Hibiscus flowers can be charming and pretty on the plant, but I also find them quite charming on my plate. There are many ways to enjoy hibiscus, especially if you go outside each afternoon and collect that days bounty and dry yourself a big jar of summer flavor.  Recently, on Gardening With Soule, I wrote about growing hibiscus.  Now lets look at how to savor them!

Harvest the Edible Part

If you harvest your own hibiscus use just the petals (corolla) and not the (sepals) calyx. Also not the united or combined reproductive structures in the center.  

The calyx of common garden hibiscus is green, and very often green parts of plants are not edible (potato leaves for example). The common hibiscus calyx is put there by the plant to protect the nectar rich bottom of the flower. Nectar robbers love to chew a hole into flowers at the base so they can steal nectar without pollinating the plant. In short – that green part has protective compounds in it. Protective compounds that may not be good for your body – kidneys in this case.  There is one species of hibiscus that is an exception to this rule, discussed below.

Dry Hibiscus Flowers

If there are one or two flowers, and I will not be needing then that night (in a green salad or the like, then I dry them until I have more.  Here’s how to dry your hibiscus and other herbs.  

Use Hibiscus Flowers

Aqua Fresca or Jamaica

Here in the Southwest, we know hibiscus flowers for their use as a refreshing summer beverage offered at most Mexican restaurants.  Hibiscus flowers are steeped in cold water to make the zingy aqua fresca, Honey or white sugar are often added to sweeten it.

Herbal Tea

Renee, of Renees Garden Seeds, sells the seeds to grow your own hibiscus for tea. She shares this recipe on her website.

“To make a good herbal tea, start with 2-3 tablespoons of coarsely chopped fresh herbs for each cup of tea. Put the leaves into a warmed teapot, then cover with freshly boiled water, figuring a cup is 6 ounces. Let the tea steep for several minutes to release the essential flavors from the” … herbs you are using.

“Serve your tea with honey. I also vary the flavors by adding 3 or 4 orange slices to the pot, 1 whole dried clove, or you can pour out the fragrant teas into tall glasses and serve with peppermint or clove or cinnamon candy sticks as sweet stirrers.”

“Make great herb iced tea drinks by brewing extra strong hot tea and then pouring it over ice cubes made from your favorite fruit juices. Garnish with fresh strawberries or slices of pineapple or orange and lemon to make the chilled glasses even more inviting.”

Medicinal Tea

Rosemary Gladstar, a famed herbalist, uses hibiscus. Here is her recipe for “High C Tonic Tea

4 parts dried rose hips
3 parts dried hibiscus
2 parts dried lemongrass
1 part crushed cinnamon bark (cinnamon chips)

Make as a hot or cold infusion.”

In 2001 R. Gladstar wrote, “prepared as an infusion, this hibiscus rich tonic is safe to drink as much as you would like.” In 2025, we now have new evidence that this may not be an accurate statement.

Hibiscus Cautions

WebMD says “Hibiscus tea may interact with certain medications. It can decrease the effectiveness of the malaria drug chloroquine. If you take medications for high blood pressure or diabetes, it can cause a significant drop in blood pressure. The plant also contains phytoestrogens (plant created estrogen) that may decrease the effectiveness of birth control medication.”

To read more about this, I found Vitalibrary to have the most accurate and well rounded article about hibiscus flowers.  Vitalibrary states that it … “aims to be a source for health related news, information and knowledge. Your wiki for everything health.”

Hibiscus Nutrition

The USDA somewhat helpfully tells us that one cup of fresh Hibiscus sabdariffa calyces (calyxes) contains the list below. This is the one species of hibiscus where the calyx is safe to eat.  This also ignores the fact that most of us are not eating fresh calyxes, along with the fact that is not is it the species most of us come across. I post it here as a general guide to hibiscus flower nutrition.
     Calories: 28
     Protein: 0.5 grams
     Fat: 0 grams
     Carbohydrates: 6.5 grams
     Also the following: Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C. And zero caffine.

More Hibiscus Uses

In Cooking

Add some hibiscus tea to the pan juices of roast duck or pork to give a mild tangy flavor to offset the rich meat.

