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:
Health Benefits of Elderberries
- 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.
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 a Homemade Elderberry Syrup Recipe
The first step will be to get yourself some dried elderberries, which I get on Amazon. (affiliate link) 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 a video to show you how easy it is to make homemade elderberry syrup at home!
Here’s to a healthy cold and flu season!
Homemade Elderberry Syrup Recipe
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Homemade Elderberry Syrup Recipe
- Total Time: 50 mins
Description
This homemade elderberry syrup can be made in less than an hour and will keep your family healthy all year long. It’s the best natural immune booster you can use.
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
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring the elderberries, water, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger to a boil.
- Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, about 40-45 minutes.
- Allow the liquid to cool, and then drain the liquid using a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth.
- Press all liquid out of the berries using the back of a wooden spoon.
- Add the raw honey and mix well.
- Store in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to two months.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: natural medicine
Nutrition
- Calories: 1113
- Sugar: 278g
- Sodium: 21mg
- Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 299g
- Protein: 2g
Take along with this Vitamin C Smoothie for extra immune-boosting power!
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting my mission to help as many people as possible live a happy, healthy life!
Have you ever added turmeric? Is there any added benefit? A vendor at our farmer’s mkt adds it to her recipe.
And I know this is dumb, but I’m assuming the calorie count in the nutrit Info is per recipe?
The Apothecary in the small town I live in only carries ground elderberry. Would you know how to use it measurement wise or if it is as theraputic as dried?TIA
I’m sorry, but I’m not sure.
Hi! I’m wondering how you can accurately measure the fresh ginger. I’m using Clove oil and cinnamon bark oil but I don’t have Ginger oil yet so I got fresh ginger root but I already boiled the elderberries earlier today and not sure if I should just boil the fresh ginger in the same amount of water and for the same amount of time that I did the elderberries?? The recipe I’m using calls for 3 drops of Ginger Oil so I’m going to adjust the amount from your recipe. Thank you in advance for the advice! My little has been sick for a week now and I’m desperate to get this made and done so she can start taking it ASAP!
I would just leave the ginger out of this batch and add it next time!
How do you make cough syrup?
I use raw honey, cinnamon, and lemon essential oil. There are lots of recipes out there!
There’s absolutely no reason to use clove essential oil or Ginger essential oil in this recipe. There is no nutritional value in the central oil. The whole idea of this recipe as for the nutritional value of the herbs…… don’t waste your essential oils ingesting them
Can I leave out the cloves? I can’t stand the taste!!
Yes, you can. 🙂
I think you should add that you can not give this to infants under 1 if honey is added. It can potentially cause botulism and which is deadly. All pediatricians will advise this.
I will add that in! I should never assume people know that.
Thank you for this. I’d like to give to my 6 month olds who are at higher risk for illness. If I sub maple syrup for honey, how much of the benefit am I losing? Is it still worth it?
Yes, I think it’s still worth it. You’ll be getting all of the benefits of the elderberry, just not the raw honey. Babies won’t need as large of a dose, of course. 1/4-1/2 teaspoon should be plenty, but always check with your child’s pediatrician to be sure.
No one told me these things would stink so much! lol Be advised, everyone! That said, I chose not to include cinnamon, cloves, etc. so I am thinking now that these additives may have helped while the mixture simmered. I just finished airing out the house and I hope this syrup lasts a while!
Haha! I’ve not tried making this without the spices, so I can only imagine how it smelled. Hope it still tasted okay for you! 🙂
I got the drained berries out of the house pretty quickly, so that helped. lol The syrup tastes just fine, and I am adding it to our morning smoothies. Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome!
I know!!!! It smells terrible. My second batch I was prepared. I left my fan above the oven on high and put a bowl of white vinegar on the stove. That helped a lot.
How long is one patch good for before it looses its strength and benefits.
Hi I make choke cherry syrup a lot. Yes the pits of choke cherry and elderberry are actually very toxic to ingest whole. You just want the juice. I am excited to try your recipe. Sounds great!
Thanks for the info!
Who do you buy your elderberries from on Amazon? I see lots of sellers, but I’m a little iffy about purchasing berries from a random person.
I always buy the certified organic Frontier Co-Op berries. I’ve never had a problem. You can read about the co-op here: https://www.frontiercoop.com/?SID=od60evhffnmmc8v2v1ukc4v573
It’s too bad that in this past year it looks as though they have at least tripled their prices!!!! $60 for one pound!!!!
I did find some for $44/pound. I need to do the math to see the price comparison for buying vs making now that the prices are higher! I will report back once I figure it out.
Maryea, I was at our local Amish Bulf food store yesterday and they had dried Elderberries 1 # for 9.99 When I go mack over there I will make sure I ask to see if I can read the main label that comes with the bulk product.
I think this year I will try dehydration on a good batch 1, to see how long it will take and 2, the amount it will take to make a pound of dehydrated.
The information that is gathered will only be shared with you and this blog.
Huge plus we have our 1st Bee Hive this last spring so fingers
are crossed they make it through this winter lol.
OOOh what a great deal!! Thanks for sharing!
I just bought a pound of organic Frontier elderberries from Vitacost for a little over 14$. Their price was in the 18$ range and they had 20% off. Amazons price is ridiculous .
Thanks for the heads up. The prices seem to vary greatly.
I MAKE PLAIN ELDERBERRY JUICE/SYRUP, NO SPICES OR HERBS. I WATER BATH CAN IT LIKE I DO WHEN MAKING ANY BERRY JUICE USUALLY IN HALF PINTS SO IT IS SHELF STABLE.
I ALSO TAKE ALL THE LEFTOVER PULP AND DEHYDRATE IT FOR MAKING ELDERBERRY TEA.
