Cooking With Roses: 7 Floral Vegan Recipes to Try

Roses are among the world’s most beloved flowers, and it’s easy to see why. They look good, smell good, and they’re the ultimate symbol of love and romance. But their appeal doesn’t stop there—roses also make for a floral, fragrant, and delicious cooking ingredient. Find out more about how to incorporate roses into your cooking with seven of our favorite vegan recipes below.

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Which roses are edible?

Not all roses are edible, but many varieties are safe to eat and can add a unique, fragrant flavor to dishes. Some of the best edible varieties include damask roses, which have a sweet flavor and a strong aroma, centifolia roses, which are a little more delicate, and old garden roses, like gallica or bourbon roses, which have a stronger fragrance. It’s easy to buy edible rose products, like petals and syrups, from online storefronts like Amazon, for example. You can also often find them at local farmer’s markets and organic grocery stores. Growing your own is also possible (but just make sure the type you’re buying is edible first!).

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How do you cook with roses?

Roses can be used in cooking in many different formats. For example, rosewater is made by distilling rose petals in water to create a fragrant, floral liquid that can be added to everything from coffee to cakes. Rose syrup is similar, only it’s usually much sweeter as the petals are often steeped in water and sugar. But it is also possible to cook with rose petals themselves. For example, they can be dried and added to rice pilaf, shortbread, or jam.

When you’re cooking with roses, in any format, it’s advisable to start by adding a smaller amount, before building up to your desired amount. This is because rose has a particularly strong flavor when it’s used in cooking. Ingredients like vanilla, citrus, or cardamom can help to balance out the floral sweetness of rose.

7 vegan recipes with rose

Want to fill your kitchen with the fresh, sweet aroma of rose? These vegan recipes smell and taste absolutely delicious.

Sara Kidd

1 Vegan Persian Pistachio-Rose Love Cake

Cardamom, vanilla beans, lemon, and chopped pistachios help to balance out the ultra-sweet rosewater in this delicious recipe from The Vegan Cake Bible cookbook. The perfect cake for birthdays, baby showers, and anniversaries, it looks stunning, tastes delicious, and it’s relatively easy to make. What’s not to love?
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2 Vegan Cardamom Rose Chai Coconut Latte

Rose syrup brings a delicious floral sweetness to this deliciously rich coconut latte recipe, complimenting the chai spices like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg beautifully. This is guaranteed to become one of your favorite warm, cozy winter beverages.
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Eat the Rainbow

3 Dreamy Vegan Cherry Rose Vanilla Iced Latte

If you prefer your beverages iced, then this chilled latte is for you. Taken from the Eat the Rainbow: Vegan Recipes Made with Love cookbook, it’s made with a tasty sweet mix of rosewater, frozen cherries, agave nectar, vanilla extract, and maca powder. Plus it looks beautiful, too.
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Murielle Banackissa

4 Vegan Rose-Flavored Bounty Bars

Sure, you can head to the store to stock up on candy bars, but if you haven’t thought of making them from scratch, let this recipe be your sign to give it a whirl. Shredded coconut, floral rosewater, beet juice, and dark chocolate combine to make these tasty treats, which have a very similar flavor to Bounty bars.
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Priya Lakshminarayan

5 Sweet Vegan Mango Lassi With Rose

Another vibrant, aesthetically pleasing beverage, this super sweet and creamy lassi is made with a mix of juicy mango, dairy-free yogurt, fragrant saffron, chopped nuts, cardamom, and sweet rose syrup. Don’t forget the rose petals on top for a finishing touch.
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ToraFlora

6 Chocolate-Dipped Raspberry Rose Oat Bars

We can guarantee that these chocolate-dipped oat bars taste just as good as they look. They’re easy to make, too, with a simple mix of nutrient-dense, plant-based ingredients like dried raspberries, cashews, dried figs, chia seeds, rose petals, and chocolate.
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V is for Vegan

7 Vegan Indian Raspberry-Rose Falooda

Similar to a sundae, a falooda is a cold dessert, popular in countries like India and Pakistan. This version, in particular, is inspired by India, and it combines chia seeds, almond milk, vanilla ice cream, berries, and rosewater to create a super refreshing chilled treat you’ll want to make again and again.
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