October 17, 2016 Natural Living

Homemade Elderberry Syrup Recipe

Name: Homemade Elderberry Syrup Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 3/4 cup dried elderberries; 3 cups water; 1 teaspoon dried cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick; 1 teaspoon dried cloves or 4 whole cloves or 1 drop clove essential oil; 1 tablespoon fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon dried ginger or 1 drop ginger essential oil; 1 cup raw honey

Use this homemade Elderberry Syrup recipe to keep your family healthy all year round!

I started using elderberry syrup when my daughter Meghan was a toddler. Elderberries are rich with health benefits, including:

Boost the immune system
Fight and protect against bacterial infections
Fight and protect against viral infections
Reduce the symptoms and duration of a cold or the flu
helps clear sinus infections
has natural diuretic effects and promotes bowel movements
anti-inflammatory properties
anti-carcinogenic properties
eases symptoms of allergies
high in antioxidants
high in vitamin A, which makes it great for healthy skin

Clearly elderberry is a powerful plant! Through the years I’ve tried to be consistent in having our whole family take elderberry syrup, especially during the cold and flu season. The problem? Elderberry syrup is expensive!

I would much rather buy a product than have to make it. I’m a busy mama and adding one more thing to my plate can cause me to drop and break the whole plate. Nobody wants to see that. However. When I discover I can make something for significantly cheaper at home and it’s really not that difficult, I make room on my plate. I might have to take something else off the plate, but I make room.

This homemade elderberry syrup recipe is really easy and worth the effort for the money saved. One of my lovely readers actually first shared the recipe she uses for homemade elderberry syrup with me last year when I was lamenting about the cost of buying the syrup. That recipe is right here.

Can I take a minute to tell you how much I love this community of readers? You guys are awesome and I love that we can help each other!

I use the basics of that recipe, but changed it slightly. I use dried cinnamon rather than a cinnamon stick and instead of using dried ginger and whole cloves, I use ginger and clove essential oils. I note in the recipe below that you can use either.

How to Make Easy Homemade Elderberry Syrup Recipe

The first step will be to get yourself some dried elderberries, which I get on Amazon. Oh, how I love my Amazon Prime membership. 2 days later and you’ll be ready to make some immune-boosting syrup!

The whole process is easy and can be done while doing other household chores. You start by simmering some dried elderberries with water and spices for about 45 minutes. That’s when you can be doing other things. No need to hover over the pot here.

Once the liquid is reduced by half, you drain the liquid. I use a fine mesh strainer which makes it super easy. (Mine are very similar to these and I use them for everything!)

Make sure you squeeze all the liquid out of the berries so you aren’t wasting any. The back of a wooden spoon should do the trick.

Make sure the liquid is cooled, and then you can add your raw honey. Raw honey sweetens the syrup so kids will take it easily, but also has its own medicinal benefits. Win-win!

Then you store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and it will last for about two months. For adults, take 1 tablespoon daily and for children, 1 teaspoon daily. If you or your children are experiencing sickness or feel something coming on, that dose should be repeated four times daily.

Here’s to a healthy cold and flu season!