Tell my super novice self more. Id love some step by step directions.
Thanks for letting me know you need more specific instructions. I’ll update this soon to make sure it is more clear!
Very smart!
What happens if you add your honey at the same time as the berries?
I don’t advise that because you want to use raw honey and it will lose some of its beneficial properties with the heat.
the honey would burn on the bottom of the pan anyway. You’d have a big mess and a difficult pan to clean. Your batch would be ruined because of the burnt flavor. Honey is pure sugar and sugar Burns very easily so I should always be added at the very end of a recipe if possible.
How do you dehydrate the leftover pulp? For now I am just storing it in the fridge and will pull out and use in tea, but it won’t last long enough for me to use it all.
Have you ever tried just blending the whole thing after it has cooled and leaving the elderberries etc. in it instead of straining it? Would that work?
Made another batch tonight would love to put the rest of the berry to use, too… If there’s a benefit. For now I compost them.
We keep the full cinamon stick in the finished amount. Also- 4 cups h2o + 1 cup dried berries. 2 table spoons chopped fresh ginger. Boil, simmer 50-60 min, let sit at least 3 hour. Warm slightly, strain. Add honey/sweetener.
The potency is higher, ginger impact mellows but deepens, max berry benefit.
I’ll have to research more, but it’s a really interesting thought!
Thanks for your tips.
How much does this make? I just want to know how many jars of this I can do!
That’s an interesting thought! I’ve not tried it, but now I want to.
I just read that there is a part of the whole berry that can make you feel sick if consumed. I think it’s best to discard.
Maryea, I believe that is only in raw elderberries, but they are fine once cooked.
I don’t think you should do this, from my understanding. the berries themselves are poisonous – they are ok once boiled, and we use the liquid from them, but I don’t think we are supposed to eat/ingest the berries in any way themselves. I could be wrong, but that’s my understanding.
They are highly beneficial when prepared properly, as in this recipe.
I have always wanted to make the cold remedy of Elderberries. Thanks for you simple recipe. I pick about 20-35# of Elderberries a year. I have only made jelly and Pancake Syrup until tonight I just made 3 quarts of this , late Christmas for a lot of friends ?
Perfect!! 🙂
Can you ship this out of state? If so how? What type of containers and/shippung method?
Hi! This is the recipe to make it at home. I don’t offer this as a product for sale. Sorry!
Oh i know….I wanted to ship my own to friends.
Oh, gotcha! I assume you can ship this out of state, but I have never tried it. I’d use a mason jar and pack it really well. Good luck!
Please don’t add Thieves oil, On Guard, or any essential oils to elderberry syrup. These oils are very potent and not meant to be taken internally. They could be especially dangerous for the liver, and children are especially vulnerable. Essential oils are the most concentrated essences of the plant and are often misused and overused. Please be careful with essential oils, and try to use the whole plant whenever possible, such as ginger, cinnamon, clove, etc. – Michelle, holistic RN
I appreciate your concern for this. I had personally emailed Edensgarden about using theirs internally and they said the same thing to me. They do not recommend consumption of essential oils. I’m not sure if the other suppliers do or not but I like a company that puts me ahead of the money.
So I’m curious about the internal consumption of oils. I know some aren’t supposed but some are ok? Lemon? Wild orange etc? Or others ok in a veggie capsul? Are you saying no to all essential oils internally? For the reader that started the post too.
Some people do say no to all essential oils internally. I guess it’s not universally agreed upon.
The YL Vitality oils are meant to be internally consumed. As long as they are “vitality” oils they are fine for consumption.
This recipe is great but I’m wondering how it reduces with the lid on? My volume stayed the same.
Also, please research ingestion of essential oils… I have heard it can be very dangerous but YL and other MLMs do a great job of making it seam safe. I follow a couple companies and they strictly say do not use oils neat and do not ingest unless you are under the care of a professional.
Anyway, enjoy your elderberry syrup! My kiddos are loving this!
It is perfectly fine to add thieves I ingest thieves everyday and I just had my liver tested is absolutely fine but I would not use anybody else’s version of Thieves or any other essential oil other than Young Living
I have been searching for the recipe and wouldnt you know it! kombucha mama to the rescue! i bought my 1st scoby from you about 6 yrs ago , i make a strong cough syrup i add minced garlic, cayenne pepper turmeric and apple cider vinegar and let it sit i just ran out of my store bought syrup and am in desperate need as im suffering from the flu right now. always have elderberries for tea so off to the kitchen i go before this flu creep in real time.
What can be used for a honey allergy?
You can use a different liquid sweetener like maple syrup or agave nectar. Unfortunately they won’t have the same anti-bacterial benefits as the honey, but will do the job of sweetening the elderberry. Good luck!
Where do you purchase your honey?
I often purchase it at Costco. Sometimes I also purchase it at our local grocery store. It just depends on what store I’m at when we are out. 🙂
I made my own elderberry syrup last year and couldn’t believe how easy it was. The recipe was very similar to this. I had added thieves (Young Living essential oil) to mine and the taste was too strong for my kids so this year I won’t be doing that. I like the idea of the cinnamon sticks. Thanks!!
So easy! Yes, I can see how that would be too strong. I thought about adding On Guard (I think it’s DoTERRA’s version of Thieves?) but thought it would be too much for the kids.
Do you aadthe oils while boiling or after you boil with the honey?
Before.
I would imagine you add the essential oils after it cools down with the honey. you should not heat the oils up if you want the best out of the essential oils.
Never heard of this! Thank you! It sounds like a good thing to have around for Michigan winters. Have you ever added it to foods like smoothies? or does it need to be taken straight?
You can add it to smoothies! 🙂