Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (2024)

//byAnnie Bernauer//19 Comments

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Fall and winter are the perfect times to go foraging for rose hips. During this time, the leaves have fallen off the rose plants so the rose hips are easy to see. We harvested wild rose hips while out in the mountains and we also harvested rose hips from the domestic rose bushes on our property. They’re a free, all natural source of Vitamin C with so many different uses!

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Identifying Rose Hips

A rosehip is the fruit of the rose bush. After the rose bush is done blooming and the flower petals have fallen off, the rose hip is what is left hanging on the bush. Rose hips are easy to spot because of their lovely orange to red color. By late fall when nothing else is blooming and most other berries are long past harvest time, you can’t miss the brightly colored orange and red rose hips.

A rose hip is unique because of the shape of its bottom. It basically looks like a red berry with a few feathery wisps coming out the bottom.

Rose hips vary in size but average about 1/4″ to 1 1/4″. We noticed that the wild rose hips are smaller whereas the rose hips from the bushes on our property are noticeably larger. Here is a picture of the rose hips from the rose bushes on our property that were twice the size of the wild rose hips we harvested.

Harvesting Rose Hips

When harvesting rose hips, it is good idea to wearleathergloves. The wild rose bushes that grow out here in Montana have small thorns on the branches just like the domesticated rose bushes on our property. If you wear a pair of leather gloves it will help protect your fingers from getting pricked by thorns and also helps the picking go faster. I’ve read that it is best to wait until after the first frost to harvest rose hips. They are easy to remove from the plant but the most challenging part of foraging for them is picking them without getting pricked by a thorn!

Drying Rose Hips

Rose hips can easily be dried by letting them sit out for a week or two. I placed a dish towel on top of a metal cookie sheet then sat the cookie sheet in the mud room with all our boxes of green tomatoes that needed to ripen. I actually forgot about them so they sat out for a few weeks so were good and dry! At this point, you can easily remove any of the dried leafy wisps from the bottom. Then place them in a jar with a lid and store them out of direct sunlight.

Health Benefits of Rose Hips

The main reason I wanted to harvest rose hips was for the natural vitamin C content. During cold and flu season, I prefer to boost our family’s immune system by natural forms of Vitamin C rather than having to take a Vitamin C supplement. We use our homemade elderberry syrup but I also wanted to have other natural sources of Vitamin C to boost our immune systems. I’ve read that wild rose hips have a higher concentration of Vitamin C than domesticated rose bushes. Either way, they still have Vitamin C so we harvested both. According to our favoritewild edibles identification book, rose hips also contain vitamins A, B, E and K.

Learn More about Foraging for Rose Hips and Other Wild Edibles

If you’re interested in learning more about foraging for rose hips and other wild edibles, I highly recommend the Herbal Academy Botany & Wildcrafting Course. This course is online and self paced so you can take it anywhere, anytime that works for you and your schedule! I’ve taken several online courses through the Herbal Academy and love that I can access such high quality courses from our rural homestead.
Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (6)

Recipes for Rose Hips

There are many uses for rose hips. One thing to note is that you shouldn’t eat them raw.

The book Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies noted that “The dry inner seeds are not palatable and their sliver-like hairs can irritate the digestive tract and cause ‘itchy bum’. All members of the Rose family have cyanide-like compounds in their seeds, destroyed by drying and cooking.”

We’re hoping to harvest more rose hips throughout the winter so we’ll have enough to make more rosehip goodies!

What are your favorite ways to use rose hips?

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Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (7)

About Annie Bernauer

Annie Bernauer is a certified Master Gardener and Master Naturalist. She enjoys writing about her family's adventures in modern day homesteading in Montana and helping others to learn these skills.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (20)Practical Parsimony

    Okay, I have wanted to use rose hips but cannot figure out what is usable. If I cannot use the seeds or the sliver-like hairs inside, what is there to use? No one seems to know. I have my eyes on some rose hip on public property, but really don’t want to take them unless I know how to use the hips.

    Reply

    • Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (21)Montana Homesteader

      There are many ways to use rose hips with our without the inner seeds. You can use the rose hips whole in some of the recipes listed above in the post. The only time you need to remove the inner seeds is if you plan to use the rose hips chopped up. This basically leaves you with the sweet outer shell of the rose hip to use.

