Ever wondered if the plants in your garden could double up as dinner?
In this list of edible plants with pictures, you’ll discover 27 common UK plants that are safe to eat, delicious, and might already be growing outside your door.
These edible leaves, shoots, roots and blossoms bring colour, nutrition and flavour to your meals.
Some you’ll recognise. Others might surprise you!
We’ll look at what part of each plant is edible, how to use it, and a few safety tips to help you enjoy them with confidence.
List of edible plants with pictures: A Quick Note on Foraging and Safety
Only eat plants if you’re completely sure of their identity. Many wild plants have poisonous lookalikes. Always:
- Double-check the name and species
- Make sure the plant hasn’t been sprayed or weeded with chemicals
- Pick from clean areas away from traffic or pet toilets
- Try just a small amount the first time
List of Edible Plants with Pictures
1. Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum)
Wild garlic grows in shady, moist woodlands in huge patches in spring. Its white, star-like flowers and fresh garlicky smell make it easy to recognise.
You can eat the leaves, flowers, and stems of wild garlic—they taste mild and fresh with varying degrees of garlic. Use wild garlic in pesto, soups, or as a herby butter.
2. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Don’t dismiss this common weed! Dandelions are edible from root to flower and packed with nutrients.
Younger leaves are less bitter and can be used in salads, while petals are lovely in muffins or infused into honey. Roasted roots can even be ground into a coffee substitute.
3. Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)
Wood sorrel has clover-like leaves and delicate white or pale pink flowers with purple veins.
Found in moist, shady woodlands, its leaves have a sharp, lemony flavour thanks to their oxalic acid content. It’s lovely sprinkled over salads or fish dishes for a citrusy zing. The flowers are also edible and make charming decorations.
4. Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Chickweed is a common garden weed with delicate white, star-shaped flowers and tender leaves.
It tastes mild and slightly grassy, similar to baby spinach. You can eat the leaves, stems, and flowers raw in salads or cooked like spinach. Chickweed is rich in vitamins and makes a lovely addition to spring soups. It grows all year round in cool, damp spots.
5. Ground Elder (Aegopodium podagraria)
Often cursed by gardeners, ground elder is actually a tasty edible when young.
Its celery-like flavour works well in quiches, soups, and savoury scones. Pick the fresh, bright green leaves before the plant flowers for the best taste. It grows in shady spots and spreads quickly, so harvesting it can help control it. Ground elder is in the carrot family along with deadly poisonous relatives. Like any wild plant, be 100% sure of your identification before picking.
6. Water Mint (Mentha aquatic)
Water mint is a wild member of the mint family that grows near streams, ponds, and wet meadows.
You’ll recognise it by its purplish stems, slightly hairy leaves, and strong minty scent when crushed. The leaves have a cooling, refreshing flavour and can be used in teas, salads, or as a garnish for desserts and drinks. It’s especially good paired with lemon or berries.
7. Nettles (Urtica dioica)
Nettles are best known for their sting, but once cooked, they’re completely safe to eat and packed with iron and vitamins.
Young leaves are tender and have a spinach-like taste. Picking them is made easier with gloves and scissors, and you can blanch or cook them to remove the sting. Nettles make delicious soup, pesto, or tea. Pinch off the top four leaves from each stem for the best quality.
8. Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
Also known as Jack-by-the-Hedge, this plant grows in hedgerows and woodland edges.
Garlic mustard smells faintly of garlic when crushed and has a mild mustardy taste. The young leaves and flowers are edible and pair well with cheese or eggs. Try them in wild salads, pesto, or savoury pancakes. As the plant ages, the leaves can become a bit bitter, so pick early in the season.
9. Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)
This bright green plant has long, pointed leaves with a tangy lemon taste.
Sorrel grows in meadows and grassy places and is delicious in soups, sauces, or omelettes. Its sharp flavour pairs beautifully with fish or creamy ingredients. Sorrel is commonly found, easy to grow, and comes back year after year.
10. Gorse (Ulex europaeus)
These spiny shrubs with bright yellow flowers bloom even in winter.
Gorse flowers smell faintly of coconut and have a subtle, sweet taste. They’re great for infusing in syrup or adding to baked goods. Avoid the prickly parts and harvest flowers on a dry day for the best flavour. Gorse is common on heathland, roadsides, and coastal areas.
11. Common Mallow (Malva sylvestris)
This common weed is always an exciting find!
Common mallow’s soft leaves and purple flowers are edible, with a mild, slightly mucilaginous (gel-like) texture. Add young leaves to soups and stews where they act as a natural thickener. The flowers make a pretty addition to salads or herbal teas. You might happen upon mallow growing alongside paths, roadsides, or in untended gardens.
12. Cleavers (Galium aparine)
Also called goosegrass or stickyweed, cleavers are those sticky plants kids hide on each other’s backs 😊
The young shoots of cleavers are best for eating—older plants get too stringy. The flavour is mild and slightly grassy. It’s a spring detox favourite in folk herbalism. You can also blend cleavers with lemon or mint for a refreshing drink.
I hope you’re enjoying this list of edible plants with pictures, keep reading to learn more!
13. Rosehips (Rosa canina)
Rosehips are the fruit of the wild rose and appear in late summer to autumn.
They’re rich in vitamin C and have a sweet-tart flavour. To use, scoop out the hairy seeds and simmer the flesh into syrup, jam, or jelly. They also make a beautiful tea. You’ll often spot rosehips on hedgerows and country paths.
14. Sea Beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. maritime)
Sea beet is the wild ancestor of chard and beetroot, found along the UK coastline.
