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If there is a more misunderstood garden weed than purslane, I don’t know what it is.
Loved in some cultures, reviled in others, this prolific, tasty, easy-to-grow succulent really ought to be welcomed in your yard, not sprayed with Roundup. Read on and I will give you some ideas on what to do with purslane, and how to grow and harvest it.
Let’s start by explaining what is purslane? Primarily we are talking about Portulaca oleracea, a low-growing, succulent annual native to… well, that is not entirely clear. Purslane grows all over the world, and there is ample evidence that native groups here in America were enjoying it long before Columbus showed up.
There are a number of purslane cousins, all in the portulaca genus.
Purslane grows in every state of both the United States and Mexico, as well as every Canadian province that borders the US. Across the rest of the world, it generally likes warmer places, but a cultivated variety that has gone native in my yard is from seed from Germany, of all places.
Basically every culture that has a system of writing has been writing about eating this common weed as long as they’ve had writing. And those cultures with no written language have passed on the knowledge for millennia. Most every native group had a use for purslane, either as a green thing in the pot, a salad herb or as medicine.
Pliny the Elder, whom most people know of more as a beer than as a 2000-year-old Roman philosopher, wrote highly of purslane, as did the Greek Theophrastus, a protege of Aristotle.
So how did this common edible plant, much like it’s friend lambsquarters, become so hated in modern America?
Probably because a) many people forgot that it tasted better than most of the other vegetables alongside it, and b) purslane can indeed take over a garden. The plant sets seeds fairly quickly (they’re edible, by the way), and they remain viable for up to 40 years. Yeah, you read that right.
New plants take only about a week to pop up from seed in the summer, and this is a good time to reiterate that purslane is a warm weather vegetable. It hates the cold, even the cool weather we get here in Sacramento during winter.
It is a fantastic companion plant in your garden, by the way, because it basically becomes a living mulch, keeping soil moist between waterings. And in our Sacramento summers, we can have three rounds of it growing each gardening season.
Eating purslane is pretty much a matter of picking it and tossing it in a bowl, ideally with some salad fixin’s. You can certainly cook it, and there are many great Mexican recipes for verdolagas, usually with pork and salsa verde.
What does purslane taste like? It’s crunchy, juicy — haters say slimy, but it is absolutely nothing like okra or nopales — and tart. The plant does contain a little oxalic acid in it, same as sorrel and rhubarb. So along those lines, if you have kidney stones, you might want to skip eating purslane.
If you do cook purslane, don’t do it for long. You want them to hold their texture, so only 5 minutes or so.
The weed does seem to be having a moment these days, however. I have seen it sold in farmer’s markets for insane prices — $7 a pound?!?! And you can actually buy purslane supplements, mostly as a source of plant-based omega-3 fatty acids.
It is true that purslane is very good for you. A typical serving has 20 calories, a little protein, and lots of vitamins: It’s incredibly rich in Vitamin E and will add on about 25 percent of your daily Vitamin C needs. It also contains significant amounts of iron, magnesium, manganese and potassium.
This 2014 study basically lays out purslane as a superfood.
Interesting side note: The plant appears to be toxic to cats, although our outdoor cat has never so much as noticed it, let alone eaten any.
As I mentioned, I mostly eat purslane in crunchy salad; my recipe is below. But I also love eating it pickled as a topping for tacos or along with charcuterie.
Purslane Salad
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- Salt
- 1 red onion, sliced thin
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 4 plum tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 to 1 pound purslane, leaves and tender stems
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- Mix the red onion with the vinegar and a hefty pinch of salt in a large bowl. Let this sit for 15 minutes while you cut the other ingredients.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and toss to combine.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
For anyone not sure about trying purslane as an edible weed, I would recommend buying seeds that have been improved with some selective breeding. The purslane that grows as a volunteer in my garden and yard in Colorado is not a compact plant and has very long stems and is much more strongly flavored than the very pretty plants Hank has photographed. It is less tender, even when young and while edible, requires cooking and strong aromatics to overcome that wild flavor. Plus the stems are rather tough, even when picked quite young.
In the East, all the wild plantain we have ever seen is mild and pleasant in flavor with just a slight tang, slight cruchiness, and just a little juicy. It hugs the ground, so it is a great living mulch, and also shows up in thin spots in the grass in yards. It does not take over or choke out any other plant.
The advantage of the cultivated varieties is that they are larger and more upright, so they may collect less dirt. In our experience, the cultivated tuypes do not taste any better than the wild ones – delicious!
Wild plantain is a totally different plant, not even close. You’re probably thinking of Curly Dock which is a great substitute for spinach. It is also known as wild plantain.
David, Where in Colorado. I am east of Colorado Springs.
I think you can make a purslane vinegar. You could do it with citrus juice. I just put a bunch of parsley buds in plain white vinegar. one bug. Bottled citrus juice generally with citric acid added or vinegar is supposed to remove any taint if you could afford to use enough and let it set. Purslane does grow in some tainted places. Serious cooks are condescending regarding bottled citrus juice. look a long time ago, I read some kind of extension article, that covered all the angles.
