For the past few blog posts, we’ve been leaning heavily into the science side of CBD, discussing things like CBD for hormones and menstruation and the impact CBD may have on our dreams. Today, however, we wanted to take a little break from the science and discuss something a little more fun: cooking with CBD. We’ll be looking at some tips as well as recipes and resources. This way, if you’ve ever considered in using CBD in your cooking, you’ll have a good idea where to start and how to use it most effectively.

Basic Tips

There’s a lot you can do when it comes to cooking with CBD oil. All across the internet you’ll find recommendations for adding CBD to smoothies, coffee, soups, or no-bake snacks like protein bites. With so many options, it can be hard to know where and how to start incorporating CBD into your recipes – especially in your home cooking. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best tips and tricks we’ve been able to find so you can start strong.

1. Similar to cooking with other oils, CBD can be impacted by heat. This means that you most likely want to use CBD in recipes that don’t require heat, and if heat is involved, use it minimally. We can’t provide a specific cooking temperature, unfortunately, since every source we found says something different. That said, there’s not a lot of current research into heat’s effect on CBD within the context of cooking, so hopefully we’ll have more solid advice around this in the future. One thing people have been recommending is that CBD be added after something is cooked, or into things like icing and salad dressings instead of anything that’s getting heated or baked.
2. Mixing CBD with other fatty foods and oils (such as coconut or avocado oil), may help increase bioavailability. By increasing the bioavailability, more CBD is actually getting absorbed into your body. This is a bigger topic, so we’ve made bioavailability its own section below.
3. CBD can interact with other substances and medications, sometimes changing how they’re metabolized in our bodies. While this isn’t necessarily a cooking tip, if you’re planning on mixing CBD with other medications or things like alcohol, be extra careful. For more information about this, take a look at the link we added above. For further details about the risks of CBD use in general, check out what we wrote here.
4. Pay attention to dose. As with a lot of things when it comes to cooking, you can always add more but you can’t add less. Additionally, because of the bioavailability thing, you might find that you need to adjust your dose when it comes to cooking with CBD. Even if you’ve figured out an amount that works for you, it might vary when used in a recipe. This is especially important to consider if you’re using any CBD products that contain THC, like Full Spectrum.
5. Make sure you’re cooking with quality CBD. When it comes to what we’re consuming, it’s important to know that what we’re putting in our bodies is safe. For more information about what to look out for when it comes to picking products, check out what we wrote about the topic previously.

Notes on Bioavailability

Since any CBD used in cooking is going to be consumed (orally taken), this will impact its bioavailability, or how much of it is being absorbed into your body. The studies we have so far show that orally taken CBD is less bioavailable than other methods of consumption such as sublingual (under the tongue) or anything smoked or vaped. That said, the effects of orally consumed CBD also appear to last longer. Put simply, this has to do with how things are metabolized in our bodies and something called ‘first pass metabolism.’

Bioavailability is a much larger topic, so we’ve discussed it in greater detail here. What you really need to know for the purposes of cooking with CBD, however, is that there has been some research to suggest that CBD’s bioavailability may be increased when paired with fattier foods (fish, peanut butter, avocado, etc).

Considering Flavours and Products.

Especially if you’re cooking with CBD oil, paying attention to carrier oils is going to be important to the taste of your cooking. Carrier oils are regularly mixed with CBD as a way to deliver the CBD into our bodies and can work to increase bioavailability. Different carrier oils have their pros and cons, which we’ve discussed in greater detail in the link above.

That said, flavouring is important. An olive oil based product will taste different than a coconut one. Additionally, CBD itself (especially Full Spectrum products) can be quite strong tasting as well. All of this could impact the flavouring of your food.

There are food grade CBD products like cooking oils available on the market. Whether you decide to check these out of not, what CBD products you decide to use for cooking might come down to a bit of personal preference.

Although we’ve mostly discussed using CBD oil within this post, it’s also possible to cook with isolate or other forms of CBD, such as infused butters. Creating your own CBD infused oil for the purposes of cooking is also an option.

Really, a lot comes down to your personal preferences and how you like to cook, so we can’t really give you any definitive rules. What we can say, however, is that paying attention to flavours and how both CBD and carrier oils will impact the taste of your recipes is something worth considering.

Recipes and Additional Resources

Thankfully, despite a lack of cooking science, it isn’t challenging to find good CBD recipes. This website, for example, not only discusses the basics of CBD cooking, but includes recipes such as chocolate, smoothies, cookies, teas, salads, and dips. If you’re looking for a place to get started or generate some inspiration, it might be worthwhile checking out. We like it because it offers a wide selection of foods, including some vegan and healthier options.

When searching for recipes, Pinterest is also always a great option. Here we’ve linked a board we found, which includes quite a few dessert and drink ideas.

TL;DR

Cooking with CBD is still a bit of a new thing, so we don’t know all the ins and outs yet. What we do know, however, is that it’s relatively easy to add CBD to your cooking. Currently, there are dozens, if not hundreds of recipes available online if you’re wanting to try something new. By keeping in mind things like heat, flavours, and quality ingredients, you can give yourself the best chance of making up some great foods.