Round blue-green plate with tempura fried celosia leaves arranged in a circle and garnished with red celosia tips in the center and dark green leaves around the outside.

Celosia Leaf Tempura Recipe

Updated on May 02, 2024
By Nora Johnson

This recipe is made with Chinese Wool Flower celosia, but you can use any leafy green that you like.  With celosia, you want to choose the young leaves, as they can get bitter as the plant matures. This all-but-forgotten edible ornamental might be the most delicious flowering vegetable we have ever eaten! The flowers make a nice tea, and the young leaves are a perfect spinach substitute.  In the Baker Creek trial kitchen, we have tried it tempura style, stir fried, and added to soups, lasagna and pizza; the possibilities are endless! The greens -- which should always be eaten cooked and not raw -- are incredibly nutritious as well, a good source of vitamins A & C as well as calcium, iron, and other nutrients.

light blue and gold and grey background with bright red wooly blossoms and dark green foliage surrounding a clear glass cup and teapot filled with clear, red liquid. There are some medallions and writing implements scattered around

Chinese Wool Flower celosia blossoms make excellent tea, and the leaves are nutritious and delicious. 

Ingredients: 

  • Celosia leaves, washed and dried thoroughly
  • 1 c. flour
  • ½ t. baking soda
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1 c. ice-cold water
  • Tapioca starch
  • Oil for frying 

Instructions: 

  1. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Add the ice-cold water (it must be very cold!) and mix gently. Do not overmix. 
  2. While the oil is heating in a skillet, place some tapioca starch on a plate.
  3. When the oil is hot, dredge each leaf in tapioca starch, then dip it in the batter and place into the hot oil.
  4. Fry each leaf 30 seconds on each side, then transfer to a plate. Garnish and serve at once.

blue-green plate with fried leaves arranged in a circle, on a blue-grey surface.