Rowanberries/rowan berries/mountain-ash berries are frequently overlooked when it comes to recipe-making, but they've been part of the human diet since ancient times! Rowan berries can be used to make rowanberry jelly, wine, rowanberry shrub, and more!
If you enjoy foraging, you'll want to keep an eye out for these uniquely bitter but totally edible berries, which grow on mountain ash trees.
These berries are often mixed with sugar to enhance their flavor and are best when picked after several hard frosts, which makes them a little sweeter.
Before foraging for berries, it is a good idea to read up on the subject, take a foraging class, or at least have a plant identification app on your phone. The one I use is called Picture This. If you're in the Northwest, I highly recommend getting a foraging guide. Edible & Medicinal Plants of the Rockies is the one I use, and I love it!
Jump to:
- What Are Rowanberries?
- Are Rowanberries Edible For Humans?
- When Do You Pick Rowanberries?
- Where Do Mountain Ash Grow?
- Rowanberry Recipes
- Ingredients & Substitutions
- How to Make Rowanberry Shrub
- Serving Instructions
- Storage
- Are There Rowanberry Look-Alikes?
- Rowanberry Health Benefits
- FAQ
- Pro Tips
- Disclaimer
- More Foraging Recipes
- Recipe
- Comments
What Are Rowanberries?
Rowan or mountain-ash shrubs or trees (Sorbus aucuparia) are part of the rose family. These deciduous plants produce small, acidic fruits known as "rowanberries" or "rowan berries."
As these small fruits grow in dense clusters, they're technically pomes (a single fruit, similar to pomegranates), rather than berries. These fruits thrive in cold climates. They originated in Europe and can be found in Scandinavia as well as other cold climates throughout Europe. They also grow in parts of North America.
The delicate white flowers emerge in spring and eventually turn into yellow-orange fruit. The berries become crimson when fully ripened.
Rowan berries have a tiny star on the bottom, which some describe as a pentagram. In mythology, the mountain ash is said to be a magical tree that protects against witches and evil spirits. Mountain ash wood is even used to make magic wands!
Wildlife, including butterflies, birds, deer, and bears, feed on rowanberries.
Are Rowanberries Edible For Humans?
Although rowanberries can be consumed raw, they may make you sick as they contain cyanide-related compounds and are considered semi-toxic straight off the branch. While green berries are very bitter, ripened red berries tend to be a little sweeter and are often used to make jams, pies, marmalades, wine, ale, shrub, and added to soups!
Furthermore, the berries can also be dried and ground into a flour. In Europe, the flour was fermented and used to make liquor.
You can even purchase "rowanberry candy" on Amazon (Fazer Pihlaja "Fox Candy" Classic Finnish Rowan Berry Marmalade Candy). However, thanks to one of my readers, I recently learned that they don't contain rowanberry at all, sorry folks!
When Do You Pick Rowanberries?
While the berries begin to ripen around late summer to early fall, it is said that rowan berries should not be picked until after the first frost. While this is generally true, it's a bit misleading - you don't want to pick them right after the first frost, as they will likely still be incredibly bitter. Instead, wait until several frosts have passed before harvesting rowan berries to pick them when they're at their sweetest.
Where Do Mountain Ash Grow?
As their name suggests, mountain ash trees and shrubs can be found in mountainous regions; however, you may not need to plan a drive to the mountains to pick them!
Here in Montana, you can find mountain ash trees in parks and along the roads, and on river banks. Because of their beautiful foliage and bright, colorful fruit clusters, they have an ornamental value and make an excellent addition to any garden!
Rowanberry Recipes
Rowanberries do have some culinary uses, but they are almost always cooked with sugar to improve their bitter and astringent flavor. You'll find that a lot of rowan recipes include apples, which mellow the tannins in the fruit and tame some of their bitter flavor. This rowan & apple jelly is a good example.
You can also use rowan berries to make rowan berry wine. However, it has quite a bitter aftertaste. Yes, I'm speaking from experience!
When making wine, a better option is to mix the rowan berries with other fruit. I recently bottled a wine that I made with a mixture of rowan berries, cranberries, and black hawthorn. While it had a slightly bitter aftertaste, it was actually quite tasty!
Besides wine, you can also infuse the berries in alcohol to make various cocktails. Or maybe you'd prefer to make rowan berry syrup to add to your cocktails? It can take the place of bitters!
If you want to cook with the berries, give this rowan berry, apple, and pumpkin soup a go! I haven't tried it, but it does sound promising.
Although I've made rowanberry jelly and wine, I think my favorite way of using the rowanberries is to make rowanberry shrub! It's easy to make and has lots of health benefits. Since only a few tablespoons of shrub are mixed with a glass of club soda, the bitterness is not as noticeable. Here's how to make it:
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Rowanberries: Ripe rowanberries
- Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar
- Sugar: Granulated sugar (may substitute brown sugar or honey)
- Optional Ingredients: Citrus slices, cloves, ginger, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks.
How to Make Rowanberry Shrub
- Add 1 cup of clean rowan berries to a quart-sized mason jar. Cover with 1 cup sugar and 1 cup apple cider vinegar.
