16 edible & medicinal plants in Arizona

Eat more weeds! No, really. There are so many plants in Arizona growing wild that are full of nutrients and taste gourmet. If you’re wondering what to look for, this is the list for you. 

“Whoa, what’s this?” We nudged it with our foot, powder dispersing westward in the strong wind. “Must be a mushroom brought in by the monsoons last week.”

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. “Watch your step, there’s lots of burrs here.”

“Whoa … wait a second, what’s this?” I stood up to reveal three small round gourds. Surprisingly light, even for their size.

“Hey, is that wild dandelion?”

“No, that looks more like a wild milk thistle. See, when you break it, it bleeds white? That’s thistle. Behind it, though, there is some wild mustard.” 

You may be surprised that these are all true anecdotes from my first year of living in Arizona. Raised by farmers markets, I was taught to appreciate the wild weeds and plants, as many of them are harvested and sold as gourmet ingredients. I was surprised, though, to find that the Arizona desert landscape is so chock full of edibles and medicinals as opposed to the barren landscape we’re all sold on in the movies. A good portion of the plants that you pass on these desert hiking trails or pull from your garden beds are actually edible and nutritious.

I’ve found many plants in Arizona that just grow wild in the yard. I encourage you to use a plant identifier (the “Picture This” app makes for decent reference), search pictures on Google, and do some research before consuming any plant (e.g., make sure it isn’t protected and is, in fact, what you think it is), 

In our era of inflation, learning to appreciate, cultivate, and enjoy the “weeds” may prove to be a sound approach to saving the dollars on those groceries, as well as a way to get an immunity boost while eating “market gourmet.” Here is a list of succulents, trees, flowers, and weeds that you can eat for both flavor and health!

Please note that this is by no means an exhaustive list: just a solid start. 

Succulents

One look out across the Sonoran and Mojave landscapes reveals a scene of succulents and cacti galore. It is a showstopping facet of the Southwest, the succulent forest. Many of us steer clear of them, though, thanks to the spines and prickles that get stuck in ev-er-y-thing and are oh-so-hard to get out without letting them fester (even with the duct tape trick).

Did you know that the majority of cacti and many succulents are actually edible? It’s like the spines are protecting the golden nectar of the glorious cacti. Surely you grew up with cartoons depicting thirsty desert travelers drinking from the saguaro—please don’t do that, by the way, as they are protected in Arizona—but did you know that cacti can act as a staple vegetable from your home garden?

There are many more to enjoy, but here are four not to be overlooked. Just make sure to have your tweezers and duct tape handy if the tongs, gloves, and knives fail.

Barrel cactus

Fat and round with fruiting flowers, the barrel cactus can be found in apartment and shopping complexes, growing wild on trails, or even in your yard as a low-maintenance desert aesthetic.

My first introduction to the edible nature of this cactus was on “Naked and Afraid” where one survivalist cut it up, ate it, and talked about its sweet likeness to pineapple. Upon further research, I learned that the flowers on top start as a pod that can be eaten like a prickly pear. When it’s ripe, it pulls up with ease and can be eaten in one sweet and tart bite. They are full of vitamin C, vitamin A, and dietary fiber.

Buckhorn cholla

Do you like green beans and artichoke hearts? The buds of Buckhorn Cholla taste like these two vegetables got together and had a love child. They’re a little more slimy, though, if you choose to eat them fresh rather than dehydrating them first.

To use them, carefully use tongs to remove them from the plant and store them in a container until you can use a grate, torch, or tweezers to completely remove all of the spines—including the pesky glochids. Once prepared, simmer these until tender and use them independently, mixed with beans, or as a staple in a salad. They are full of calcium, magnesium, and like most cacti, fiber. If the buds have turned to fruit, you can use this fruit to make a sweet syrup!

Agave

Agave is a wild succulent and yes, we can thank it for tequila, mezcal, and agave sweeteners. What most don’t realize, though, is that it’s so much more than a wild beverage base.