I also look forward to eating this summer green every year! I may be looked at funny when I crow about this love of a weed to others but I know better. I seed out all purslane I can into my potting mix which I reuse for my tomato plants in pots, as I live in cold Colorado at 6,200 ft, and it makes a perfect and delicious companion planting. I’m a big eatter of weeds! Why fight it? Eat your problems. Also a permaculture plant, like orache, everyone should be growing orache. So easy and delicious!
Love your site and your knowledge, Hank!
Purslane’s flat, radiating growth habit suggests–well, not just suggests but demands–a pizza topping. I wait for it every year.
Purslane is awesome! You can find it in Asian markets sometimes.
Thanks for all the articles Hank.
And people, never spray Roundup on anything especially in your food garden!
So I’m really curious if the weeds I get constantly in my garden boxes are this purslane… they mostly look like the smaller leaves and reddish stems in the lower part of your second photo – I have never seen the bigger leave in the upper part of that photo.. How big do you let it grow before harvest? And it is OK to let it grow everywhere without choking out your planted green things??? Would be cool if I could cut my weeding down significantly!
Mike: Probably yes. The bigger leafed purslane in the second photo is a cultivated variety. The kind in the main photo is the wild one. What I do is let it grow, then pinch it back whenever it gets too close to my more favored plants. I always keep the “drip line” radius of a favored plant free of anything, including purslane.
In our area, the wild purslane hugs the ground and will never take over or crowd out anything. It forms a wonderful living mulch over the mulch between garden plants, or in thin areas in the grass in the yard.
It is mild in flavor, slightly crunchy, and just a little juicy. Great as a snack, in a salad, or tossed into a stir-fry near the end of the cooking. And yes, it tastes
better than most of the vegetables people work so hard to grow.
One of my favorite greens. I see you made the classic salsa verde with purslane, can’t wait to see that one! Salad looks great too.
My Hungarian born granddad used it all the time, but preferred it cooked. Lightly brown some onion and/ or garlic in a Tb of butter, add the purslane, roughly chopped, and sauté lightly until just wilted. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper.
Hi Hank
Thanks, for letting people know about this essential plant. I am Eastern Blackfoot Saponi & Catawbacwe we use it passed down thru the generations, like the red bud tree. It’s delicious in many recipes!
Hi! What do you use the redbud tree for? (I’m assuming you mean the nitrogen fixing Cercis Canadensis or Occidentalis?)
Tuffy: I pickle the unopened flower buds.
oh neat–i need to try that! there’s one down the street-already bloomed though…maybe i can catch the pods, and even plant one myself, if the seeds don’t need burning and so forth to germinate… 😉
thanks Hank!
The flowers, young leaves, and young pods of the Eastern redbud tree are all edible. Yes, this is Cercis canadensis. I do not know if Cercis occidentalis is edible, or not.
http://www.EatTheWeeds.com has a lot of information on edible wild plants, and a lot of common ornamental plants that also have edible parts -m including redbud and purslane.
In our area, the wild purslane is tender and mild in flavor, with just a slight tangyness.
I spent one whole summer feasting on purslane for lunch. It grew lushly on company property where I worked. A boiled egg, a tablespoon of salad dressing for dipping, and freshly-picked and washed purslane–yum!
So what does a man living at 4k feet with more trees than sun In California do if he hasn’t seen any of this around? Can it be bought somewhere? A preferred variety? Should I be introducing “weeds” up here?
Jesse: I’ve seen seeds for it for sale. I did link to the pretty golden one in the post, too.
It is abundant in my garden during the growing season and I had heard it is edible….guess I will try it this year! Maybe I won’t consider it a pest any more….
Hank – I’m seeing this listed for sale locally as a flowering plant as well as from seed; yes?
I have read somewhere that purslane was Gandhi’s favorite vegetable! Love it.
I depend on the purslane that pops up in my garden in late spring for the “green” in my smoothie after the spinach has started to bolt. Sometimes I’ll add a mix of purslane and lambs quarters.
Hank, I’m vaguely familiar with purslane since I worked at Lowes on spring during the planting season. Thanks so much for this post. I’m going to Lowe’s in just a little while to try to find some purslane, plants or seeds. paul davis, bessemer, al
I’ve had this plant in my garden and always thought it a weed and pulled it out. This year if it ever warms up and purslane shows up we will be eating it. Thank you for the recipe and information about it. Currently we are waiting for the morels to pop here in the upper peninsula of Michigan.
Delicious… simply delicious! I have purslane growing on my property for tens of years… which I gather and use for my family for salads, egg toppings, soup… a great addition to whatever that you are making – blends well with everything! Thank you for another superb recipe!
I’m 69 & eaten it all my life- I even brought seeds to grow a “golden” variety- in NYC they sell it for over $20/pound
Michael: Me, too. See that picture of the golden variety? That’s it.
I don’t trust the purslane I get growing in my yard-where would you suggest I get seeds?
Rachel: Why wouldn’t you trust it? Purslane is purslane. But if you want seeds, just Google “buy purslane seeds” and that should get you started.
I just planted some purslane in a container and I’ve already used some of the larger parts of the stalks it in a duck broth soup. It was indeed delicious. And, as you said, I only cooked it lightly.
I look forward to trying it in a salad – though I might go lemon instead of vinegar, because I love lemon and because I think it will match well with the light tang of the purslane.
I truly love what you write, please keep it coming : )