How to Make Delicious Stinging Nettle Cordial

by Sarah - Craft Invaders

Nettles are a nutritious and versatile wild food. Here we make a delicious Stinging Nettle Cordial, one of my favourite nettle recipes.

 

Delicious Stinging Nettle Cordial Recipe - Google the health benefits of stinging nettles, and you will find the most incredible list of diseases and complaints that this plant has been attributed to helping with

 

Google the health benefits of eating stinging nettles, and you will find the most incredible list of diseases and complaints that this plant is said to treat — everything from hay-fever and arthritis to supporting menopause and detoxifying the body. 

Of course, many of the claims are anecdotal. But there is also some robust research out there that backs up some of the suggested benefits.

Nettles grow across much of the world, and archaeological evidence here in the UK shows that we have been eating the plant since prehistoric times, with ‘Nettle Pudding’ laying claim to being Britain’s oldest recipe. 

 

We made our own liqueur out of foraged nettles - check out our recipe to see how we made it and what it tastes like.

 

Nettles are certainly nutritionally dense, containing a wide range of vitamins and minerals, as well as plenty of protein and fibre.

All this sounds great, and we even have patches of nettles growing in our garden, but persuading my kids that they are going to start eating nettle soup a couple of times a week is not so easy. 

In my experience, introducing new foods is a lot easier if it a. tastes great, and b. the kids can relate it to things they already know and love.  This cordial is perfect for introducing nettles to the family as a food stuff, another great example is our easy stinging nettle crisps.

 

 

This nettle cordial recipe, from the book ‘The Eatweeds Cookbook’ by Robin Harford is delicious and the perfect way to introduce kids to nettles as a wild food.

What You Need To Make Delicious Stinging Nettle Cordial

  • 200g freshly picked nettle tops
  •  1kg granulated sugar
  •  40g Citric Acid
  •  500mls boiling water
  •  sterilised bottles

 

Google the health benefits of stinging nettles, and you will find the most incredible list of diseases and complaints that this plant has been attributed to helping with

 

How to collect nettles.

I collect nettle tops in freezer type bags. 

Wearing gloves, I use scissors to cut off the top portion of the nettles and let them drop straight into the bags. This method works great. – I don’t get stung, it doesn’t take long to collect them, and it makes weighing them easy. Imagine a 100g bag of spinach as a rough guide to how much to collect in each bag.

I wash the nettles thoroughly and have a good look at the leaves to check I haven’t included any other plants by mistake. 
The recipe suggests using a salad spinner to dry the leaves which I do.

 

Google the health benefits of stinging nettles, and you will find the most incredible list of diseases and complaints that this plant has been attributed to helping with

 

How to make stinging nettle cordial

Combine the sugar, citric acid and water in a large saucepan and heat it to 60 C, stirring to dissolve the sugar. 

Remove the syrup from the heat, throw in the stinging nettles, and give them a thorough mix to ensure all the leaves get covered with the liquid.

Cover and leave for a week, giving the mixture a good stir each day. As the week goes on the nettles will look more and more macerated and slimy.

 

Google the health benefits of stinging nettles, and you will find the most incredible list of diseases and complaints that this plant has been attributed to helping with

 

After a week, strain the nettles (I use a sieve lined with muslin) and bottle in sterilised bottles. Remember to let your glass cool for a few minutes before adding the cold cordial, or you may end up with it cracking. 

 

Google the health benefits of stinging nettles, and you will find the most incredible list of diseases and complaints that this plant has been attributed to helping with

 

The first time I made stinging nettle cordial I also came up with a use for the left-over nettle residue. I use it in our original recipe for nettle fruit leather. The nettles pair perfectly with the apple and pear, and the kids love this healthy snack.

 

Stinging Nettle, Apple and Pear Fruit Leather makes a fabulous, healthy snack for the whole family. Nettles are hugely nutritious, with all sorts of health benefits, so I am delighted to have come up with a recipe for them, which the kids are so keen to eat.

 

How does stinging nettle cordial taste?

Stinging nettle cordial tastes delicious. It has a beautiful amber colour, is syrupy and tastes not quite like anything I have tried before.

Hubby describes its flavour as a bit like peaches with a hint of elderflower; I think it tastes a little like lychees and sherbet. 