- Shake to incorporate, then date and label the jar. Allow the rowan berries to macerate for one week.
Pro Tip: Dehydrated orange slices, cinnamon, cardamon pods, ginger, and cloves can be added to the jar as well to enhance the flavor of the shrub.
- Shake the jar daily for one week, then strain into a clean mason jar.
Serving Instructions
To serve, pour 2 tablespoons of rowanberry shrub into a tall glass filled with ice and top with club soda or carbonated water. Stir to combine and enjoy!
Storage
Store the rowanberry shrub in a cool, dark location. Since it's fermented and the sugar and vinegar act as preservatives, it technically does not need to be refrigerated. However, refrigeration slows oxidation, which keeps the flavor and color fresher over time.
Are There Rowanberry Look-Alikes?
Mountain ash/rowan berries are pretty distinct and not easily confused with too many other plants. However, there is one plant that has red berry clusters that may look a bit similar to rowan berries to the amateur forager.
Actaea, commonly called baneberries, can be found in the mountainous regions of North America. The attractive red berries grow in clusters and look very appealing. However, baneberries are poisonous to humans as they contain cardiogenic toxins.
The most poisonous parts of the plant are the roots and red berries. Consuming as few as 6 berries can result in respiratory issues and even cardiac arrest! However, due to their extremely bitter flavor, it's unlikely that anyone would attempt to eat more than one.
Photo by Tomas Sobek on Unsplash
Although baneberry leaves have jagged edges similar to those of mountain ash, their shape is quite different. Mountain ash has pinnately compound leaves that grow in pairs, with a single leaf at the end of the branch. The leaves turn a beautiful golden color in the fall.
Another distinguishing factor between the two plants is their size difference. The average height of a baneberry bush is 1'-2.5', unlike mountain ash, which can grow to be 15'-30' tall!
Rowanberry Health Benefits
Rowanberries are thought to have many health benefits. Native Americans would boil the berries and/or the bark and branches from the mountain-ash shrub to create medicinal tea. In some cases, they would simply inhale the steam, which was said to treat headaches and sore chests. Some of the other supposed medicinal benefits include:
- Aids digestion and alleviates constipation.
- Soothing sore throats, colds, and inflammation of the respiratory tract.
- Easing back pain.
- Treating infections.
FAQ
Rowan berries are very bitter and astringent, even when they are ripe. Although they can be eaten raw, most people will find them too bitter to be eaten this way. To tame the flavor, these berries are often dried, repeatedly frozen, or used in recipes that include a lot of sugar, such as jellies and pies.
Rowanberries grow in the Northern regions of the United States. Depending on the species, they can be found in the mountainous parts of the Northwest, including Montana. Other species can be found in the Northeast, such as New England.
Yes, rowan is another name for mountain ash.
Pro Tips
- Rowanberries pair well with apples, oranges, pears, strawberries, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, clove, honey, basil, and peppermint.
- When foraging for rowanberries, a pair of pruning shears and a canvas bag come in very handy for clipping the clusters from the tree and transporting them back home.
- Clean the rowanberries to remove insects and debris, then freeze them in freezer bags until you are ready to make something wonderful with them.
Disclaimer
Please forage responsibly. While rowanberries (from the Sorbus aucuparia tree) are generally safe to consume when properly prepared, they should never be eaten raw in large quantities due to their natural parasorbic acid content, which can cause stomach upset. Cooking or drying the berries neutralizes this compound and makes them safe to eat.
Always ensure:
- You have correctly identified the plant—some berries can look similar but be toxic.
- You are foraging in legal areas with permission where needed.
- The plants have not been exposed to pesticides, pollution, or roadside runoff.
- You harvest sustainably, taking only what you need and leaving plenty for wildlife.
If you’re new to foraging, consider consulting a local expert or field guide, and when in doubt, don’t eat the berries.
This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or nutritional advice. If you have any health conditions or concerns, consult a qualified professional before consuming wild plants.
Are you interested in learning more about unique berry types? If so, you'll want to head over to my other blog and check out this Exotic Fruits and Uncommon Berry Types post!
More Foraging Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe
Rowanberries: How to Forage and Use Them
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup ripe rowanberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Add 1 cup of clean rowan berries to a quart-sized mason jar. Cover with 1 cup sugar and 1 cup apple cider vinegar.
- Shake to incorporate, then date and label the jar. Allow the rowan berries to macerate for one week.
- Shake the jar daily for one week, then strain into a clean mason jar.
Notes
- Dehydrated orange slices, cinnamon, cardamom pods, ginger, and cloves can be added to the jar to enhance the flavor of the shrub.
- Rowanberries pair well with apples, oranges, pears, strawberries, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, honey, basil, and pepperment.
- When foraging for rowanberries, a pair of pruning shears and a canvas bag come in very handy for clipping the clusters from the tree and transporting them back home.
- Clean the rowanberries to remove insects and debris, then freeze them in freezer bags until you are ready to make something wonderful with them.
Hilda Sterner says
I hope you enjoy this rowanberry article and try making rowanberry shrub!