Herbs are some of my very favorite garden plants. They’re so easy to grow and incredibly versatile. Many make for great ingredients in all of your favorite dishes,while some have health-boosting properties and are useful in all sorts of homemade goods, cosmetics, curatives and more… and a few special ones can do both!
Case in point, and one of the best: lemon balm. This fresh and zesty member of the mint family has a clean, slightly sweet taste, a lemony aroma and long-documented calming and sedative properties.
A few stems of lemon balm can be put to use making delicious drinks and dishes and soothing ointments, salves and a whole lot more.
There’s almost nothing it can’t do, and if you aren’t using it, you’re missing out. Below I’ll share with you 25 of my favorite lemon balm recipes and uses you should know about.
Lemon Balm Oil
Learning how to make lemon balm oil is a fundamental first step for getting the most from this supremely versatile herb. The oil is a key ingredient in various cosmetics, bath products, soaps, aromatics etc.
This is one staple you’ll always want to keep on hand for future projects, so it’s best that you learn how to make it now!
Lemon Balm Tea
Like I said above, lemon balm has a well-known reputation for calming frayed nerves and soothing you to sleep. Some people say it’s a borderline sedative!
Accordingly, nothing is better than a hot cup of herbal lemon balm tea to wind down the day. The link above will teach you how to make three different varieties – but they are all delicious!
Lemon Balm Smoothie
If you’ve never had it before, lemon balm has a unique flavor: it is a little sweet but very fresh and bracing. It works well with other fruits, other herbs and just about anything!
One of my favorite non-alcoholic drinks for summer is this lemon balm smoothie. Fresh, sweet, citrusy and bright, it’s delicious and the perfect sweet treat for a hot summer day.
Lemon Balm Iced Tea
This herbal tea blend goes great with a meal or just sipped by itself when taking it easy on the porch. Lemon balm and honey are perfect companions, with the complexity and sweetness of honey playing off the aromatic, citrus notes of the lemon balm.
A more refreshing beverage there is none! Just one tip: be patient. It takes a lot longer to steep lemon balm than actual tea leaves.
Old Fashioned Lemon Balm Lemonade
Okay, maybe I spoke too soon about that previous drink. The only, and I mean only, thing more refreshing than lemon balm herbal tea is a lemon balm lemonade!
Despite smelling a lot like lemons, lemon balm doesn’t taste quite like lemons, and this is another flavor profile that is truly a match made in heaven. If you’re tired of the same old, same old lemonade recipe, put this one in the rotation.
Blueberry-Lemon Balm Kombucha
Kombucha is all the rage these days. It’s great for your gut health, a good way to settle an upset stomach and plenty of people have come to enjoy the flavor profile of this fizzy probiotic drink.
There are tons of recipes in different flavors out there, and one of the best, naturally, is a blueberry lemon balm combo. It is refreshing and calming in equal measure.
Raspberry-Lemon Balm Shrub
No, we’re not planting ornamentals here. A shrub is a class of beverage made with vinegar. Hold on, don’t click away! I know it sounds revolting, but I swear you’ll be shocked at how delicious and thirst-quenching it is.
Lemon balm, sugar to cut the acidity and the bright sweetness of fresh raspberries combine with apple cider vinegar to make a drink unlike anything you’ve ever had. Be adventurous and give this one a try!
Lemon Balm Mead
Mead is an ancient alcoholic honey-based drink that is still easy to make yourself at home today. This lemon balm recipe has a bright, complex flavor that is perfect for imbibing anytime you want to kick back and really relax.
This is also the perfect way to use up a big crop of lemon balm since it is so easy to scale. Most importantly, infusing the mead with lemon balm preserves its health-boosting properties.
Paleo Elderberry Lollipops with Lemon Balm and Lavender
Crush your sweet tooth and soothe a sore throat at the same time with these paleo diet-friendly elderberry lollipops.
Elderberry, lemon balm, honey, and lavender are the primary ingredients, and all of them have proven illness-fighting properties and can work to soothe a sore throat when you have a cold or have come down with the flu.
Even if you aren’t sick, these things are pretty darn good when you’re craving something sweet and long-lasting!
Lavender-Lemon Balm Herbal Popsicles
A cool, tasty and truly beautiful treat. These all-natural herbal popsicles are the perfect thing to cool off a little bit during the hottest parts of the year, and they are loads of fun to make besides. The perfect lemon balm recipe to do with your kids.
