction is stronger when done over a longer period of time. This is a strong immunity-boosting and nourishing drink, for which you’ll need quite a lot of nettle leaves. By nourishing our bodies, this nettle infusion gives us energy, making it an excellent choice for a natural energy drink. Your fingers might hate you for picking nettle, but your body will thank you.
Nettle infusion has a grassy or earthy flavor and a lightly sweet undertone. The flavor can be tweaked to your preferences by adding honey or lemon to the infusion.
The stinging nettle possesses abundant minerals, vitamins, and high fiber content, making it a highly nourishing plant. These essential nutrients significantly contribute to our overall well-being. For more information on the health advantages of the stinging nettle, read more here.
If you enjoy cocktails, you should give our Stinging Nettle cocktail a go! If you love wild food and cooking with stinging nettle, make these nettle and matcha icing cookies.
Table of Contents
What you’ll need to make the nettle infusion
This recipe couldn’t be simpler in terms of the ingredients needed, as you’ll only need two: nettle and water. You can use either fresh or dry stinging nettle. If you are buying dried nettles, seek a biological one because nettles absorb the pesticides and chemicals from its surroundings.
Nettle foraging tips
- It should be pretty easy to identify the stinging nettle as it has little hairs that will sting you. But you should do ample research with foraging any wild plant before ingesting it.
- Wear gloves to prevent getting stung and causing skin irritation.
- Only forage nettle in non-polluted and clean areas, as nettle is a filter and absorbs any pesticides or chemicals from the soil and surroundings.
- Only forage young nettles (nettle leaves), before it starts producing seeds.
Nettle Infusion storage tips
Nettle is a natural fertiliser, if the infusion goes bad (you will smell it), you can use it to water your plants. We normally make second infusion by soaking the leaves from this infusion, in water for a day and two. We then use this second infusion to water our indoor plants.
How to preserve stinging nettle
Nettle is a seasonal weed, so you may want to stock up when in season to be able to enjoy this immunity boosting infusion throughout the year. Studies show that dried nettle leaves retains between 90 % and 72 % of the nutrients (see Shonte et al., 2020), you’ll therefore still have significant benefits if making the infusion from a dried plant.
We normally dehydrate it to save up on space in the kitchen. In a dehydrator, we’d set it on 40 C for cca 10 hours. If drying inside, we recommend to either hang it, or place it on a drying rack, or a cookies cooling mesh, to allow airflow and even drying. Don’t stack too much on, otherwise, it won’t dry out evenly and it may go bad.
This recipe is adapted from Dr. Tina Male, also know as the Green Witch.
For more stinging nettle recipes see our Nettle cocktail and Nettle and matcha icing cookies.
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Nettle infusion
Equipment
- 1 Cooking pot needs to hold 1 litre and have a lid
- 1 Strainer
- 1 Carafe
Ingredients
- 40 – 50 grams Fresh stinging nettles Substitute 15 grams dried nettle
- 1 litre water
Instructions
- Boil the water, place nettle inside, make sure all nettles have been submerged in water.
- Cover the nettle with a lid and leave to infuse for 4 – 12 hours.
- Once infused, drain the leaves and pour in a glass container such a carafe.
- Enjoy it throughout the day, or store in the fridge for two and up to three days. Recommended daily intake is 0.5 l per day, and up to 1 l per day if struggling with fatigue.
Notes
Infusion storage tips
- Nettle is a natural fertiliser, if the infusion goes bad (you will smell it), you can use it to water your plants. We normally make second infusion by soaking the leaves from this infusion, in water for a day and two. We then use this second infusion to water our indoor plants.
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Preserving stinging nettleÂ
- Nettle is a seasonal weed, so you may want to stock up when in season to be able to enjoy this immunity boosting infusion throughout the year. Studies show that dried nettle leaves retains between 90 % and 72 % of the nutrients (see Shonte et al., 2020), you’ll therefore still have significant benefits if making the infusion from a dried plant. We normally dehydrate it to save up on space in the kitchen. In a dehydrator, we’d set it on 40 C for cca 10 hours. If drying inside, we recommend to either hang it, or place it on a drying rack, or a cookies cooling mesh, in order to allow airflow and even drying. Don’t stack too much on, otherwise it won’t dry out evenly and it may go bad.
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Stinging nettle foraging notes
- It should be pretty easy to identify the stinging nettle as it has little hairs that will sting you. But you should do ample research with foraging any wild plant before ingesting it.
- Wear gloves to prevent getting stung.
- Only forage nettle in non-polluted and clean areas, as nettle is a filter and absorbs any pesticides or chemicals from the soil and surroundings.
- Only forage young nettles (nettle leaves) and the 3-5 cm of top of the plant.