Elderberry Syrup

This Homemade Elderberry Syrup recipe is a great immunity booster and a natural home remedy to treat common cold and flu symptoms. It’s quick and easy to make at home using dried elderberries and honey. And there are a number of elderberry syrup benefits making it worthy of your attention.

You’ll want to add this homemade elderberry syrup recipe to your collection of natural cold remedies.  It’s easy to make, requires few ingredients and may help reduce symptoms and duration of the common cold and flu. 

What is Elderberry

Elderberries are very small dark purple berries. They’re used for making jams, jellies, tea, syrup. At your local health food store, you might find elderberry gummies, lozenges, pills and syrups as a natural remedy for cold and flu season. Black elder is one of the most used medicinal plants worldwide as a treatment for viral infections, particularly in the treatment of influenza.

There are several varieties of the Sambucus tree. In particular, the Sambucus nigra plant is the plant most commonly used for health and healing. Sambucus nigra dates back to 400 BC, and Hippocrates called the elder tree his “medicine chest”. Today, the elder tree is considered one of the most healing plants.

Elderberry Syrup Recipe

This is a simple homemade Elderberry syrup recipe made with a concentrated tea made with dried elderberries and honey. It’s consumed by the spoonfuls at the onset of cold and flu symptoms and may help soothe throats and calm coughs.  Many commercial elderberry syrups contain fructose, which is a type of sugar that makes up 50% of cane sugar (also known as sucrose). Fructose is also found in corn syrup. Honey on the other hand provides some health benefits and goes through less processing than fructose does. There are so many elderberry syrup benefits, so, for me I’d rather make it at home so I have some control over the type and amount of sugar that’s being used and other ingredients added.

• Water – Use a good spring or filtered water.
• Dried Elderberries – You can find dried elderberries at your local health food store or on Amazon. As soon as they hit the water, they turn the water purple.
• Honey – Honey provides additional health benefits and sweetness to this syrup.

Variations

This homemade elderberry tea recipe is a versatile one. You can also steep the tea with ginger (fresh or dried) and cinnamon (stick or dried) to give the syrup added flavor and health benefits. I personally love adding a cinnamon stick and about 5-6 slices of peeled ginger to the tea as it simmers. It gives it a delicious warm and cozy flavor.

• Ginger –  Add 1-1/2 – 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger to simmer in the water with the dried elderberries or stir in 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon ground ginger to the syrup.
• Cinnamon – Add 1 stick of cinnamon to simmer in the water with the dried elderberries or stir in 1/4 teaspoon dried cinnamon in the syrup. 

How to Make Elderberry Syrup

1. Boil water. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a medium saucepan.
2. Simmer. Stir in the dried elderberries and reduce heat to low and simmer. Simmer tea until the liquid has reduced by about half.
3. Strain. Strain tea through fine mesh strainer into a mason jar. Discard dried elderberries. Set tea aside to cool.
4. Honey. After the tea has cooled, pour in honey and stir until well blended. 

How to Store It

There are so many elderberry syrup benefits, so this stuff is like liquid gold. Be sure to store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 8 weeks.

Elderberry Syrup Benefits

Elderberry has been associated with may health benefits, yet more larger scale studies are needed. You don’t have to wait for cold and flu season to make it. There are  many elderberry syrup benefits you can take advantage of all year long.

• Immunity support – Elderberries are rich with polyphenols (a type of antioxidant) and anti-inflammatory properties that it may help your immune system ward of catching the latest cold or flu going around.
• Cold and flu symptoms – Elderberries may help you to ward off catching the seasonal cold or flu going around. It may help reduce the symptoms and the duration of colds and flu by an average of 4 days if you start treatment within the first 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. (1) (2) (3)
• Vitamins – Good source of vitamins A, C and B6
• Fights bacteria – Elderberries (particularly elderberry extract) have antimicrobial properties that help to fight bacterial infections like pneumonia.

