If you're wondering what to do with dried goji berries, here are the best Easy & Quick, Sweet & Savory Dried Goji Berry Recipes (Wolfberries), perfect for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Jump to:
- What are Goji Berries?
- Soups
- Sweet treats
- Bakes
- Dessert
- Drinks
- Where to Buy
- Health Benefits
- FAQs
- 💬 Comments
What are Goji Berries?
Also known as Wolfberries, Goji Berries are the fruit of eitherthe Lycium barbarumorLycium chinense, 2 types ofboxthornfrom thenightshade family,Solanaceae.
Sounds ominous, but the fruits are not poisonous! In fact, they're good for the immune system and have been part of the Chinese cuisine and Korean diet for centuries.
In Asia
Traditionally, Chinese & Korean people add dried wolfberries whole to soups, stews, and rice porridge.
However, the berries can also be ground into powder, made into goji berry jam or blended to make juice and goji berry sauce.
In the West
In recent years, they have become an increasingly popular "superfood" in the West.
Some easy goji berry recipes are mixing with flax seeds and chia seeds to make a goji berry smoothie or energy bars. You can basically use goji berries when other dried fruits are called for in recipes!
Types
There are 2 types:
- red: more often seen and easy to find
- black goji berries: more common in Central Asia and the Himalayas
For more information on goji berries, do click through to my goji berry tea post, in which I've covered the topic more thoroughly.
Soups
Many goji berry recipes are in the form of Chinese soups and savory dishes such as stews. Add a handful to any soup that you want to sweeten naturally without added sugars, such as ginger coconut soup.
TIP: these berries cook quickly so you can just add them 10-15 minutes before switching off the fire.
Chicken Soup with Abalone
EASY Abalone Chicken Soup
This Easy Chicken Abalone Soup is perfect for family dinners or Chinese New Year (CNY.) I use canned abalone to make it easier, and exclude the herbal ingredients to make the chicken flavor really shine.
Click here for the chicken soup recipe.
Black Chicken Soup
Easy Chinese Black Chicken Soup (Silkie Chicken)
This easy Chinese Black Chicken Soup, also known as Silkie Chicken, is a traditional Chinese soup recipe that is delicious, nutritious AND only calls for 5 ingredients! I've made this Black Chicken soup recipe non-herbal, as many younger Asians find it hard to accept the strong flavours of herbal soup, but it's still very good for you!
Click here for Black Chicken Soup.
Chinese Cabbage Soup
Easy Chinese Cabbage Soup Recipe (20 minutes)
This easy and quick Chinese Cabbage Soup is a nutritious dish on the dinner table in 20 minutes (unlike other Asian soups which typically take forever to cook!) Moreover, you can get the ingredients at your regular store without having to go to the Asian market (just substitute the goji berries with carrots.) I also show you how to make a light version for a family dinner in summer and a heartier one for winter.
Click here the easy Chinese soup recipe.
Chicken Foot Soup
Chinese Chicken Feet Soup with Peanuts
This Chinese Chicken Feet Soup with Peanuts recipe is easy, thick, deliciously savory and rich in collagen. 15 minutes of prep followed by passive cooking then, Hello, younger-looking skin!
Click here for the collagen-rich chicken soup!
Rice & Noodles
I like to add a handful of wolfberries to my tomato sauce when I make pasta, as it helps to sweeten it without adding sugar!
Abalone Porridge
Easy Chinese Canned Abalone Porridge
A no-fuss, easy Chinese Canned Abalone Porridge recipe, also known as jook or congee, which can be made using store cupboard ingredients. So easy there's only 1 photo for the step-by-step instructions, it's the perfect comfort food and a delicious recipe for a weekday dinner.
Click here for abalone jook.
Scallop Porridge
Dried scallop congee recipe
To make your scallop congee even sweeter, add a handful of goji berries.
Click here for the seafood jook recipe.
Sweet treats
Energy Balls
Thanks to their reputation as a superfood, woflberries are in all the health shops, and you can find them in health foods such as energy balls etc.
Truffles
You no longer have to feel guilty about eating chocolate if you add goji berries to your truffles!
Granola
Vegan Maple, walnut and goji berry granola
This easy, healthy and delicious Maple Walnut Goji Berry Granola by Moon and Spoon and Yum makes for one satisfying gluten-free vegan breakfast, snack or refined sugar-free treat!
Tip: To turn your granola into Granola Bars, add in some sticky honey to bind all the ingredients together.
Bakes
Another easy and tasty way to eat more wolfberries is to add a handful to whatever you're currently baking, such as brownies, cookies or muffins.
Muffins
Goji Berry & Oat Bran Muffins
These 5-star muffins (from 23 reviews) are tender, moist, and include raisins and dates, but can also be made with goji berries. This I Food Real recipe take 30 minutes to make, are dairy free, naturally sweetened, and the perfect make ahead breakfast or snack!
