Learn how to make homemade rose water with either fresh or dried rose petals. It’s a versatile ingredient to have for refreshing beverages & baking.

Many recipes from cakes to cocktails require rose water. I find it rewarding to make my own using the evaporation method, as a way to preserve the roses from my garden, with each batch offering a slightly different end product. Using dried petals yields the most consistent and potent results, but both versions work great.

Dried and fresh rose petals surrounding a glass bowl filled with clear rose water.

🌟 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • Versatile pantry ingredient: Rose water gives a delicate hint of floral flavor to many amazing recipes such as rose lemonade, matcha rose lattes, or rose-flavored desserts like Persian Saffron Rose Ice Cream and Cardamom Rose Cookies.
  • High-quality pure rose water: Use only fresh, organic roses that are free from any chemicals or pesticides.
  • Useful way to use fresh roses: If you grow fresh roses in your garden, turning them into rosewater is great for cooking and baking as well as using it for skincare. I like to keep a bottle of this as a face spritz in my bathroom.

🧾 Ingredients in This Recipe

  • Tiny hot pink dried rose petals in a metal measuring cup next to a glass bowl filled with water.
  • Hot pink rose petals and buds next to a glass bowl of water.
  • Clean, fresh rose petals – You will need to use fresh rose petals that you have grown or bought from a florist. If using roses from a florist, check with the florist to ensure they are food-safe. Store-bought roses almost always have a coating of pesticides/fungicides that make them unsuitable for this recipe.
  • or Dried rose petals – These are to be used instead of fresh rose petals and yield a more consistent result. It is also easier to find food-safe dried rose petals. You can buy them online or dry homegrown rose petals.
  • Distilled water – This ensures there are no impurities in the water, so it is best to use in this recipe. Filtered water is OK but not as pure, so distilled water is a better choice.
  • Ice (optional) – The ice helps speed up the condensation dripping down into the bowl. So it isn’t necessary to use ice, but it makes the whole process faster.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

👩‍🍳 How to Make Rose Water with Dried Rose Petals

Rose petals steeped in tinted water in a liquid measuring cup with a metal spoon.
  • Dried rose petals will need to be rehydrated before use. Soak your rose petals in 2 cups of room temperature distilled water for at least 1 hour. They will reabsorb that water and grow in size.
White pot filled with water and tiny pink rose petals.
  • Place the rehydrated petals into a deep saucepan and cover them with more water. The water should completely cover the petals, but not be too deep to where your metal steamer tray, strainer, or bowl is covered with water.
White pot filled with an inverted metal strainer and topped with a small glass bowl with tiny rose petals surrounding the metal strainer.
  • You can set up the evaporation process in two ways. You can use a metal steamer and place a ceramic or glass heat-safe bowl inside, as I have done. Or, you can place one bowl upside down in the middle of the roses, and balance another bowl on top of it to catch the condensation.
White pot on a black cooktop with an inverted lid filled with ice.
  • You will need a domed lid that fits on top of your saucepan when the pan is inverted (face down). Place the lid on the pan and add some (optional) ice cubes to the dip in the lid.
  • Start heating your water over medium until it reaches boiling point. The steam from the water will hit the cold domed lid and turn back into water, collecting in that bowl.
White pot filled with an inverted metal strainer and topped with a small glass bowl with cooked tiny rose petals surrounding the metal strainer.
  • Keep replacing the ice until all the water in the pan has evaporated. It should take about 30 minutes. Remove your ready-to-use rose water.

👩‍🍳 How to Make Rose Water with Fresh Rose Petals

Glass bowl filled with water and hot pink rose petals.
  • If using fresh whole roses, peel all the petals off the rose and soak them in cold water for 10 minutes to make sure all the bugs and debris are removed.
White pot filled with rose petals and water.
  • Place the cleaned petals in a large saucepan and cover them with water. The water should completely cover the petals, but not be too deep to where your metal steamer tray, strainer, or bowl is covered with water.

❗️Note on Buying Fresh Roses

The freshest possible roses will work best for this recipe. Remember that you can’t buy roses from the grocery store and use them for rose water because most store-bought roses are coated in pesticides/fungicides that should not be consumed. If buying fresh, ask your florist if they are safe to ingest.

White pot filled with an inverted metal strainer surrounded by rose petals and topped with a glass bowl.
  • You can set up the evaporation process in two ways. You can use a metal steamer and place a ceramic or glass heat-safe bowl inside, as I have done. Or, you can place one bowl upside down in the middle of the roses, and balance another bowl on top of it to catch the condensation.
White pot on a black cooktop with an inverted lid filled with ice.
  • You will need a domed lid that fits on top of your saucepan when the pan is inverted (face down). Place the lid on the pan and add some (optional) ice cubes to the dip in the lid.
  • Start heating your water over medium until it reaches boiling point. The steam from the water will hit the cold domed lid and turn back into water, collecting in that bowl.
White pot with cooked rose petals topped with a metal strainer and a glass bowl with rose water.
  • Keep replacing the ice until all the water in the pan has evaporated. It should take about 30 minutes. Remove your ready-to-use rose water.

🌷 Aromatic Rose Water Recipes

You will find the sweet, subtle flavor in these rose-infused Persian recipes to be extra luxurious.

I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m up to.

Dried and fresh rose petals surrounding a glass bowl filled with clear rose water.
Author: Candice Walker

Homemade Rose Water

No ratings yet
Print Recipe Save
Learn how to make homemade rose water with either fresh or dried rose petals. It's a versatile ingredient to have for refreshing beverages & baking.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Steeping Time (if using dried)1 hour
Total Time1 hour 35 minutes
Course: Condiment
Cuisine: Persian
Diet: Gluten Free, Kosher, Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings: 8 tablespoons

Equipment

  • 1 deep saucepan
  • 1 domed saucepan lid
  • 1 Steamer basket
  • 1-2 heat-safe bowls Ceramic or glass

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup dried rose petals or 1 cup of fresh rose petals (4-5 roses)
  • 5 cups distilled water
  • Ice

Instructions

Preparation for Dried Rose Petals

  • Soak rose petals in 5 cups of distilled water for at least 1 hour.
  • Place rehydrated petals into a large saucepan and cover them with more water.

Preparation for Fresh Rose Petals

  • Peel all the petals off a whole rose and place them in a large saucepan. If you have loose rose petals, put them in the pan.

Evaporation Process

  • You can set up the evaporation process in two ways. You can use a metal steamer and place a bowl inside. Or, you can place one bowl upside down in the middle of the roses, and balance another bowl on top to catch the condensation.
  • Place the domed lid on the pan and add some ice cubes to the dip in the lid.
  • Start heating your water until it reaches boiling point. The steam from the water will hit the cold domed lid and turn back into water, collecting in that bowl.
  • Keep replacing the ice until all the water in the pan has evaporated. It should take about 30 minutes.
  • Remove your ready-to-use rose water.

Notes

Do not use store-bought roses as they are likely coating in pesticides/fungicides that should not be consumed.

Nutrition

Serving: 15g | Sodium: 7mg | Calcium: 4mg
Did you try this recipe?I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a Review to let us know how it came out, if you have a successful substitution or variation, or anything else.

Leave a Reply

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

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.