If you’re lucky enough to have one growing in your yard, cut off a stem or two, leaving the base and several other stems intact. Cut it open and carve out the pulp, aka the pina. This pina can be boiled and eaten, later using the water it was boiled in to make syrup. It can also be roasted, which carmelizes the natural sugars and creates a delightful, full-flavored taste. This cooked fruit is loaded with B-vitamins and vitamin K. It’s also higher in sugar, great for a quick energy boost and a refresher on a hot summer day—and we have plenty of those! 

Prickly pear

What would a Southwest edibles and medicinals list be if it didn’t include the iconic prickly pear? This cactus is versatile as almost all of it is edible—sans the spines. The paddles can be cleaned, cut, and cooked down into nopal, which is a great vegetable to add to salsas, egg scrambles, stir-fries, salads, tacos, and so much more. Most who enjoy Mexican cuisine have likely tasted the crisp freshness that is nopal.

Even better—if you have a sweet tooth—is the prickly pear. In fact, I had to stop writing this to snag a couple of the small tunas, the proper name, from one of the plants in my yard. The prickly pear, aka tuna, is sweet and hydrating and tastes like a kiwi gone wild. The seeds are hard and some enjoy them, some do not. If you fall into the latter category, this fruit is excellent cooked down, strained from the seeds, and turned into syrup, jam, candy, etc. Its hydrating effects have even been recommended to fight hangovers—something you might need if you get too friendly with that agave! One tuna has significant dietary fiber, B vitamins, vitamin C, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. The nopal has all of this, plus protein and phosphorus!

This plant is a great one if you are looking to maintain a survivalist garden.

Yucca

Before leaving this category of edible succulents, I want to make an honorary mention of Yucca. I have not had the pleasure of trying this one yet, so I cannot in good faith share too much about it. However, this video breaks down a good deal on how to use one as a food source. 

Trees

Out-of-staters don’t typically associate Arizona with trees, but all of us locals know better. Our desert landscape has beautiful mesquites and palo verdes, which are both necessary nurse plants for the saguaro to grow. There are also jojobas, ironwoods, Joshua trees, and many more if you venture into Flagstaff, Payson, or the White Mountains.

While I have only been fortunate enough to enjoy one of these edibles, I promise to bring you well-summarized research for the rest.

Jojoba

Pronounced ho-ho-buh, the jojoba is more of a shrub, but can grow up to 10 feet tall! That’s a tree in my book. Jojoba is more medicinal than edible, and chances are, you’ve already heard of it. It’s a popular ingredient in skin care products, as the oil is noted for intense moisture. That’s exactly why this tree makes it on this list.

It’s a native plant to Arizona and grows in many different regions. From a distance, it may seem like nothing special, but up close you can find nuts growing on the shrub and seeds beneath the foliage. The seeds can be used for tea, and the nuts, as you may be able to guess, can be used as a moisturizing oil for the skin and hair. It also has a natural SPF of 4!  

Ironwood

This mostly ornamental tree is part of the birch family and is highly drought-resistant, a necessity in this landscape. It’s sometimes harvested for its hardy wood, acts as a protector tree for many desert species—flora and fauna alike—and is considered a nitrogen fixer, which simply means it can add nitrogen to the soil. This is so helpful in desert gardening as much of what we have in the way of dirt is highly alkaline and in need of nitrogen to help other plants thrive.

Most important for this list, though, is the seed pod this tree produces. Rich in protein, the ironwood produces pods of about eight seeds that can be eaten raw. There’s no mystery about whether or not those pods are ripe, either. When they are ready to be consumed, they pop right off of the branch. 

Palo verde

This tree is another integral part of the desert landscape–like the ironwood it adds nitrogen to the soil and like the mesquite, it acts as a nurse plant for the first 10 years of a saguaro’s life. It also produces bean pods that contain nutrient-rich seeds.

Harvest these right before they dry out and then roast the seeds for a nutty, delicious flavor. These seeds are more than 41% protein and contain high fiber and nutrients such as calcium and phosphorus. The Palo Verde is a southwest foraging staple!