Its dark green, glossy leaves taste like mild spinach and are delicious steamed, stir-fried, or wilted into pasta. It grows in clumps and is best harvested young before the leaves get tough. Sea beet thrives in salty, sea-sprayed areas like estuaries and shingle beaches. Always forage above the high-tide line away from pollution.
15. Three-Cornered Leek (Allium triquetrum)
This wild relative of garlic has triangular stems and white bell-shaped flowers that droop in clusters.
Three-cornered leek smells distinctly of onions or garlic when crushed. You can eat the whole plant—leaves, flowers, and bulbs—and it’s delicious in savoury bakes, stir-fries, or omelettes. It grows in damp, shady areas and spreads easily, so foraging helps control it.
16. Wild Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Wild fennel grows tall and feathery, often near the coast or roadsides.
The fronds, flowers, and seeds are all edible, with a strong liquorice or aniseed flavour. Use fronds in salads or fish dishes, and try the pollen or seeds in herbal teas or baking. It’s a powerful flavour, so use sparingly.
17. Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)
A delicate pink-flowered plant, Herb Robert is part of the geranium family and grows in shady, rocky or woodland places.
The leaves of Herb Robert have a strong scent and a slightly bitter taste, so they’re best used sparingly in herbal teas or as a garnish. It’s traditionally used in folk medicine as a tonic plant. The flowers are edible too and make a pretty, if unusual, salad topping. Harvest the younger leaves for a milder flavour.
18. Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta)
Often found in gardens, pots, or cracks in pavement, bittercress is a tiny edible with a big peppery punch.
The flavour of bittercress is similar to watercress and mustard, making it perfect for sandwiches, salads, or egg dishes. Both leaves and flowers are edible, and it’s easy to identify by its small white flowers and rosette of leaves. It grows all year round in mild climates. A great beginner forager’s plant!
19. Sheep’s Sorrel (Rumex acetosella)
This close cousin of common sorrel has small, arrow-shaped leaves and grows in acidic soil and open fields.
It has a sharp, citrusy flavour and is lovely chopped into salad or used to brighten up soups. The leaves are tender and best picked young. It’s a hardy, self-seeding plant that’s easy to spot once you know it.
20. Navelwort (Umbilicus rupestris)
Navelwort, also known as “wall pennywort,” is a succulent plant that grows in shady, rocky areas like stone walls.
Its round, fleshy leaves have a mild, slightly salty flavour, making them a great addition to salads or sandwiches. The small, inconspicuous flowers are also edible and can be used to garnish dishes or added to herbal teas. Navelwort has a long history in traditional medicine, often used to soothe coughs and respiratory issues. It’s a hardy plant, thriving in both coastal and inland regions.
21. Fat Hen (Chenopodium album)
Fat hen is a common garden weed and an ancient food plant related to quinoa.
The young leaves are mild, tender, and nutritious—great steamed, sautéed, or added to soups. It grows quickly and abundantly on disturbed ground, allotments, and field edges. The dusty-looking coating on the leaves is natural salt. Harvest before flowering for the best flavour and texture.
22. Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)
With its firework displays of tiny star-shaped cream flowers, meadowsweet can be found in damp meadows and streambanks.
Meadowsweet has a sweet, almond-like scent, and its flowers are traditionally used to flavour cordials, vinegar, and desserts. It’s best used as a herbal infusion or to infuse creams and jellies with a honeyed aroma. Be warned, while some people like the taste, others do not and describe it as “medicinal” and reminiscent of Germolene. Meadowsweet is also valued in herbal medicine for digestive support.
23. Pineapple Weed (Matricaria discoidea)
A close cousin of chamomile, pineapple weed grows in compacted ground like paths and driveways.
When pineapple weed is crushed, the yellow-green flower heads smell strongly of pineapple. The flowers are edible and tasty when brewed into tea or used to flavour syrups and cakes. Its ferny leaves are safe too, though more bitter. It’s a resilient little plant that pops up where few others could survive.
24. Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta)
Not to be confused with regular bittercress, hairy bittercress is another small mustard family plant with a peppery tang.
Hairy bittercress grows in damp soil, walls, and even garden pots during the cooler months. Its tiny white flowers and rosette of leaves are easy to identify. Use it like cress or rocket in salads, sandwiches, or stirred through cream cheese. Hairy bittercress is one of the earliest greens to appear in spring.
25. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Yarrow grows in dry grassland, hedgerows, and field margins, with feathery leaves and flat-topped clusters of white or pinkish flowers.
The leaves of yarrow have a bitter, aromatic flavour and can be finely chopped and added to soups or stews. The flowers are edible too and sometimes used to infuse mead or vinegar. Yarrow has a long history in herbal medicine, especially for wounds and digestion.
26. Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
Red clover is easy to spot in grassy meadows and verges, with its rounded pink-purple flowers and trefoil leaves.
The flower heads of red clover are sweet and mild, perfect for teas, syrups, or drying for winter use. Young leaves are also edible and can be added to salads. Red clover is rich in minerals and has a gentle, earthy taste. It’s a brilliant plant for bees and soil health, too.
27. Plantain (Plantago lanceolata)
Ribwort plantain grows in meadows, verges, and lawns, with long, narrow leaves and tall seed heads.
The young leaves are slightly bitter and fibrous, best eaten when very young or cooked briefly. They can be used in soups or as a spinach alternative. The seeds are also edible and can be dried or ground. Plantain is another traditional herbal ally, valued for soothing wounds and coughs.
Thank you for reading List of Edible Plants with Pictures: 27 Easy Edible Plants
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I hope you enjoyed this list of edible plants with pictures.
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