The Ultimate Guide to Cooking with CBD

“More people are healthy and aware of the health benefits of food now than in any other time in my life,” says Tony Galzin, the chef and co-owner of Nicky’s Coal Fired, a Nashville restaurant that has added CBD to special dishes on an experimental basis. “I’m interested in the health benefits,” he says of CBD, “but also the natural flavors, for me, are a culinary challenge. It is like working with turmeric and ginger.”

The addition of CBD is a good fit with the philosophies behind a plant-based diet, making plant-centric menus good candidates for CBD-infused foods.

La vie en roze Chef Julia Jaksic of Cafe Roze in Nashville has pioneered CBD-infused dining in the city. Left: “The GateWay,” available as a vegan mocktail at Cafe Roze, is one of THE RESTAURANT’S CBD creations.

“I consider CBD a plant medicine, so using it in combination with other plants just made sense to me,” says Leah Vanderveldt, author of The CBD Kitchen. “It’s an area of cooking that encourages my creativity and makes me think about ingredients from both the perspective of nourishment and the environment.”

I asked visionary chefs and recipe developers like these for their tips on making vegan eats and drinks with CBD, as well as recipes to get anyone cooking confidently with CBD (see CBTea recipe).

Here’s what they had to say.

Choose your method

Vanderveldt supports taking CBD as a supplement and using it in food and drink. “To me, the advantage of cooking with it is being able to combine it with other health-promoting foods for supercharged benefits, as well as masking the sometimes strong flavor that doesn’t always agree with people,” she says.

What’s that flavor? Think earthy and similar to herbs like oregano and cilantro, says Vanderveldt.

Galzin, meanwhile, leans into the flavor when possible. He recently created a pizza, the base of which had a hemp flower pesto (with garlic and olive oil) that gave the pizza an earthy aroma. He sliced pineapple and compressed it with CBD oil in a Cryovac vacuum-packaging machine, allowing the pineapple to absorb the oil. (You can replicate this process at home by marinating pineapple in CBD oil and a sea salt solution in a resealable bag in your fridge. It’s a chef hack that’s ideal for fruits in salads and other dishes.)

Galzin’s CBD supplier uses CBD suspended in coconut oil, which the chef concedes may not be his first choice in an Italian recipe, but is perfect with pineapple, imbuing the fruit with a subtle coconut taste.

Beau Kelly-Fontano, bar director at Entente, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago, has had great success with a spirit-free CBD cocktail he’s got on the menu. He also uses hemp-derived CBD in a coconut oil base, in part because the CBD is then visible as a pearlescent globe floating on top of other liquids. He likes working with more transparent CBD oils, as opaque varieties can have a lotion-like texture.

Don’t like it hot

Industry pros note that CBD is being added to beverages at a more rapid pace than to foods. At Cafe Roze, CBD oil can be added to any drink for an additional $5, and Jaksic says most customers opt to add it to lattes (in which hemp milk is also an option).

Charlotte Kjaer, a chef based in the United Kingdom who specializes in CBD-infused vegan and vegetarian dishes, notes that hemp has a low smoke point. Heating the CBD too high will potentially destroy any functional properties, and, she adds—just as important to any chef—it won’t taste good. You don’t have that concern with most drinks.

“You do not want to throw it in a pan and sauté with it,” agrees Jaksic. Treating CBD oil like a cold-pressed oil is a good guideline, she says.

Baking with CBD makes a lot of sense, particularly with CBD suspended in coconut oil. The coconut oil supplies some of the necessary vegan fat for baking, as well as a nutty flavor. Remember to bake your goods at moderate temperatures—preferably 350 F or lower.

Just because you’re not blasting it with heat doesn’t mean you can’t cook with CBD. Kjaer has spent years developing dishes using CBD, including a pesto on pasta (we’ve got the recipe on p. 57!), scrambled chickpea tofu, and a cauliflower steak marinated in za'atar served with tahini cream with CBD oil. Vanderveldt’s The CBD Kitchen includes recipes for sauces, entrees, and more—all of them plant based (peep three of our favorites here - CBD Leek and Zucchini Soup, CBD Raw Oatmeal Cookie Bites, and Grilled Lettuce, Chickpea, and Radish Salad with Miso and Garlic CBD Vinaigrette).

The deal with dosages

Playing around in the kitchen with CBD requires paying attention to dosage, just as you’d watch the quantity of sodium or spice you’d add to another recipe. Most CBD manufacturers provide dosing information on their oils and tinctures, and chefs tend to adhere to those, as the manufacturers know the concentration of their products. You’ll need to read product labeling carefully and engage in some trial and error. Remember: It’s easier to add than subtract, so start small and then up the dosage if you’re not getting the desired results.

In general, Kjaer adds 3 to 4 mg per serving for starters and desserts and 5 mg for entrees. “Don’t overdo it,” she cautions. When baking, for example, she’ll make a cake with traditional vegan ingredients and then put the CBD in the frosting. She might have a starter, an entree, and a dessert on a menu that all contain CBD, but she and others recommend not trying all three at once.

Basically, you’ll want to ease into CBD eats and drinks and pay attention to how your body responds.

“It is one of those things that is different for everyone,” says Jaksic. “Some people treat it like a novelty, and some look for specific benefits. But we see all walks of life come in and try it.”

For when you’re feeling fancy - delish CBD recipes from chefs

CBTea

Hemp and Carrot Top CBD Pesto with Pasta

For when you’re in a hurry - easy recipes from the CBD Kitchen

CBD Leek and Zucchini Soup

CBD Raw Oatmeal Cookie Bites

Radish Salad with Miso and Garlic CBD Vinaigrette

Want to know more? We recommend reading - Your CBD Schedule.