Mesquite pods

Mesquite briquettes are a must in the culinary world for the earthy smoke flavor they lend to anything they come into contact with. The bean pods, however, have an even lengthier history of utility than the wood.

The bean pods can be harvested in late summer/early fall, and can then be dehydrated and made into a wonderful meal or flour. Although somewhat earthy like the mesquite smoke, the ground-up beans have a delightful nuttiness to them. They can also be soaked and strained to make a fantastically sweet syrup.

Lately, my stepdaughter and I have taken to chewing on the beans in the pod to extract that sweet flavor. Most of it gets spit out, though, because it is so very fibrous. Mesquite bean pods are sometimes called a Southwest superfood, as they are rich in protein, magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, and calcium. The leaves of the tree can be made into a medicinal tea or a topical treatment for wounds, sunburns, rashes, and more.

The mesquite tree is truly a gift that not enough of us know about. They are very easy to identify, too. Chances are, some are growing near you. 

Flowers, “weeds,” and more

Arizona wildflower season is a sight to see. It brings with it beauty, butterflies, and the start of the growing season. It also brings a whole slew of edible plants—many that are considered weeds—that often get pulled and tossed or die off for the more favorable poppies or lupines. Next wildflower season, look closely and see if you can eat well for the small fee of harvesting some flowers.

Canna lily / Arrowroot

“What is that beautiful plant?!” It was love at first sight. I rushed over to the farmers market booth, purchased the Canna Lily Achira, and became a gardener right then and there.

The Canna lily has large green leaves with deep red hues throughout and produces bright, beautiful flowers. It looks tropical, yet grows great just about anywhere—including right here in the desert. While the majority of gardeners plant it for its beauty and ability to attract pollinators, it has multiple edible parts. The flower itself is crisp like lettuce and a great addition to any salad. It has some nutrients but is mostly there for fiber and decor. The roots, though, have many vitamins and minerals and are considered a starch.

That’s right, you can mix these into a potato mash or roast them alongside other vegetables. When winter hits and the leaves die off, trim down the stock and dig up the roots and bulbs—these are the edible parts that will leave you full from hunger and full of calcium, iron, phosphorus, and vitamins B and C. Just be sure to leave some in the ground if you want it to grow back in the spring; I’ve had my canna lily for almost 5 years and it comes back reliably every spring.

Wood sorrel

Look for this clover and flower mix growing in the lawn, near gravel pits, in empty dirt plots, in the cracks of the sidewalks—literally anywhere in North America! It looks like a clover and grows tall yellow and white flowers.

All parts of this plant are edible and it’s a great gateway to getting kids accustomed to eating weeds. Why? Well, it tastes like sour Skittles—no joke! This “weed” contains oxalic acid—much like spinach or broccoli—which gives it the sour taste but also packs a warning: Eat this one in moderation. Too much—think a half pound a day—can cause calcium malabsorption.

Have no fear, though. Adding wood sorrel to salads, as sides for fish dishes, or to balance overly sweet desserts has little risk and is so rich in vitamin C, that it has been used in history to treat scurvy and nausea! This is a weed growing in my yard that the kids have picked, replanted, and brought to school to share with their classmates and friends—it’s that tasty. 

Wild mustard

As promised in the intro paragraph, Arizona has wild mustard, and it. is. good. With a slight wasabi flavor, this plant is great for breaking up congestion and spicing up meals. The young leaves are edible but best cooked, and the yellow flowers are fantastic sprinkled atop salads. Just avoid the strange string-like leaves; every time I’ve attempted to cook these they end up hard and splinter-like and are similar to eating a cactus spine—ouch. Just avoid that part.

This plant can be found just about anywhere—in the yard, around unkempt parts of town, and amongst wildflowers. You will know it by its shade of green and tiny yellow flowers.

A fun fact: Back in the day, wild mustard was used to treat melancholy and depression, Maybe the spiciness of it offers a temporary dopamine rush?

Amaranthus Palmeri

Amaranthus Palmeri, also known as a type of pigweed, is a pain for many gardeners but a fun find for foragers. While the stalk is too high in oxalic acid for safe eating, the leaves are much lower and contain more vitamin C than kale or spinach.

