How to Make Nettle Tea

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Nettle leaves are one of my favorite herbs to keep on hand for making tea, and I try to drink it as often as possible! Nettle tea has so many health benefits, is plentiful and simple to harvest, and tastes soothing, earthy, and delicious. I love to dry a whole bunch of leaves in the early summer and keep them on hand all year round. I’ll show you below how to forage for nettles, dry your leaves, and of course, how to make nettle tea. Enjoy! 🍃

pinterest pin titled how to make nettle tea with a picture of a cup of tea

Benefits of Nettle Tea

I love drinking nettle tea just because I can easily harvest it myself and it tastes good, but all of the health benefits that go along with it certainly don’t hurt a bit!

Nettle tea is full of powerful antioxidants, vitamins (including A, C, K, and B vitamins), and minerals such as calcium, iron, and potassium. It’s been used for its medicinal purposes and even as a textile for thousands of years.

Here are a few of the top reasons to try nettle leaf tea:

nettle tea in a clear glass mug with dried leaves scattered around

Mitigate seasonal allergies. There are many studies linking nettle consumption to reduced seasonal allergies. Here’s an amazing story of a young boy who was able to get off regular allergy medication in exchange for taking nettles on a regular basis!
Lower blood pressure. Nettles can help improve high blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels.
Regulate blood sugar levels. Some studies have shown that taking nettle can help regulate blood sugar. For those with diabetes or who are on blood sugar medication, it’s a good idea to consult with your doctor before taking nettle.
Help with joint pain. Although touching nettle leaves with bare skin results in a stinging, itching sensation, there’s actually some evidence that topically applying nettle to the skin can relieve joint pain. (Read about how – the way the herb’s anti-inflammatory properties work is honestly quite amazing!)

Is Nettle Tea Safe?

Nettle tea is generally considered safe for most people, and actually offers all sorts of health benefits. Some health providers recommend that you should not consume nettle tea if you have low blood pressure, kidney issues, or are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Herbs are surprisingly strong, and for some people, nettle tea can cause occasional side affects such as diarrhea or stomach upset. It’s a good idea to check with your health care provider before taking herbs, including nettle.

(My family and I have personally not had any negative side affects from taking nettle, other than the occasional itchiness from improper handling.)

Why Is It Called “Stinging Nettle”?

It is important to know, however, that touching nettles with your bare skin causes an itchy reaction, which can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. Urtica dioica, or “common nettle”, is sometimes referred to as “stinging nettle” because of this stinging sensation!

hand with a black glove grabbing a bunch of nettles

And while the stinging is somewhat annoying, it generally doesn’t really get in the way of everyday life. As a kid who played in the woods for hours upon hours each summer growing up, stinging hands, arms, and legs were just a part of life!

What Time of Year Can You Harvest Nettles?

The best time of year to harvest nettles is in the spring or early summer, before the nettles flower. In the springtime, the leaves are tender and taste a bit better, too.

However, I have harvested nettle in the summer and enjoyed it just the same!

I like to harvest a big pile of nettles to dry and store. That way, I can easily enjoy a cup of nettle tea at any time of year! If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to get a lot of good minerals, harvesting your own nettles is an excellent way.

How to Forage for Nettles

Nettles are plentiful in many parts of the world and all over the U.S. You’ll commonly find them in moist, undisturbed, rich soil, such as in meadows, ditches, wooded areas, and riverbanks.

Nettles have oval, pointed leaves that come in opposite pairs. Their edges look serrated and their stems also having tiny stinging hairs on them. There’s an app called “Seek by iNaturalist” that I love to use if I’m not confident in identifying a plant.

serrated edges on oval shaped pointed nettle leaves

The most important thing to know about foraging for nettles is that they will “sting” your skin and cause a mild, itchy rash for a few hours to a few days. (If you haven’t touched nettles before, just know that it really is fairly mild. It’s not like a bee sting, but can be annoying nonetheless.

It’s best to wear gloves, long pants, and boots when foraging in these types of areas and when touching nettles. You might even consider wearing a long-sleeved shirt if you want to be really careful.

The best part of the plant to harvest for tea is the leaves. Just pull them off with your gloved hands or with scissors.

*Important* – When harvesting nettles, be sure to avoid areas that may be sprayed with chemicals.

How to Dry Nettles

You can enjoy nettle tea either fresh or with dried nettles. There are many methods to dry herbs (you can see four of the main ones in this blog post about drying mint). My favorite is the paper bag method.

paper bag on the grass with nettle leaves in it

Get a large (grocery-sized) paper bag and drop your nettle leaves into it. Make sure they are dry if you’ve washed them. Since I harvest my nettles from a known source and know they haven’t been sprayed, I just harvest and drop them straight into the bag.
Make sure the bag isn’t more than 1/2 full so there’s enough airflow to dry the leaves.
Fold the bag over and tie it up in a dark, cool place.
After a week, begin to check the leaves. You want them to be completely dry and crumbly. If they’re not ready yet, keep checking every couple of days.
When dry, crumble your leaves and store them in an airtight jar.

You can make nettle tea using fresh nettles or dried nettles. Here’s how.

Keep in mind that while most people don’t experience negative side effects of nettle tea, if you’ve never taken nettles before, it can be a good idea to start with small amounts.

Making Tea With Fresh Nettles

To make tea with fresh nettles, you’ll need:

1 cup of leaves from a nettle plant. Be careful to harvest your nettle leaves from an area that has not been sprayed with chemicals. You can wash your leaves if you want, but if you know they come from a clean source, it’s not always necessary.
4 cups of water. Feel free to use more or less depending on the desired strength of your tea.
Optional: honey or other sweeteners

saucepan with fresh nettles and water ready to simmer for tea

To make your tea:

Pour the water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Once the water is boil, reduce to a simmer and add your fresh nettle leaves.
Simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and strain the tea from the leaves.
Add honey or other flavors if you’d like.
Store the extra tea in the fridge in a Mason jar. Nettle tea is delicious chilled, too! If you’re adding sweeteners like honey, just make sure to add it to the tea while it’s still warm so that it will stir in correctly.