 

Google the health benefits of stinging nettles, and you will find the most incredible list of diseases and complaints that this plant has been attributed to helping with

 

Stinging nettle cordial should be stored in the fridge and will last for a few weeks

 

Nettles are hugely nutritious. Here we show you how to make Stinging Nettle Cordial. This recipe tastes delicious and is nice and simple to make.

 

For more foraging inspiration, check out our other wild food recipes. We’ve shared some of our favourites below.

How to Make Raw Rosehip Syrup. Easy No-cook Recipe.

Raw rosehip syrup is a no-cook rosehip syrup recipe that uses sugar to draw the juice from the fruit resulting in a thick, delicious syrup.

 

Raw rosehip syrup is a no-cook rosehip syrup recipe that uses sugar to draw the juice from the fruit resulting in a thick, delicious syrup.

 

How To Make Simple Beech Leaf Noyau

Beech Leaf Noyau is a traditional liqueur made from young leaves of the Beech tree. Gather the leaves while they are soft and sticky and  have a translucent, delicate look to them. At this stage, the leaves taste citrusy when chewed and are also be eaten as a salad leaf.

 

Beech Leaf Noyau is a traditional liqueur made from young leaves of the Beech tree that has a mellow herby taste with a hint of nuttiness. #GinInfusion #Beech #Beechleafliqueur

 

How To Make Sourdough Starter From Wild, Natural Yeast

I show you how to collect and use wild, natural yeast to make an easy Sourdough starter for baking your own delicious and healthy Levain bread.

 

How to collect and use wild, natural yeast to make an easy Sourdough starter for baking Levain bread. #Sourdough #Sourdoughbread #WildYeast #NaturalYeast #Baking #BakingBread #LevainBread #DutchOvenBread

 

How to Make a Magical Himalayan Balsam Gin

When I set out to create this Himalayan Balsam Gin recipe I had no idea of the surprise that was lying in wait for me. Read on to discover how to make a genuinely magical colour changing gin infusion.

 

When I set out to create this Himalayan Balsam Gin recipe I had no idea of the surprise that was lying in wait for me. Read on to discover how to make a genuinely magical colour changing gin infusion.

 

How to Make Wonderful Meadowsweet Cordial

Here we share our wonderful Meadowsweet Cordial recipe. Meadowsweet is a beautiful herb, with a delicate fragrance and is the original source of Aspirin.

 

Meadowsweet is just starting to flower in our hedgerows. It is a wonderful herb, with a beautiful fragrance, which, in my opinion, easily rivals that of elderflower. We first published this delicious Medowsweet Cordial recipe last year, but have updated it to share with you for #30DaysWild

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37 comments

Aliya April 11, 2021 - 7:24 am

Could we use lemon/orange slices instead of citric acid?

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Sarah - Craft Invaders April 12, 2021 - 12:24 pm

Yes you can Aliya and it’ll taste fab, but it may not last quite so long in the fridge as the citric acid acts as a preservative.

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Christine March 19, 2019 - 2:41 am

I’d love to try this! During the week, do you keep it in the refrigerator or counter? Covered or uncovered?

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Sarah - Craft Invaders March 19, 2019 - 9:15 am

I used an large enamel pot I have with a lid and left it out on the counter. I hope you enjoy the cordial it really is yummy :)

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Rebecca Nugent May 1, 2018 - 11:09 pm

Just made it and waiting for a week to pass. How did it keep?

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 2, 2018 - 9:57 am

I’m so please you’ve made it Rebecca, I’m sure you will love it. We keep ours in the fridge and although I’ve never had a batch go off I’ve always aimed to use it up in about 6 weeks. Let me know what you think when yours is ready!

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Paige April 10, 2018 - 9:01 pm

Hi can you use fresh nettles without having to make the cordal ,?

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 2, 2018 - 10:00 am

Yes you can Paige. You can use them much in the same was as spinach. They have a fresh, unique taste and are well worth eating :)

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How To Use Up Nettles (Recipe Roundup Series) – One World Herbal Community May 19, 2017 - 7:33 pm

[…] – Stinging Nettle Cordial from Craft […]

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Courtney May 12, 2017 - 3:09 pm

About how much ‘finished product’ did this make? I can’t wait to give it a try!