If you aren’t worried about this weed taking over your garden, you can allow it to grow up to 6 feet tall, at which point it will produce the flowers—this is where you will find seeds that can be roasted and ground down into a protein-rich gluten-free flour. I won’t let it grow that long though, as it grows like, well, a weed, and chokes out the more intentional garden by pulling all the water from the soil. It’s a great find in the wild, though. 

Buffalo gourd

Cousin to the cantaloupe, you might have stepped over this little round yellow gourd on a hike.

While at a family Thanksgiving celebration south of Tucson, I found a few growing wild in a field. They are a pale yellow with white stripes and blend in cleverly with the dead grasses the desert fills with during the fall.

If you’re lucky enough to find some, don’t start chomping just yet! The seeds are what you want, as they’re protein-rich and contain some fat from the oils. Once cleaned of the bitter gourd flesh, the seeds can be roasted and added to porridge, mashed, or even pressed for oil. Other than protein and fat, these powerful seeds contain calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and vitamins A and C. 

I foraged them a little too late in the season, though, and instead of eating the first finds, we dried and turned them into maracas. Pro tip: Don’t wait until November to gather these gourds!

Purslane

“You gotta try this!” I watched my kiddos introduce this “weed” to their baby cousin enthusiastically when she came by for a visit. Naturally, they were first indoctrinated into weed-eating with wood sorrel and have since loved any weed I’ve given them the go-ahead to harvest. “How is it you get kids excited to eat plants?” my husband playfully teased with a grin.

Purslane takes over empty space once it hits the land, but with its cucumber-like taste and crunch, it’s a welcome take-over. Good in salads, on sandwiches, in gazpacho, sauteed with other veggies, or as a snack all on its own, purslane is full of nutrients and low risk and is therefore a weed we should all learn to love. What are those nutrients? Well, it contains all the nutrients you’ve been seeing on this list, including vitamins A and C, magnesium, potassium, iron, and calcium, but it’s also loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which are great for heart health.

If you don’t have any growing directly in your vicinity, don’t worry—you will find it. I found it in my old Chandler apartment complex and was thanked by the owners when I pulled it. They clearly only thought of it as a weed and didn’t realize its powerful—and tasty—benefits. Most people see it this way and will be glad to see the purslane go with you. Be wise and take it for your yard. 

Morchella importuna/Morels

Mushroom foraging has always felt intimidating, probably because it is. Without an expert in tow, foraging for mushrooms is risky business. One tiny detail could mean the difference between edible and toxic; between nutritious/delicious and certain death.

With that warning in mind, this type of morel is commonly found growing out of gravel after monsoons—see the introduction paragraph. It looks like a shriveled-up cucumber and once it turns black from the sun, one nudge produces a fine powder. The stalk of it, however, remains edible once it is cooked. Be sure to look further into this mushroom before indulging, but do know it is one of the easier (and safer) ones to identify. 

Other edible & medicinal plants in Arizona

Before leaving you to do your foraging in the desert, here are a few other honorary mentions that I’ve heard about but have not seen or tried yet. 

Sunflower stalks can be harvested, dried, and turned into gluten-free flour.

Wolfberry, also known as goji berry, is supposed to grow all over Arizona. I personally haven’t found any yet, but encourage you to add this knowledge to your foraging forte.

Mullein is an amazing plant that is known for its unmatched health benefits as a medicinal—there are groups dedicated to the love of this plant—and it’s supposedly an invasive plant in Arizona. When I come across it, I will be finding a way to bring some of it home to grow.

Plantain, another one I’ve had no luck with finding, is supposed to be in abundance here in the Southwest. It is used for wound dressing, rheumatism, and burns. This is a medicinal plant easy to use and worth having around. I’ve seen it grow in the cracks of sidewalks in Nevada and California.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out a foraging class near you. It is an investment that will more than pay for itself when you eat more weeds instead of buying more inflated groceries. 

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.