5 Homemade Recipe Ideas with Rosehip

When we talk about roses, the queen of flowers, we usually think about their beauty, their pleasant fragrance, and of course, Valentine’s Day. In fact, the rose is one of the most ancient medicinal plants and has been used in many countries around the world like ancient Rome, Persia, India, China, and many more. Interestingly, many people don’t know that roses produce seeds like other flowers. Actually, these seeds are called rose hips/rosehips. The latter have useful medicinal properties, thus why they are widely used for producing medicines and cooking as well. Today, we reveal all the secrets behind the rosehips in the following article.

What are rosehips?

The rosehip, also called “rose haw” or “rose hep”, is the accessory fruit of a rose flower. Its color is normally red or orange, and sometimes it can vary between dark purple and black in some species.

Inside the fruit, seeds of the rose plant are patiently waiting for their release. Fun fact: the small hairs found inside rosehips are often used as a prank joke. Indeed, it is possible to make itching powder from them, a powder that will make your skin very itchy.

5 Homemade rosehip recipes

Rosehips are rich and present multi-beneficial properties such as vitamin C, antioxidants, carotenoid astaxanthin, and other helpful natural chemicals. Now you must be wondering, do rosehips taste good? The quick answer is that all rose hips are edible and taste a bit watery.

You can eat rosehips raw like berries, but they are better tasting when mixed into a jam or a tea. Just make sure that all hairs around them are well removed. If not, these hairs might cause internal itching.

That said, without further ado, let’s dive into our top 5 rosehip recipes:

1. Rosehip tea recipe

Rosehip tea is incredibly delicious due to its flowery and fruity taste. Not only is it tasty, but the tea also helps strengthen our immune system, and provides a high level of vitamin C, and prevents colds and flu during winter.

For making tea, we recommend Dog Rose (Rosa canina) which is known as the testiest species. You can use either dried hips or fresh hips. The recipes are as follows:

Tea made with Dried Hips:

• Simply drop 2 teaspoonfuls of dried hips in a teapot
• Pour 2 cups of boiling water
• Let it sleep for around 10 minutes
• Then, strain into a cup and enjoy!

Tea made with Fresh Hips:

• After gathering many fresh rose hips from your plants, wash them thoroughly.
• Cut off the calyx where the flower was.
• Dry them in the sun for around 5-6 hours.
• Chop the hips into small pieces (you can simply put them in a food processor)
• Tip the chopped fruits into a metal sieve, and shake to remove all those pesky hairs.
• After that, store these dried rose hips into an air-tight container for later use.
• For drinking, just put 1-2 teaspoons of dried rose hips in a teapot and wait 15-20 minutes.

2. Rosehip syrup recipe

As you may already know, rosehip syrup contains loads of vitamin C. As a matter of fact, it contains 20 times more vitamin C than oranges! You can add this delicious sweet syrup in hot or cold tea, or pour it on top of pancakes and ice cream. We assure you that it is absolutely delicious if well prepared!

Here is a traditional rosehip syrup recipe that you can easily follow:

• 1. Prepare some rosehip tea.
• 2. Add ½ cup of honey into 1 cup of boiling rosehip tea.
• 3. Gently stir the mixture until the honey completely dissolves.
• 4. Store in the refrigerator for a while until the syrup thickens.

3. Rosehip Purée recipe

Rosehip purée is orginially from the 16th century and the recipe is pretty simple:

• Boil 1½ cup of rosehips in water for around 10-15 minutes until soft.
• Add 2 T. of sugar, 1 T. of lemon juice, ½ T. of cinnamon, and ½ T. of ginger.
• Stir well the mixture for about 5 minutes.

After the purée is done, you can spread it over tarts, ice cream, or even eat as a sauce.

4. Rosehip vinegar recipe

Rosehip vinegar is highly recommended as a healthy food because of its high content of natural vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E as well as powerful antioxidants. It can be spread over salads and mixed with smoked meats or fish.

You can easily make homemade vinegar, just follow the instructions below:

• Gather some fresh rosehips or defrost a few if you had some in the freezer.
• Put them in a bottle until it is full.
• Pour cold white wine vinegar into the bottle.
• Cap and let them steep in the wine for 6-8 weeks. You may gently shake them once in a while.

5. Rosehip soup recipe

Rosehip soup is actually a traditional dessert in Sweden, called Nyponsoppa. Normally it is served with almond macaroons, and it’s a delight! What you need for making this dish is listed below:

• 600 grams of Japanese rosehips
• 3 red chilies
• 200 grams of smoked tofu
• 2 diced Echalion shallots
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• 500 milligrams of chicken stock
• 500 milligrams of rosehip juice

Rosehip soup recipe instructions:

• Simmer rosehips for 20 minutes. After halfway, mash the rosehips with a potato masher.
• Strain the content through muslin for 1 night.
• Roast the chilies until they turn brown.
• Remove the chilies’ skin and then roughly chop.
• Fry the shallots in a saucepan until they become translucent.
• Add rosehip mixture, chicken stock, roasted chilies, and smoked tofu.
• Simmer for 10 minutes and it’s done.