Expertly pairing cannabis strains with food. How to Choose weed Strains for Making edibles at home.

As a medicated herb, every strain of cannabis has its own unique flavor profile to pair with your favorite ingredients and dishes in the kitchen. The sweet, earthy scent of basil brings out the sweet tartness of ripe summer tomatoes; fresh summer mint is perfect with sour lemons to make a zingy, refreshing mint lemonade; and similarly, cannabis flower has a bouquet of flavors and aromas that work well with everything from a savory grilled bbq to sublime desserts.

A Sour Diesel Lemon infused olive oil brightens up the basil, garlic, and pistachios in my Cannabis Leaf Pesto. Similar to rosemary, a pine-scented strain like Larry OG would be excellent in a sauce or marinade with grilled or smoked meats. 

Your dinner parties just got a whole lot more interesting. Here’s everything you need to know to get started. 

The most precise dose: packed and tested products for precision dosing

The easiest and most precise way to start cooking with cannabis is to use packaged and tested THC/CBD oils and products with the exact potency and dosing information on the batch label. Products for cooking include olive oil, oil-based tinctures, powdered isolates, cannasugar, honey, apple cider vinegar, chili sauce, vinaigrette, bbq sauce, and chocolate. These products are often not strain-specific and made using flavorless/odorless isolates and distillates. Simply measure out the exact dose according to the product label and add or substitute into any dish.

Using flower to make your own delicious infusions

To enjoy the cannabis plant’s full flavors and terpene profile, make your own infused oils using cannabis flower. Select a flower strain that complements the dish based on aromas and its effects. Just like any herb when cooking, cannabis has unique flavors and aromas that pair with and enhance other ingredients.

Lemon or citrus-scented cannabis strains that are high in the Limonene terpene, like Lemon Haze or Mimosa, are great in dishes where you’d normally use lemon such as grilled fish, pesto pasta, salad dressing, or citrus olive oil cake. Strains like Chemdog and Sour Diesel that are high in the peppery scented terpene Caryophyllene, work well in savory dishes such as a Pepper Steak Stir Fry or infused with strawberry desserts, because black pepper and strawberry work well together! 

What’s a Terpene Profile?

Just like essential oils from plants and herbs, each cannabis strain has a unique terpene profile that gives the plant its unique aroma and flavor. The name of the cannabis strain will often give clues. Garlic Cookies has a distinct garlic aroma, Mimosa is a fruity citrus strain with an uplifting feeling, and Purple Punch tastes like grape candy with sleepy sedating effects. Choose a strain that matches with and complements the dish’s ingredients and how you want to feel. 

Cannabis chef and author Jessica Catalano shared some strain-selection tips with Ember: “The best way to pair for flavor is to approach it as a herb, like basil or oregano. Pick out a strain first by smelling it. Then, squeeze the bud between your fingers to release the terpenes. Smell your hands to see which essential oils have been released. Something funky and herbaceous might work better in a savory, main course. It's all about the pairing!" says Catalano.

A version was originally published in “Cooking & Baking with Cannabis: A Complete Beginners Guide” for MedMen EMBER