      Reply

  2. Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (22)Kierstin

    I just planted some wild rose bushes in my yard this year and was so happy to get my first harvest of rose hips! I dare not try collecting them myself because I can get a rash from even “dormant” poison ivy. They’re currently sitting in a syrup, ready to be strained, to make rose hip soda!

    Reply

    • Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (23)Montana Homesteader

      I bet the rose hip soda will be so delicious!

      Reply

  3. Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (24)WendyJ a

    just curious about the tea, I have been told that boiling water kills vitamin C, is this just an urban legend or would hot but not quite boiling be better?

    • Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (25)Montana Homesteader

      All my herbal/wild harvesting books say to pour boiling water on the rose hips to make tea which is why we make it that way. I haven’t heard about that killing the vit c.

      Reply

  4. Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (26)Heather Jackson

    Very interesting! When I was pregnant with my youngest, I drank a hippie voodoo tea that included rose hips for vitamin C, but I’ve never thought to attempt to harvest my own! What a great way to make a supplement rather than just buying it! 🙂

    Reply

  5. Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (27)Laurie

    I have this thing about planting and caring for plants that don’t give me something in return. So roses had basically been off my list of possibilities until the last year, when I began to learn about rose water and rose hips. A question I have is: Can you use any variety or are some better than others? You talk about the wild roses being better. Wild typically means “not planted intentionally”. Is there a variety of “wild” that you can purchase and raise domestically? Is there a variety which will give a better flavor/aroma in using the petals for water and the hips?

    Reply

    • Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (28)Montana Homesteader

      I’ve also shifted to that way of thinking with the plants I care for in my flower and herb gardens. I can’t recommend a rose bush specifically since I think it depends on the region where you live. The wild rose bushes that grow here in Montana may not grow as well in a different climate. My identification books call the variety that grows out here “wild rose” but I have seen the wild rose shrubs for sale at greenhouses in town. My suggestion would be to visit a local greenhouse in your area and see if you can talk to someone about selecting a rose variety.

      Reply

    • Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (29)ingrid

      Rugosa roses are wonderful for hips, and the petals are good for rose-petal recipes. The plants are tough and make a fantastic hedge.

      Reply

    • Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (30)JM

      I don’t know if Nootka roses grow in the Rockies but they are a climbing rose that generates small pink roses with fabulous rose hips. You might check into them.
      Best of luck!

      Reply

  6. Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (31)Heather

    I wouldn’t get that worried about the cyanide content of the seeds. You would have to eat more than anyone possibly could to get enough of it to hurt you. Many of our most common tree fruits are part of the rose family–apples, plums, peaches, apricots, nectarines, pears, etc. All the seeds have a minute amount of cyanide in them, but you can’t reasonably consume enough to hurt you by eating the seeds.

    Reply

  7. Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (32)Kristine

    we love rose hips!!! The only danger of eating the seeds is that….according to my grandpa….they give you itchy butt. The fuzzy stuff on the seeds. Another great source of wild vitamin C is pine needles. Wash and make tea with them. Very tasty!!!

    Reply

  8. Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (33)Meg Hhyde

    Interesting post. Thanks for letting us know how you use Rose Hips. I have been using Rose Hip seed oil on my face and I think it works as well as any expensive creams! Have you ever pressed the oil out of your seeds? I’d love to hear about that and how you avoid the cyanide!
    Thanks.
    Meg

    Reply

  9. Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (34)Melonie

    If I pick the petals off of the roses, but leave the hips, can I go back in the fall and harvest the hips or does removing the petals hurt the hip in some way?

    Reply

    • Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (35)Beth

      No, it doesn’t hurt them! I do this every year with almost every blossom on my wild roses, and have a bumper crop of rose hips this year. The only thing I would say is maybe leave the petals on for several hours to attract the pollinators before removing petals. I pick mine at roughly 7 in the evening so we get to enjoy their beauty for a full day 🙂

      Reply

  10. Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (36)Tom Allen

    The link to “rose hip ketchup” leads to a web site in Japanese language.

    Reply

  11. Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (37)Kitty

    Why is eating rose hips raw not recommended

    Reply

  12. Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (38)Francesca Crandall

    Can I harvest rose hips in the summer? Or, do you have to wait till fall?

