Lambsquarter

My mom grew up during the depression era and experienced deprivation to a degree rarely seen in the United States today.  Having enough food to eat was not a given and every food resource was utilized to its fullest.  

Lambsquarter growing in a section of a raised bed.

When I was young my mother pointed out lambsquarter growing in her spring garden and told me how her mother would pick the young greens, cook and serve them to her family.  At the time I thought it was strange to eat plants we called weeds and pulled out of the garden to allow our cultivated plants to grow.

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The irony in removing lambsquarter to allow, let's say, spinach to grow is that nutritionally speaking lambsquarter has more to offer than spinach.  So we are disposing of highly nutritious plant material so we can put time, effort and money into growing a very similar plant, but containing less nutrition.

According to John Kallas, PHD in his book; Edible Wild Plants, lambsquarter (which he refers to as "wild spinach") is higher in dietary fiber, riboflavin, calcium, zinc and manganese than domesticated spinach. 

Lambsquarter in early spring.

If you grow food chances are you have pulled many lambsquarter plants out of your garden beds as a  single plant can produce thousands of seeds that sprout very early in the spring.  This early start to the season means that lambsquarter will be ready to harvest well before the greens you plant.  I find that after a long cold winter the first greens of spring are especially welcome.


Lambsquarter can used in any way you would use spinach, either eaten raw or cooked.  The leaves have a powdery film on the bottom which repels water.  When cooked the powdery texture is removed, but raw the powdery texture can be detected.  For that reason I use lambsquarter leaves as just one component in a mixed greens salad.

These greens are so plentiful that I harvest, blanch and freeze them for use over the winter.  They make a great addition to any soup that calls for spinach or sauteed with onions for a side dish.  My mom always ate cooked spinach with a pat of butter and a splash of apple cider vinegar.

Traditional recipes often pair greens with a fat (dandelion greens with bacon grease for example) which makes nutritional sense as many nutrients in greens are fat soluble.  You need to ingest fat with the greens so your body can absorb the vitamins and minerals the greens contain.  So don't be shy about adding salad dressing as long as you are using healthy fats such as olive oil.

If you cook lambquarter be sure to harvest a large amount.  You will be surprise at the reduction in bulk achieved by blanching.

Freezing Lambsquarter

The first step is the harvest.  Try to find, or allow a stand of lambquarter to grow.  It is easier to pick if you can grasp several plants with one hand and cut them off with a scissor using the other hand.  If the plants are more than six inches tall, just take the top inch and a half or so of the plant.  You want to avoid the tough stems and harvest only the tender tops.  The tops will regrow so you can harvest tops from the same stand several times during the spring and early summer.

I find the easiest way to clean greens is to place them in a sink or large bowl and fill it with cool water.  Then reach in, swish the plant material around, and pull out a hand full of greens and transfer to a stainer.  Doing this will leave the unwanted bits in the water where they can be easily dumped down the drain.  I usually rinse them in this way three times to remove all the undesirable debris.

Lambsquarter rinsed and ready for blanching.

If you will be blanching rather than steaming the greens, start boiling the water while you are cleaning the greens.  I use a contraption designed specifically for blanching which features a strainer-like insert that can be placed directly into a pot of boiling water and easily lifted out.

Blanching kills the enzymes which cause the plant to ripen.  If you don't blanch vegetables they continue to ripen and lose their flavor while frozen.  

Place greens in the strainer insert, immerse into boiling water and set your timer for 2 minutes.

Blanching in boiling water.

After two minutes shut off the burner, carefully lift up the strainer holding it over the remaining pot of hot water and allow it to drain.  Then transfer into cold water.  The idea with blanching is a quick dip in boiling water (times vary based on the vegetable) and then a fast cool down in cold water before storing the vegetable in the freezer.

Bright green blanched greens cooling in water.

You will notice that the color of the lambsquarter will change to a brilliant green.  It is easier to cool the blanched greens if you keep them in a strainer while placing them in a bowl of cold water.  After they have cooled squeeze them to remove most of the water.  Then place in a freezer bag which has been labeled with the name and date.  Repeat this process until all your greens are packaged and ready for the freezer.  Greens can be stored in the freezer for about one year.

A full strainer yields a small amount of blanched greens.

You will be thankful that you made the time to preserve this spring time bounty of wild greens next winter as you are stirring a steaming pot of nourishing soup on a cold blustery day.