Honey Benefits

Honey has its own benefits worthy of noting. It’s rich with anti-inflammatory and  antibacterial properties. It’s a natural cough suppressant (helping to reduce the severity of coughs) and helps coat the throat and soothe irritation.  In one study, honey for cough, was the most beneficial remedy used to relieve cough and upper respiratory tract infection versus using over-the-couter cough medication.  (1) (2)

How Much Should I Take

Adults can take 1 teaspoon of this homemade elderberry syrup daily to support immunity and 2 teaspoons up to 3 times a day if you have cold or flu symptoms. 

If you are on a sugar restricted diet, then try sipping on this Elderberry Tea instead. It also provides immunity support and may also lessen the symptoms and duration of common colds and flu.

Where to Buy Dried Elderberries

Look for them at your local market or health food store in the cold and flu remedy section. You can also purchase them online at Walmart or Amazon. I like to keep a bag of dried elderberries in my pantry so I can easily make a cup of elderberry tea or elderberry syrup when I feel I need an extra boost to my immune system. It’s more convenient and less expensive to have dried elderberries at home to make elderberry syrup and tea at home rather than purchasing them (and other elderberry cold and flu products) at the store.

Looking for More Healthy Recipes for Cold and Flu Season

Here are some of my favorite immune boosting recipes to make during cold and flu season:

• Pomegranate Elderberry Ice Cubes
• Immune Boosting Whole Lemon Ice Cubes – lemon peel is rich with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties
• Cold Fighting Citrus Ice Cubes – staying hydrated is important when we’re sick.  These add a pop of flavor and some vitamin C and antioxidants to water and tea (hot or cold)
• Honey Lemon Ginger Syrup – these add flavor, vitamin C, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits to water and tea (hot or cold)
• Immune Boosting Ginger Tea – rich with nutritional benefits, ginger tea is also touted for calming coughs
• Pineapple Ginger Cleansing Juice  – apparently pineapple juice thins mucus
• Coconut Water Fruit Popsicles – great for adults and children to help stay hydrated and add vitamin C and electrolytes
• Immune Boosting Chicken Soup – is there anything better than chicken soup when we’re feeling under the weather
• French Potage – this is a pureed vegetable soup loaded with nutrients to sip on when there’s loss of appetite
• Lemon Ginger Tea – rich with vitamin C, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties
• Apple Pear Steamed with Honey – a natural cold remedy that helps soothe sore throat and temporarily calm a cough
• Hibiscus Tea – dried hibiscus is loaded with vitamin C, phytonutrients, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties
• Herbal Oregano Tea – Oregano has been used to treat everything from sore throats, coughs, nausea to reducing inflammation and fighting viruses and bacterial infections

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Yield: 24

Elderberry Syrup

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

This Homemade Elderberry Syrup recipe is a great immunity booster and a natural home remedy to treat common cold and flu symptoms. It's quick and easy to make at home using dried elderberries and honey.

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup dried Elderberries
• 1/2 cup honey (raw or pure clover)

Instructions

1. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a medium saucepan.
2. Stir in the dried elderberries and reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by about half.
3. Strain tea through fine mesh strainer into a mason jar. Discard dried elderberries. Set tea aside to cool.
4. After the tea has cooled, pour the honey in the mason jar honey stir until well blended. 
5. Refrigerate for up to 8 weeks.

Notes

Variations

You can also steep the tea with ginger (fresh or dried) and cinnamon (stick or dried) to give the syrup added flavor and health benefits.

• Ginger -  Add 1-1/2 - 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger to simmer in the water with the dried elderberries or stir in 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon ground ginger into the syrup.
• Cinnamon - Add 1 stick of cinnamon to simmer in the water with the dried elderberries or stir in 1/4 teaspoon dried cinnamon into the syrup. 

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 23Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 2mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 0gSugar: 6gProtein: 0g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations. See full disclaimer on About page.