Thread: Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar on Milkweed

Every year I can barely keep my wife from pulling up some Milkweed we have which grows perennially in a few areas of our yard. I always hope we'll have a few monarch butterfly caterpillars take up their residence on the milkweed, their source of food.........and mine!

Yep, eating poached young milkweed pods and the immature "down"/seeds each Summer is one of my favorite treats. The pod flavor is like asparagus and the down is chewy like melted mozzarella and has more of a cauliflower flavor. The milkweed flowers have a wonderful scent similar to lilacs.







Chris L

So what are your favorite ways to prepare milkweed?

I've read that there are several kinds of milkweed and some are considered inedible. The kind that grows in our area is edible.

I simply pluck the young/immature pods from the plant (normally when they're still only about 3/4"-1" in diameter, a few inches long and quite a bit before they open naturally on the plant) and put them in some boiling water for not more than a few minutes. Then eat.

The larger the pods get the more they end up being like chewing on a sponge which isn't the greatest; smaller pods are good and tender.


I want to try steaming young cattail shoots which I understand are like white asparagus.

Chris L

That is some gorgeous milkweed you got there. Here along the Gulf Coast where I live we pretty much can only grow Mexican Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica). I've raised a bunch of Monarchs over the years.

Asclepias curassavica - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia