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!
So I forgot to cover it while simmering,,, is this ok? Or do I need to start over?
Totally fine! It probably just evaporated more than it should have, but it’s still okay.
If we are doubling this batch, do we need to allow it to simmer longer?
No, that’s not necessary. 🙂
Where do you purchase the elderberries?
From Amazon! 🙂 These are the ones I usually get: https://amzn.to/2EchfcU
How much syrup does this recipe yield? I am looking to make a big batch to share with friends and family, would I just double/triple the ingredients?
Yes, you should double or triple the recipe to make a big batch. 🙂
Hi, I just made my very first batch of elderberry syrup. It was a different recipe that called for lemon and orange..zester, juiced, and peels thrown in while cooking in the IP…needless to say, I can tolerate it, but it is very bitter. I am thinking that it is the rinds that make it bitter. (I am now trying your recipe even as I type this). My question is, do you know anyway to salvage the batch I already made? Not sure how to make it not as bitter.
Thank you
Can I substitute something for the cloves? I cannot eat them.
You can just leave them out. 🙂
I was just given a pint of the Elderberry syrup. And I was wondering how much will a 16 oz bag of the dried berries will this make I d rather make it myself using your recipe.
How long can the jars be stored in the refrigerator? Also, can they be frozen?
Holy ads everywhere! I can barely read this article. Not to mention it looks like a Wellness Mama knock-off.
:/
In case you aren’t aware, the content you read on my website is free to you. I spend time creating recipes, photographing recipes with expensive equipment, and writing the content you read. Not to mention the money I pay to host this site. All of this is free to you. Without ads, I would not only be working for free, but paying money out of my pocket to give away this free content. Ads are what allow me to keep this blog and continue to provide FREE content to my readers rather than offer it as a subscription service they have to pay for.
As for the comment about this recipe being a Wellness Mama knock-off, that’s like saying there’s only room for one Elderberry Syrup recipe on the Internet. Wellness Mama didn’t invent Elderberry Syrup and this recipe isn’t a knock off any more than the 5,000,000 other search results you’ll get when you type “elderberry syrup” into your google search bar are. The beauty of the Internet is that you can find many versions of a similar thing and decide which you like best. There are choices. Thomas Jefferson invented Macaroni and Cheese. Does that mean no one should put their version of good ol’ mac and cheese on their website? Please.
Well said
Nailed it! Thanks for the free content (:
I’m glad Wellness Mama is not the only source of information out there on this and other family wellness topics. I have used this recipe to keep my family healthy for a year now and I’m grateful to have this website to refer back to when needed. That said, yes, it’s important for a blogger to be mindful of the user experience, which includes opening their website in “incognito mode” so they can see all the ads and popups that the user sees when they first arrive at the site. Then, they should prioritize what actions they want the user to take, and deactivate elements that are not needed on a given post.
Is this safe for children under 3 being that it has EOs in it?
I would make it without the essential oils for under 3.
Can you tell me how many 8oz jars this recipe yields? Thank you!!!
The recipe says 3/4 dried elderberries do you know about how much weight that equals? I am trying to figure how many batches I can get from 1lb dried elderberries. Thanks!
I’m sorry I’m not sure and I’m out of dried elderberries at the moment! I am getting ready to order some, so when they get here I can weigh 3/4 cup for you. 🙂
Can I use cinnamon bark essential oil instead of dried cinnamon or cinnamon sticks?
Wish you had an obvious email contact given.
Also wish you had answered the person who asked if you can keep the batteries in the syrup instead of discarding them if you’ve carefully boiled the whole thing for a long time
Grayer, I’m sure you are speaking of berries and not batteries. Either was ,personally I have never used anything other than the juice. The fruitcain hold.a thin layer of resume.
Good luck ,)
Is it normal to be thinner? Ours reminds me of grape juice the consistency.
Yes, that’s fine. Sometimes mine is like that.
If I’m using actual berries picked from a tree instead of dried, do I use the same amount and go through the same process? Thanks!!
Hi hope Kat can answer your question as I’m not sure. I’ve only used dried berries for this recipe! 🙂
I use 4 cups of pure juice and it turned out amazing. I’m sure 3 cups would work as well 🙂
Misty, I apologize, yes you can use fresh elderberries. Personally I fill my largest pot with washed berries and I only add maybe 1 cup of water to help the break down process to cook the berries. After the berries are cooked down and then cooled down I run mine through pantyhose a couple times. And I free 3 cups at a time in ziplock freezer bags.
I do nothing with scrapes other than feed my chickens, I sure hope that help. PLEASE feel free to ask anything about fresh processing 😉
Thank you so much for your reply, Kat!
Kat, same ratio for frozen berries? Food mill instead of pantyhose?
Misty , what I do is I measure out 3 cups (Juice)and freeze because that’s what my jelly recipe calls for, so that’s why I have to make adjustments to this cold medicine recipe. 🙂
Only if I’m extremely tired do I freeze whole unprocessed berries.
Hope that helps 🙂
Also, I use raw honey that flows at room temperature. (Not the kind that you have to dig out of the jar.)
I made a huge batch in January and gave alot away to my Amish families and our close friends, had nothing but great comments on the benefits. Personally I got that cold sickness taste one day and I took this for 2 days and my cold symptoms disappeared.
We have got to figure out how this can be canned to help the shelf life. Just this year I cooked down and preserved 25# of Elderberries, thank goodness I have never had to buy them. Seriously thinking of how to dehydrate them for sale next year, we have alot here on our farm. And this year we started our our bees. We look forward to our 1st harvest next year 🙂
Thanks again for such a successful recipe 🙂
You’re welcome! I’m really happy to hear this!
Does it have to be refrigerated? Asking because I may want to ship some to a friend…thank you!
Typed in wrong email on that comment…
It has no preservatives, so it does need to be refrigerated, but it may be fine for the time it takes to ship it. Especially during these colder months. I’m sorry I can’t say for certain, though, as I haven’t tried shipping this!
I have been taking a class on natural healing and health drinks and other things. Simple syrups are shelf stable at room temp for about a year. That means that the sugar is equal to the juice or other liquid. This works for both sugar and honey so this should be safe to Can and leave on the shelf for the duration of the canning life. However I would still refrigerate as soon as it was opened and then use within 2 months. I don’t know if this helps anyone but that is what I learned in my class.
Kat, I just found that we have elderberries here and I picked some today! I was so thankful not to purchase them.either! Do you just use those picked berries the same as the dried in this recipe?
How much do you let it cool before you add the raw honey? You want it to mix together, but you also don’t want to heat the raw honey, per se, correct?
Yes, you want it to cool to room temperature before adding the raw honey.
Helllo! Do you think you could can this (water bath can)? I’m not sure it would all get taken at my house and I don’t want it to go to waste.