Lemon Balm Pesto Sauce
One of my very favorite recipes on this list. The fresh, bright, slightly sweet, and slightly bracing taste of lemon balm is the perfect secret ingredient for a truly killer pesto sauce. Pair this with your favorite pasta, sandwich or meat for an awesome meal you won’t forget.
Lemon Balm Salsa Verde
Salsa verde is a sort of culinary relative to pesto, with a similar but distinct flavor profile. Accordingly, lemon balm makes a righteously good inclusion into what is an otherwise mundane favorite. It’s used here as a sauce for a fava bean and feta salad.
Lemon Balm Zucchini Soup
Zucchini soup might look gross, but once you try it, there’s no going back. It’s an awesome summer side dish or main course, and one that’s all the better thanks to the inclusion of some zesty lemon balm. This is also a great recipe for vegetarian diets.
Seared Lemon Balm Chicken
Making a perfect chicken breast is a true test of a home cook: there’s a hundred ways to do it, and despite its simplicity, it’s easy to get wrong. Take a simple meal to the next level with this delectable and surprisingly sophisticated lemon balm chicken recipe.
Lemon Balm Drop Biscuits
When you need a bread accompaniment and you need it right now, biscuits are the way to go. But even a simple biscuit can take a surprisingly long time.
That’s why I like to make drop biscuits. You can take this venerable, humble recipe to new heights by adding lemon balm and a few other ingredients.
Ginger-Lemon Balm Cold Syrup
Lemon balm has been used since time immemorial as medicine when people are suffering from colds, flu and other illnesses. So has ginger…
Combining the two makes for some truly potent possibilities! This ginger and lemon balm cold syrup will soothe your pain and help your body fight off the germs when you come down with the latest bug.
Moisturizing Lemon Balm Lip Balm
This moisturizing, skin-healing lip balm possesses potent antimicrobial properties. It can protect your lips from wind and cold, heal cracked lips and even fight off annoying and unsightly cold sores.
It’s awesome, and is a favorite around my house. It’s also really easy to make and perfect for beginners.
Herbal Cold Sore Lip Balm
Another lip balm remedy, this one packed with even more cold sore-fighting power. If you are a chronic sufferer, this is the recipe to try, but it isn’t quite as moisturizing as the previous. Still, both are worth having in your homesteading bag of tricks!
Healing Lemon Balm Salve
For dealing with cold sores, broken skin and other minor injuries and irritations, reach for this healing salve. This is another DIY recipe that’s really easy to make yourself from commonly available ingredients.
Migraine Reducer
Nothing, and I do mean nothing, is worse than an intense migraine. For folks who’ve only ever suffered from mundane headaches, they just don’t understand how a migraine can shut you down.
Luckily, there are natural methods for reducing or even alleviating the agony of a migraine. This lemon balm tonic can help.
Lemon Balm Herbal Bath Soak Blend
A soothing herbal bath soak is the perfect thing for dissolving the stresses of the day and the worries of life.
Lemon balm is a great ingredient for the purpose when mixed with baking soda, Epsom salt and a little essential oil. It can also be combined with yarrow, rose petals, lavender and other dried herbs. Place your favorite mix in a muslin bag and let it run your bath water through the bag. Soak and enjoy!
Lemon Balm Soap
DIY soap-making is a lot of work, but the rewards are great. Natural, clean, healthy soap that smells and works way better than the stuff you can buy at the store. This lemon balm-based formula is super fresh and soothing.
Freshening Potpourri
For most of us that grow lemon balm, the aroma is the best part. Let’s cut to the chase and enjoy it whenever we want to! Lemon balm is a great starring ingredient in a good potpourri mixture.
DIY Bug Balm
Nothing makes outdoor chores harder or ruins outdoor fun more than biting, stinging bugs. Rather than dousing yourself and your loved ones with chemicals of questionable provenance and dubious safety, whip up and then reach for this DIY bug balm that will stay put and work for hours.
Safe Herbal Bug Spray
A good alternative bug-beating recipe to the one we just talked about. This is a spray that is easy to apply on the move, on the go, on your clothes or other gear. I like to use it to give my animals some relief from relentless flies.
Tim Makay
Tim is a farm boy with vast experience on homesteads, and with survival and prepping. He lives a self-reliant lifestyle along with his aging mother in a quiet and very conservative little town in Ohio. He teaches folks about security, prepping and self-sufficiency not just through his witty writing, but also in person.
Find out more about Tim and the rest of the crew here.
