The Pacific Northwest is rife with junipers, small green evergreen shrubs that are often covered in berries that look akin to blueberries. Given that they are prolific and the fruit looks so much like a berry, the natural question is "can you eat juniper berries?” If so, what do you do with juniper berries? Read on to find out how to use juniper berries along with some useful juniper berry recipes.
Can You Eat Juniper Berries?
Yes, juniper berries are edible. In fact, you may have tasted them before without even knowing it if you drink alcoholic beverages. Juniper berries are what gives a gin martini its unique flavoring. While gin has been a popular intoxicant for over 300 years in western culture, juniper berries have actually been used medicinally since the 16th century.
How to Use Juniper Berries
Common juniper, Juniperus comunis, belongs to the family Cupressaceae that encompasses around 60 to 70 species of aromatic evergreens throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed conifer in the world and the most common in the northern temperate region. Male and female reproductive organs are found on separate plants, thus, only females have fruit. These berries mature in one to three seasons and contain one to twelve seeds, although the norm is around just three. In the past, juniper berry uses were primarily medicinal. They were used to treat numerous diseases by the ancient Greeks as well as the Arabs and Native American Indians. The berries were used either chewed raw or steeped into a tea to treat gastrointestinal complaints, rheumatic pain, and for back and chest ailments. Rich in volatile oils, junipers have been used as herbs in aromatherapy, a science that can be traced back over 5,000 years. This science uses essential oils in massage, bathing, or in teas to promote not only good health but therapeutic beauty.
What to Do with Juniper Berries
Dr. Sylvuis invented gin in the Netherlands in 1650, although it wasn’t originally created as a spirit but rather as a remedy for kidney ailments. The concoction was a success, although less for its renal remedies and more for its alcoholic content. If you are looking for something to do with juniper berries, I suppose you could always follow in Dr. Sylvuis’s footsteps and make your own gin, or bathtub gin, but there are plenty of other ways to impart that unique juniper flavor into foods. Juniper berry recipes abound and can add an interesting flavor profile to homemade sauerkraut or made into a tincture to add a floral, pine-like essence to alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks. It has primarily been used to season heavily flavored game, like pheasant or venison. It works beautifully in mulled wines and enhances jams, such as rhubarb and juniper berry jam. Try adding juniper berries to your next batch of roasted potatoes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (177 C.). Place olive oil and juniper berries into a baking pan and put in the preheated oven for a few minutes to warm the berries and get them to release their essential oils. Remove the baking pan from the oven and toss baby potatoes (use red, yellow, purple, or all three) into the infused olive oil along with some fresh smashed garlic cloves. Roast the potatoes for 45 to 50 minutes or so until they are tender. Remove them from the oven and toss them with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
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FAQs
Other Uses for Juniper Berries
What can I do with fresh juniper berries? ›
Juniper is commonly used with lamb (or mutton) and is particularly good with venison, wild boar, and even domestic pork. You could even add them to a pot of chili, to give a rustic flavor that complements ground smoked chile peppers. Juniper is also a good flavoring to use with roast duck.
What are juniper berries used for? ›
In foods, juniper berry is often used as a condiment. The extract, oil, and berry are used as flavoring ingredients in foods and beverages. In manufacturing, juniper extract and oil are used as fragrances in soaps and cosmetics.
What did Indians use juniper berries for? ›
Native peoples also enjoy the small, bluish juniper “berries” — technically cones — baked in bread, steeped in tea, stewed with meats, raw, or roasted. Additionally, pinyon and juniper woodlands support a variety of game animals.
Is it safe to eat raw juniper berries? ›
These strong berries are often dried and used sparingly for cooking and home remedies. The intense taste of the juniper berry means eating it raw is not advised, but it can be used for a variety of things in the kitchen. Ripe berries can be used in a marinade or applied to meat before cooking.
Who should not take juniper berries? ›
Special Precautions & Warnings:
It's also best to avoid using juniper if you are breast-feeding. Not enough is known about how juniper might affect a nursing infant. Diabetes: Juniper berry might lower blood sugar. There is some concern that it might lower blood sugar too much in people with diabetes.
How many juniper berries should you eat a day? ›
Dosing. Generally, 2 to 10 g/day of the whole, crushed, or powdered fruit (corresponding to 20 to 100 mg of essential oil) has been used for dyspepsia. Essential oil: 0.02 to 0.1 mL 3 times daily.
How to eat juniper berries? ›
Fresh or dry, juniper berries have a strong flavor, so use them in moderation. Just a few berries, coarsely ground in a mortar with a pestle, are enough to flavor an entire batch of sauerkraut. They also make a great glaze for cookies and a super-simple fermented beverage called smreka.
What time of year do you pick juniper berries? ›
Juniper berries ripen for 2 to 3 years. The first year produces flowers, the second a hard green berry, and by the third, they are ripening to a deep blue. Pick berries in the fall once the plant has numerous blue berries.
Can you eat juniper berries right off the bush? ›
They can be added whole and fresh off the shrub to marinades, meat rubs, wood chips when smoking meats, or added to pickling meats. Juniper berries can even be added to hair rinses, vinegars, or oils to promote shiny hair.
To prepare: The berries need to be lightly crushed before using to release their flavour - do this using a pestle and mortar or press them with the back of a spoon in a small bowl.
Is juniper berries a laxative? ›
Juniper is used as a laxative that passes the stool easily and in constipation, this herb increases the bowel movements. This herb is used as a pain reliever and anti-inflammatory that provides relief to the patient. It also avoids the straining that reduces the symptoms related to hemorrhoids.
Can you do anything with juniper berries? ›
Juniper berry recipes abound and can add an interesting flavor profile to homemade sauerkraut or made into a tincture to add a floral, pine-like essence to alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks. It has primarily been used to season heavily flavored game, like pheasant or venison.
What can you make out of juniper berries? ›
Dried juniper berries can be made into a delicious and healthy herbal tea. Learn how to make juniper berry tea here! Sweetened with honey and infused with herbs, this citrus punch is full of flavor and has a deliciously vibrant note. It takes almost no time to make, and it's packed with flavor.
What can I do with foraged juniper berries? ›
Juniper sugar. The berries can be eaten dried, fresh, chopped, or powdered to impart a sharp, peppery flavor to balance the richness of winter game, meats, soups, and stews.
Do juniper berries need to be dried? ›
You can use the berries fresh or dry them for long-term storage. Fresh or dried, the flavor is always strongest just after the berries have been crushed. Because of that, I leave them whole until right before use, crushing only the amount I need in a mortar and pestle.
Can I use fresh juniper berries for tea? ›
Use Juniper berries as a tea for urinary tract problems by increasing urine flow (diuretic). This helps clear the kidneys, bladder, gallbladder, and prostate; helps with heartburn and can be used to calm an upset stomach. Juniper activates the digestive system and stimulates digestive processes.
