Yes, you can use lemongrass leaves. While the white stalk gets most of the attention in recipes, the long green leaf blades are aromatic and useful in the kitchen, in teas, and even in homemade body care products. The key is knowing how to prepare them, because the leaves are too fibrous to eat whole.
Leaves vs. Stalk: What’s Different
The white, bulbous stalk at the base of lemongrass is the most aromatic part and the one most recipes call for. It holds up to heat and releases its citrusy flavor gradually, which is why it’s the go-to for curries, stir-fries, and pastes. The green leaves have a softer, more herbal flavor with a clean lemony aroma. They contain the same essential oils as the stalk, just in lower concentrations. The dominant compound in both parts is citral, which gives lemongrass its characteristic lemon scent and makes up roughly 60 to 80 percent of the plant’s essential oil.
The biggest practical difference is texture. The leaves are tough and fibrous, more like a blade of grass than a vegetable. You won’t want to chew on them. But that doesn’t make them useless. It just means you prepare them differently.
How to Use Lemongrass Leaves in Cooking
The simplest approach is to treat lemongrass leaves like a bay leaf: add them to a dish for flavor, then remove them before serving. Tie a few leaves into a knot (this keeps them together and makes them easy to fish out) and drop them into soups, broths, curries, or poaching liquids. They’ll release a mild, fragrant lemon flavor as the liquid simmers.
You can also use the leaves in curry pastes if they’re fresh enough. When the outer layers are very fresh and pliable rather than dry and papery, they can be pounded in a mortar and pestle along with other aromatics like garlic, chili, and galangal. If you cut them small enough, they break down into the paste. Dried or older outer leaves that feel stiff and woody are better reserved for infusing liquids, since no amount of pounding will make them tender.
For grilling, lemongrass leaves can work as a fragrant wrapper for fish or shrimp. The leaves won’t be eaten, but they perfume the food as it cooks.
Making Lemongrass Leaf Tea
Tea is probably the most popular use for lemongrass leaves. Dried leaves make a soft, lemony infusion with no bitterness. To make it, steep a small handful of fresh leaves (roughly cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces) or a tablespoon of dried leaves in hot water for five to ten minutes. The result is light, clean, and naturally caffeine-free.
Lemongrass tea has a long history in folk medicine as a digestive aid. The plant has documented antispasmodic properties, meaning it can help relax smooth muscle in the digestive tract. It’s traditionally used for nausea, stomach cramps, and bloating. One study tested healthy adults drinking lemongrass tea made with 2, 4, or 8 grams of the herb in 150 milliliters of water daily for 30 days. The highest dose produced a modest reduction in systolic blood pressure by day 30, with no reported adverse effects. There’s no formally established daily limit for healthy adults, but sticking to a few cups a day is a reasonable guideline.
One important exception: lemongrass tea is considered unsafe during pregnancy. It can stimulate uterine contractions and menstrual flow, which raises the risk of miscarriage. There’s also not enough safety data for breastfeeding.
Drying and Storing the Leaves
If you have more lemongrass than you can use fresh, drying the leaves is a great way to preserve them for tea. Temperature matters. Research on drying lemongrass found that 50°C (about 122°F) preserved the highest essential oil content. Drying at lower temperatures like 30°C encouraged mold growth, while drying above 70°C (158°F) destroyed a significant portion of the oils. If you’re using a food dehydrator, set it to around 120 to 125°F. Air drying works too, as long as conditions are warm and dry enough to prevent mold.
Fresh lemongrass stalks (with leaves trimmed off) keep in the refrigerator for a week to ten days when loosely wrapped in slightly damp paper towels. For longer storage, freeze whole stalks or sliced pieces on a cookie sheet so they don’t clump together, then transfer to a freezer container. The leaves themselves dry more easily than the stalks and store well in an airtight jar for months.
Skin and Body Uses
Lemongrass leaves are commonly used in homemade body products like bath soaks and insect-repellent sprays, thanks to their natural antimicrobial and fragrant properties. The essential oil from lemongrass has shown strong antibacterial activity against several bacterial species in lab studies, outperforming many other common essential oils. Citral, the main active compound, is largely responsible for this effect.
Skin irritation is a common concern, but a study testing lemongrass essential oil in a 10 percent ointment on rabbit skin found zero evidence of irritation, edema, or redness, earning it a “negligible” irritation rating. That said, pure citral applied in concentrated form has been shown to cause irritation in some animal studies. The practical takeaway: diluted lemongrass preparations are generally well tolerated on skin, but you shouldn’t apply undiluted essential oil directly.
Which Leaves to Use and Which to Toss
Not every leaf on a lemongrass stalk is worth keeping. The outermost layers are often dry, brown, or papery. These have lost most of their aromatic oils and should be peeled away and discarded. The inner leaves closer to the stalk, especially on fresh lemongrass, are greener, more pliable, and more flavorful. If a leaf snaps when you bend it, it’s too dry to be useful for anything except possibly a broth where you can steep and discard it. If it bends without breaking, it still has enough moisture and oil to contribute real flavor.