Add crumbled or ground hibiscus flowers to pot of rice when it is about 5 minutes from done. It will turn the rice pink. If you add hibiscus at the start it just turns grey

Syrup

Create a simple syrup by boiling equal parts sugar and water. You will need to heat this so the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar is dissolved, reduce heat to low and add hibiscus flowers. Once the flowers relax, turn the heat off, cover, and let sit until cooled. Strain this syrup and use where you want a rosy glow and some sweetness, with a tart tang to it. Iced tea, plain seltzer, or some refreshing adult beverage. It’s also quite nice in banana bread.

Cordial

Infuse fresh hibiscus flowers into sweetened alcohol. The flowers are tangy so put about two cups of flowers in a quart jar, add half a cup of honey, and top with vodka. Shake daily for the first week so the leaves don’t grow mold. Then let infuse in a dark cupboard for 6 months.

Note – the experiment with petals in vodka alone was not a success. Need to cut that tang with some honey. Or maybe try rum ,,, hmmm.  Our post on making cordials.

Preserves

Jelly is juice jelled. Jam has fruits in it. You can simply make a super strong hibiscus tea then add sugar and cook to jelly stage (like mint jelly). You could also add hibiscus to orange marmalade for a super bright orangy red marmalade.

Savor Southwest Hibiscus Kin

Native desert globe mallow flowers can be used the same was as hibiscus flowers. It just takes more of them to achieve the same flavoring. I wrote about these tasty flowers here, but also in the Boyce Thompson Arboretum magazine “Desert Plants.”  And in Father Kino’s Herbs.

Father Kino’s Herbs

The last few copies of this out-of-print award winning Southwestern book are now for sale. Father Kino’s Herbs: Growing and Using Them Today   The review says:

“Award-winning garden writer Dr. Jacqueline A. Soule has pulled together a fascinating book on the life of Father Eusebio Francisco Kino and some of the plants that he brought to Southern Arizona and northwestern Sonora, and area called the Pimeria Alta.”

This link is to our book sales site. The profits from the sale go to the local Horticulture Therapy non-profit Tierra del Sol Institute.  We hope you will help support this great Southwest non-profit!

You can learn more at the Kino Heritage Society. (.org)

Hibiscus from the Market

According to one site, that looks suspiciously AI written to me, “… hibiscus flowers, … is sort of a misnomer: The part of hibiscus that we eat and drink is not the actual flower. When you read the words ‘hibiscus flowers,’ you might think they are the petals of the hibiscus flower, but actually it is the leafy, outer calyx fruit that is plucked in its peak, separated from the seed inside, and dried to use for cooking, A calyx is a collective term for the sepals of all blooms. Sepals are typically green, but in hibiscus, they’re red, and the flavor is markedly sour.”

This red calyx is true of only one species of hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa), a non-showy species native to Africa. In Mexico and around the world, the petals of the showy hibiscus that you find in gardens is commonly used is the ways discussed in this article.

A Short Digression

THIS is how you can tell my writing is not AI produced! One thing is that I don’t just blindly tell you “Oh, it’s just the calyx!” If AI was smart enough it would look at a photographic image and see that the calyxes are not all red, and that generally petals are used. That only one of the several hundred species of hibiscus () the calyx is indeed red, but not is ALL species. But AI generated articles find one factoid and create a piece of media for the public to consume (complete with an imaginary human being quoted. AI will cobble together a useless bit of trash to clutter the interweb, while the real human writers are just tiny voices of truth in the maelstrom of misinformation.

I will keep writing and hoping that AI will never gain enough amassed knowledge to mimic my human writing. I keep copyrighting my work and I keep blocking google from using my writing to train AI but they find ways to get around that. The Freelancers Union and other writing groups are doing what we can and we may be millions strong but we are all merely pennies rich – while AI corporations have billions of dollars.

Sigh.  Rant over.

There are over 250 species of hibiscus.  I do hope you will try some.

Do you have another way of using hibiscus? We would love to hear what you have to share!

Thanks for reading,

The Savorists 

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Disclaimer

The authors of this website have researched the edibility of the materials we discuss, however, humans vary in their ability to tolerate different foods, drinks, and herbs. Individuals consuming flowers, plants, animals or derivatives mentioned in this blog do so entirely at their own risk. The authors on this site cannot be held responsible for any adverse reaction. In case of doubt please consult your medical practitioner.