    Reply

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Rose Hips Foraging and 25+ Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What can you make out of rose hips? ›

Here are 11 different ways you can use your hips.
  • Add rosehips to herbal tea. One simple way to use your dried rosehips is in a tea. ...
  • Make a rosehip decoction. ...
  • Make a rosehip powder. ...
  • Try making rosehip jam. ...
  • Rosehip jelly. ...
  • Opt for a sweet rosehip syrup. ...
  • Rosehip oxymel. ...
  • Rosehip shrub.
Apr 21, 2023

Is rosehip good for high blood pressure? ›

In a 6-week study in 31 people, drinking a rosehip beverage containing 40 grams of rosehip powder daily led to significant reductions in blood pressure, total cholesterol, and LDL (bad) cholesterol, compared with the control group ( 23 ). The drink also packed 31 grams of fiber.

Are there any poisonous rose hips? ›

Are Any Rosehips Poisonous? Yes, all rosehips are edible. The 'Hip' is actually the fruit of the rose. The tastiest ones foragers usually gather are Dog Rose (Rosa canina).

Can I eat rose hips from my garden? ›

While rosehips are not an ingredient one would eat raw, and require a bit of processing to use, the effort is worth it. Simply cut off both ends, slice the fruit open, and remove the seedy, hairy inside. The halved “shells” can be used fresh to make tea or can be dried in a dehydrator and stored for later use.

Does boiling rose hips destroy vitamin C? ›

Any vitamin C that leaches out of the rosehips into the liquid in which they're being boiled when you're making jam or syrup is largely trapped there. So when you bottle the jam, you get to keep a heavy hit of the precious vitamin.

What does rose hips do for the body? ›

Rose hips contain the seeds of the rose plant. Dried rose hips and the seeds are used together to make medicine. Fresh rose hips contain a lot of vitamin C, so they share many uses with vitamin C including preventing and treating colds, flu, and vitamin C deficiencies.

What do rose hips taste like? ›

What does rosehip taste like? Rosehip has a sweet and sour taste. Rosehip tea, which is brewed from fresh or dried rosehip fruits, has a floral flavor and a distinct tangy aftertaste. Some people have compared the taste to that of green apple, ripe plum, or hibiscus.

Who cannot take rose hips? ›

Rose hip supplements might interact with some medications, like blood thinners, estrogens, cancer drugs, and lithium. If you take any medications, talk to your doctor before you take rose hip supplements.

Who shouldn't drink rosehip tea? ›

Allergic Reactions: If you are allergic to roses or rose-related plants, avoid rosehip tea to prevent allergic reactions. Kidney Stones: Individuals with a history of kidney stones or high oxalate levels should exercise caution or avoid excessive rosehip tea consumption.

Is rose Hip a laxative? ›

Rosehip tea may have mild laxative qualities when consumed in large quantities due to the fruit acid and pectin content. For this reason, some people use rosehips to treat constipation and kidney disorders.

How to prepare rosehips? ›

Simmer the rose hips in 4 cups of water for about an hour. Mash them all up as they cook. Strain using a fine mesh, extracting as much juice as possible. Return juice to pot and add lemon, sugar and pectin.

How to forage rose hip? ›

Consider using gloves. Twisting ripe hips from their stems while picking, or using scissors, saves time removing the stems later. Wash rose hips before use and remove any blackened or insect-damaged fruit. Snip off any flower and stem remnants with scissors, or twist them off by hand.

Can you do anything with rose hips? ›

Rose hips can be used to make a number of things including teas, jams, jellies, breads and even wine. You can dry them out, boil them and stew them. Syrup is one of the most common ways to prepare this fruit. There are plenty of recipes available online.

What are the uses of wild rose hips? ›

Rose hips are rich in antioxidants and Vitamin C, and offer a wide array of natural health benefits. This makes them an excellent addition to homemade body care products, teas, jellies, medicinal oils, syrups and more. Not to mention, they're really beautiful!

How do you process wild rose hips? ›

Trim off both the stem and blossom ends. Lay them out on newspaper in a single layer to dry for several days. After three to five days, cut the rosehips in half, and using a small spoon, scoop out the interior hair and seeds. (Allowing them to dry slightly first makes the removal of the hair and seeds far easier.

How do you use rose hips medicinally? ›

Taking rose hip by mouth, alone or with other natural medicines, can reduce pain and stiffness and improve function in people with osteoarthritis. Pain after surgery. Taking a single dose of rose hip extract by mouth right before a C-section helps to reduce pain and the need for pain medications after surgery.

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