Biscotti
Goji berry & pumpkin biscotti
This healthy biscotti by Fannetastic Food uses whole wheat flour, pumpkin and dried goji berries for antioxidants and delicious bursts of fruity flavor. It's a tasty breakfast or snack that's great for gifting or for the holidays!
Dessert
Osmanthus Jelly
Gui Hua Gao (Osmanthus jelly)
A refreshing jelly made from only 4 ingredients and that was enjoyed by Chinese royalty in the past.
Click here for the vegan jelly recipe.
Chocolate Bark
Ingredients
- 6 oz Dark Chocolate Fevres (I use 60%)
- ½ Cup Lightly toasted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and/or broken nut pieces
- ⅛ Cup dry goji berries
- Optional: raw cacao nibs
- Optional: Sprinkle of sea salt, to taste
How to Make
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave by blitzing on low in 20 second intervals. Stir in between each blitz. Once the chocolate is 90% melted, you can stop as the rest will just melt naturally.
- Place a parchment paper or Silpat on a baking tray, then spread the chocolate all over it.
- Mix the dried berries and seeds/ nuts then sprinkle them all over the chocolate. Press to make sure they stick.
- Lastly, sprinkle the sea salt all over.
- Allow to cool in the fridge for 15 minutes. (If you live somewhere temperate, it can also cool at room temperature after a few hours.)
- Break into pieces and enjoy! These make amazing Christmas food gifts!
TIP: if you want it sweeter, swirl in some maple syrup or use lower cocoa chocolate.
Bird's Nest Dessert
Easy Swallow Nest Soup (Bird's Nest Dessert)
The easiest Chinese bird's nest dessert you could ever make!
Click here for the Chinese bird's nest recipe.
Goji Berry Tart
This no-bake tart owes a lot of its taste to the tart flavor of goji berries. It's also really pretty thanks to the edible flowers and is sure to impress!
Chinese Jelly
Goji berry & red date jelly
Pretty deep ruby red jelly from Chinese red dates (jujube), goji berries, longan, and pandan leaves. Use agar powder or konnyaku jelly powder to make this vegan friendly and gluten-free dessert by Daily Cooking Quest. (If you can't get your hands on it, here are some good agar agar alternatives.)
Drinks
Longan Red Date Tea
Longan Tea with Red Dates
This Ginger Red date Longan Tea recipe with Goji Berries is a nourishing, traditional Chinese tea. It contains no caffeine and warms you right up on a cold day!
Click here for this popular Chinese New Year tea recipe.
Wolfberry Tea
How to make Goji Berry tea drink (Wolfberry tea)
A delicate and nourishing drink, goji berry tea or wolfberry tea is easy to make and good for your eyesight. You can have it alone, or add other ingredients to make Ginger Goji Berry tea or Red Date Goji Berry Tea.
Try this nourishing goji berry tea recipe today!
Osmanthus Tea
You can also add goji berries to your no caffeine, osmanthus tea (Gui Hua Cha).
Flu Season Smoothie
Powerhouse smoothie
Load up on vitamin C the natural way with this refreshing Vitamin C Powerhouse Smoothie recipe by Maple and Mango, that is packed full of delicious vitamin C rich ingredients.
Milkshake
Or toss some in your papaya milkshake!
Where to Buy
These days, dried goji berries are sold at most large grocery stores. If not, you can find them online or at health food stores.
Fresh berries are harder to come by unless you have your own goji berry plant!
Health Benefits
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, goji berry recipes are great for better eyesight. And, recent research has shown that these fruits are indeed good for the eye health of the middle-aged!
Wolfberryis also a relatively healthy food as it has a lot of vitamin A and vitamin C, as well as antioxidant properties. In particular, they protect from damage by free radicals and alleviate oxidative stress.
NOTE: consuming goji berries has been shown to interfere with certain types of medications (e.g. ones for blood pressure or blood circulation medicine), such as warfarin, so do consult your doctor before making changes to your diet. This is for information only and not meant as health, medical or nutrition advice.
FAQs
How do we eat wolfberries?
Goji berries, also known as wolf berries, have been eaten by Chinese people for centuries, both for the taste and the health benefits. They can be eaten fresh and dried- either way, the whole berry, including the seed and skin, is consumed. When eaten raw, wolfberries are a bit bitter, a bit tart and a bit chewy. Chinese & Korean goji berry recipes usually use the dried version in soups and stews, such as the ones I've included in this collection of sweet and savory wolberry recipes.
Can you freeze goji berries?
Yes. Although dried goji berries can be kept for a good period of time in a cool and dark place (best if kept in the fridge), freezing them helps to extend their shelf life for even longer.
What do goji berries taste like?
Fresh goji berries are more bitter than sweet and even a little bland. Once dried, they have quite a unique taste- sweet, a little tart and a little bit earthy.
Which is your favourite in this list of sweet & savory dried goji berry recipes? Personally, I can never say no to a bowl of Chinese soup!