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 12, 2017 - 5:56 pm

It really is delicious Courtney. With this recipe you end up with about a litre of cordial. Let us know how you get on if you make it :)

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Jenny - Monkey and Mouse May 28, 2016 - 9:33 pm

Wow! Look at the colour it turns out and it sounds like an interesting, but delicious taste too. I was eyeing up some nettles beside our allotment today and thinking I should have brought gloves to make something yummy! Thanks so much for linking up to #HowtoSunday :)x

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 30, 2016 - 12:32 am

It’s really delicious Jenny – did you see we made fruit leather with nettles too? The kids absolutely love it!

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Laurie May 25, 2016 - 5:04 am

This is wonderful! My husband would love this, so I’ll be sure to share it with him. I had no idea nettle could be used this way!

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 30, 2016 - 12:09 am

Let me know if your hubby tries it Laurie :)

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Nikki Frank-Hamilton May 25, 2016 - 4:08 am

You are really amazing. I always love coming here, I know it’s going to be an adventure! We had nettles all over when we were kids, we lived in a woods. I remember what it was like to come home and have nettle bites all over our legs and arms. Boy did it hurt! Amazing to think that these plants are so good for us!

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 30, 2016 - 12:08 am

It’s amazing how they appear so different to us now we have some recipes for them Nikki, we are much less fearful of them now :)

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lorraine Williamson May 24, 2016 - 5:55 pm

thank you always interested in findiing out about homeopathic remedies allergic to alot of medicines so very interested thanks for sharing have a great week

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 30, 2016 - 12:05 am

Let me know what you think if you try it Lorraine :)

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Becky, Cuddle Fairy May 23, 2016 - 5:34 pm

What a fab idea! I love your advice for not getting stung – that was my first thought when I read the title. It’s great how people are cooking with nettles! The cordial sounds delish. Thanks so much for linking up with #BloggerClubUK x

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 24, 2016 - 2:28 pm

I didn’t get stung once Becky, and am in fact much more confident around nettles now – things seem so much more appealing once you know you can eat them lol

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Angela / Only Crumbs Remain May 23, 2016 - 11:40 am

What a great idea Sarah, both yours and your husband#’s descriptions of the cordial flavour (peaches with a hint of elder-flower and lychees and sherbet) sounds great to me. #HowtoSundays
Angela x

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 24, 2016 - 2:25 pm

It really is lovely Angela, and dead easy to make :)

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ema May 22, 2016 - 4:54 pm

Love this idea! Never thought of making a cordial with it! Thanks so much – popping over to follow you on social media too :)

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 24, 2016 - 2:21 pm

Thanks Ema, was really surprised at how florally it tastes considering its just made from green leaves :)

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Midgie May 22, 2016 - 3:53 pm

Oooh definitely going to try this – love making things out of foraged ingredients!

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 24, 2016 - 2:20 pm

Let me know what you think if you try it Midgie :)

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Kim (sisterkin) May 20, 2016 - 1:20 pm

Yum! There are loads of nettles near our house and this recipe sounds so tasty (peaches and sherbet!) that i might risk getting stung. #bloggerclubuk

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 20, 2016 - 7:33 pm

It really does taste lovely Kim, let me know if you try it :)

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Millie May 20, 2016 - 2:25 am

neat! i did a cordial but used a base of rum. I like this better, all from scratch! no pun intended :)

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 20, 2016 - 7:31 pm

Rum sounds great Millie – might play around with that myself :)

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The Tale of Mummyhood May 19, 2016 - 8:35 pm

I’ve had nettle tea and enjoyed it, so this is something I would definitely like to try. Great recipe, thanks for sharing :)

#BloggerClubUk

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 20, 2016 - 7:28 pm

Let me know what you think if you try it :)

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Mary-the boondocks blog May 19, 2016 - 5:29 pm

Sarah you’re gonna laugh at me but I had to look up the word nettle because I recognized the picture but could not believe that it was actually the stinging plant. I look at them and run away. I had no idea they had health benefits. They are plentiful everywhere. I will definitely give this a try! I hope you can join us tomorrow for our new link party, Sweet Inspiration.

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 19, 2016 - 6:25 pm

They are ridiculously good for you Mary. Let me know what you think when you try it :) I will definitely link up tomorrow – good luck with it xx

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Juliet Wilson May 19, 2016 - 4:35 pm

this sounds great! I sometimes drink nettle tea.

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 19, 2016 - 6:23 pm

It’s got a lovely flavour Juliet, let me know what you think if you try it :)

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