• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • welcome to the South East Asian Pantry
  • Recipes
  • Cooking The Ultimate…
  • VEGAN DESSERTS (SINGAPORE)
  • SEO for Food Blogs
  • South East Asian recipe experiments: new recipes with bold flavours every week

Greedy Girl Gourmet

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Hello
  • Recipes
  • Cook The Ultimate
  • SEO food blog
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Hello
    • Recipes
    • Cook The Ultimate
    • SEO food blog
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Round-ups

    Published: Apr 15, 2022 · Modified: May 28, 2022 by Zen

    12 Sweet & Savory Wolfberry Recipes (Goji Berry)

    12 Easy & Quick, Sweet & Savory wolfberry recipes (Dried Goji Berry recipes), perfect for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

    A bowl of vegan goji berry granola.
    Jump to:
    • What are wolfberry?
    • Health benefits
    • FAQ
    • Soups
    • Rice & Noodles
    • Sweet treats
    • Bakes
    • Dessert
    • Drinks

    What are wolfberry?

    Also known as goji berries, wolf berries are the fruit of either the Lycium barbarum or Lycium chinense, 2 types of boxthorn from the nightshade family, Solanaceae. They've been part of the Chinese and Korean diet for centuries, and have become an increasingly popular "superfood" in the West in the last decade or so. Hence, you often see them in energy bars and smoothies now.

    Traditionally, Chinese & Korean people add dried wolfberries whole to soups, stews and porridge, but the berries can also be ground into powder, cooked into jam or blended to make juice and goji berry sauce.

    There are 2 red and black goji berries- the red is more often seen and easy to find, whilst the black is 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.

    Health benefits

    Chinese Grandmothers have been telling us for years that we should eat more wolfberries for better eyesight and recent research has shown that they are indeed good for the eye health of the middle-aged (SCMP) (i.e. not just an old wives' tale!)

    Wolfberry is a relatively healthy food as it has a lot of vitamin a and vitamin c. It also has antioxidant properties.

    Note: consuming goji berries has been shown to interfere with certain types of medication s (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.

    FAQ

    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 people usually cook with the dried version, adding it to their 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.

    Soups

    You can add wolfberries to any soup that you want to sweeten naturally, such as ginger coconut soup.

    Easy Chinese black chicken & red date soup recipe (Silkie Chicken)
    This easy Chinese Silkie chicken soup requires only 5-ingredients and is mostly passive cooking.
    Click here for Black Chicken Soup
    A bowl of Chinese black chicken soup with red dates, goji berries, scallops and dried shiitake mushrooms.

    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!

    Chinese Abalone Porridge with chicken
    A no-fuss, easy Chinese abalone porridge (jook or congee) recipe which can be made using store cupboard ingredients
    Click here for abalone jook
    Close-up of a bowl of chicken porridge with a huge abalone on top.

    Dried scallop congee recipe
    To make your scallop congee even sweeter, add a handful of goji berries.
    Click here for the seafood jook recipe
    A spoon scooping a fresh scallop out of a bowl of seafood congee.

    Sweet treats

    Vegan Maple, walnut and goji berry granola
    This easy, healthy and delicious Maple Walnut Goji Berry Granola makes for one satisfying gluten-free vegan breakfast, snack or refined sugar-free treat!
    Click here for this delicious breakfast
    A bowl of vegan goji berry granola.

    Bakes

    Another easy way to eat more wolfberries is to add a handful to whatever you're currently baking, such as brownies, cookies or muffins.

    3 goji berry muffins in a line.
    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. They take 30 minutes to make, are dairy free, naturally sweetened, and the perfect make ahead breakfast or snack!
    Click here for the muffin recipe
    3 goji berry muffins in a line.
    Goji berry & pumpkin biscotti
    This healthy biscotti 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!
    Click here for the healthy biscotti recipe
    Someone dunking goji berry biscotti in a cup of tea.

    Dessert

    3 ingredients for easy Chinese birds nest dessert
    Easy steamed bird's nest and goji berries (3 ingredients)
    The easiest bird's nest dessert you could ever make!
    Click here for the Chinese bird's nest recipe
    Close up of red goji berries and birds nest steamed in a coconut
    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
    Flower Shaped Osmanthus Konnayku Jelly with Wolfberries on a plate
    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. (If you can't get your hands on it, here are some good agar agar alternatives.)
    Click here for the jelly recipe
    A deep red bowl of goji berry and red dates jelly.

    Drinks

    Ginger, red dates and Dried Longan tea recipe with goji berries
    A nourishing, traditional Chinese tea that contains no caffeine and warms you right up.
    Click here for this popular Chinese New Year tea recipe
    4 Cups of red dates, ginger, wolfberries and dried longan tea, brewed for different periods of time
    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.
    Check out this recipe
    A cup of wolfberry tea with dried goji berries next to it.

    You can also add goji berries to your no caffeine, osmanthus tea (Gui Hua Cha).

    Powerhouse smoothie
    Load up on vitamin C the natural way with this refreshing Vitamin C Powerhouse Smoothie recipe that is packed full of delicious vitamin C rich ingredients.
    Click here to get your dose of Vitamin C
    A glass of orange coloured goji berry smoothie.

    Which is your favourite in this list of sweet & savory wolberry recipes? Personally, I can never say no to a bowl of Chinese soup!

    Before you go, you may also be interested in these Asian recipes:

    • 27 Japanese Side dishes to serve with sushi
    • Easy Calamansi Dessert Recipes
    • Soy sauce butter popcorn
    • Best Congee toppings
    « 11 Best sweet soy sauce substitutes (Kecap Manis)
    Asian Sea Coconut dessert with longan soup »

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Hello

    Greedygirlgourmet eating 2 sandwiches in Scotland

    Hi I'm Zhen! I couldn't boil water till I was 18 but after living abroad (in St. Andrews then London) for 11 years and having to cook for myself, I now love having friends and families over, and cooking for them. I tend to be slightly obsessive-compulsive, so I like to try many different versions of a recipe before coming up with my own "ultimate" version. Check out www.greedygirlgourmet.com every week for new tried-and-tested (on my guinea pigs aka guests!) Asian recipes which are full of flavour!

    Food You Can Grow

    • 36 International Curry Leaf Recipes
    • 39 Best South East Asian Lemongrass recipes
    • 35 international tamarind recipes (assam jawa)
    • 20 kaffir lime leaf recipes

    What are people reading?

    These Asian recipes are this week's most popular posts on Greedygirlgourmet.com

    • Best Poached One Pot Chinatown Soy Sauce Chicken (with rice)
    • What to do with leftover bak kwa (19 ideas for 2022)
    • Yuzu konnyaku jelly recipe (15 minutes)
    • Papaya milk (Taiwanese drink) (street food)

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility Policy
    • All Recipes

    Newsletter

    • Coming soon

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2022 GreedyGirlGourmet