Purslane with Garlic Yogurt
Tender purslane leaves folded into thick garlic yogurt with olive oil and a little red pepper.
The Turkish pantry
Purslane
A succulent culinary green with tender fleshy leaves and stems.
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This guide concerns food-grade culinary purslane, Portulaca oleracea. Its edible tender leaves and stem tips are used in cooking. Ornamental portulaca, unidentified garden weeds, roots and seeds are outside this guide’s ingredient scope; the illustration is not a foraging identification tool.
Types & forms
Fresh culinary purslane
Tender succulent leaves and suitable stem tips.
Cooked purslane · comparison
Cooking softens the green; prolonged cooking can make it slippery.
Ornamental or unidentified plant · excluded
A similar name or appearance does not establish food suitability.
What to look for when buying
- Choose purslane explicitly sold for eating, with firm fresh leaves and stems and no slimy or decaying patches.
- Ask for the culinary ingredient by name. Do not use plants from pesticide-treated ground or assume an ornamental nursery plant is edible.
Prepare & cook
- Sort carefully, remove roots, tough ends and damaged material, then rinse with clean running water to remove grit. Drain and dry as the recipe requires.
- Use the tender parts specified by the recipe. Keep leaves fairly intact for a salad; follow the stated cooking sequence for a warm preparation.
Store it well
- Keep the fresh greens refrigerated in a clean container, protected from crushing and raw-food contamination. Use promptly while the leaves are sound.
- After washing, drain excess water rather than leaving the greens submerged. A yogurt-dressed preparation needs its own recipe storage guidance.
Substitutions depend on the dish
Tender spinach
May work in a recipe that allows it, but lacks the same succulent texture.
Another named salad green
Changes both texture and flavor. Treat the result as a variation, not an equivalent purslane dish.
Nutrition
Purslane, raw [1]
| Nutrient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 20 kcal |
| Protein | 2.03 g |
| Total fat | 0.36 g |
| Saturated fat | Not reported |
| Carbohydrate | 3.39 g |
| Dietary fiber | Not reported |
| Total sugars | Not reported |
| Sodium | 45 mg |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Calcium | 65 mg |
| Iron | 1.99 mg |
| Potassium | 494 mg |
| Vitamin D | 0 µg |
USDA raw purslane reference per 100 g edible portion. The table does not include dressing, roots or cooked preparation, and it is not a medicinal-use recommendation. Values are rounded for readability; “not reported” does not mean zero. A “<” value is below the source’s measurement limit.
Nutrition values come from the reference source named above. They are published reference values, not our own measurements. Actual products and cooking methods may change the values.
At the Turkish table
The connected purslane recipe demonstrates how this collection uses semizotu. Any yogurt, oil or seasoning in that dish remains separate from the plain raw-green nutrition reference.
Cook with Purslane