Making Elderberry Syrup is one of my favorite recipes for fighting colds and flu naturally. My particular blend is especially nice because I do not include any strong spices that could irritate sore throats that often accompany a cold.
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Table of Contents
What is Elderberry Syrup?
When the Fall season arrives, I always like to make sure I have plenty of natural remedies on hand. Making Elderberry Syrup is one of my favorite remedies for fighting the flu or a cold.
Elderberries come from the Sambucus tree and are a sour-tasting berry that is often used to make jelly, pie, wine, and home remedies. Elderberry syrup works as a powerful cold preventative and remedy. The berries contain a high amount of vitamin C and antioxidants.
Be sure to add this to your arsenal of natural remedies and make it today…before the cold and flu season arrives!
Once you make Elderberry Syrup, you’ll see how easy it is to make your own natural home remedies, and you’ll be ready to try out more home remedies. Rose Hips Syrup and Super Mineral Broth will have you feeling better in no time! They’re two of my favorites to have on hand when we get the sniffles in our home.
Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with measurements below.
To make this elderberry cough syrup recipe, you will need:
- Elderberries: This recipe uses dried elderberries which you can find in natural food stores or purchase online.
- Dried hibiscus flowers: Hibiscus flowers are often used to brew tea. When making homemade elderberry syrup, use dried whole flowers.
- Dried rosehips: Another natural element used to make home remedies.
- Honey: Used to sweeten and make this into a shelf-stable syrup. I highly recommend using raw honey.
How to Make Homemade Elderberry Syrup
Step 1 – Add all ingredients to a 4-quart soup pot and cover them with filtered water. Place the soup pot on the stove and bring the mixture to a boil. Then turn it down, cover it with a lid, and an hour.
Step 2 – Remove the lid and allow the mixture to continue to simmer on the stove on low for 15 minutes.
Step 3 – Turn off the heat, remove the soup pot from the stove, and transfer the pot to a heat-proof surface. Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes.
Step 4 – Place a strainer over a heat-proof container such as an 8-cup Pyrex glass measuring cup and use a soup ladle to transfer the liquid, along with the solids, into the strainer allowing the liquid to drain into the heat-proof container.
Step 5 – Add a cup of honey to the liquid in the heat-proof container and mix thoroughly until the honey is completely dissolved.
Step 6 – Decant the Elderberry Syrup into a container and refrigerate.
Disclamier
Note: I am not a doctor or medical professional. This information is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to treat or diagnose any type of illness. If you are not feeling well, please seek professional medical attention and medicine. And if you are thinking of supplementing your treatment with home remedies, be sure to talk to your medical professional about them. It’s important that you get the medicine and treatments you need to get back to good health.
What is Elderberry Syrup Good For?
Since it contains vitamin C, it makes a tonic you can take to prevent the onset of a cold. As an adult, I take 1 tbsp daily, especially during the Fall and Winter seasons. During illness, I take 1 tbsp every 2 hours.
But check with your physician about the best dosages for you to take daily or when sick. It’s also important to check with your pediatrician as to the proper dosage for children. Honey should never be given to children under the age of 1.
Recipe Tips
- Store your syrup in a bottle or jar in the refrigerator for up to one year. The syrup has a 20% sugar content provided by the honey. The honey also has antiviral, antibacterial, and antimicrobial properties, which help to maintain the freshness of the syrup.
- Always use a clean spoon when pouring it from the bottle. This keeps your syrup fresh and free of contamination.
- Use caution when transferring the syrup from the pot to the strainer to avoid burns. I suggest placing the pot close to the strainer and wearing protective gloves to protect your hands.
- Save your herbs after making the syrup to use in teas!
Frequently Asked Questions
The Herbal Academy of New England says that syrup will last for one year refrigerated if it has a 20% sugar content. This syrup has a 20% sugar content provided by the honey so it will last for one year as long as you keep it cold and don’t contaminate the contents.
Yes! Do not discard the mixture of elderberries, hibiscus flowers, and rosehips. Transfer this mixture to ice cube trays, top off with water, and place the filled ice cube trays in your freezer. Once frozen, transfer the individual herbal ice cubes to a plastic bag and store them in the freezer. Use these herbal ice cubes to make tea by placing individual cubes into a tea ball and steeping them in hot water for a few minutes.
More Natural Home Remedy Recipes
Quick and Easy Home Remedy for Colds and Flu
You can make this simple recipe in minutes with just four ingredients.
How to Make Homemade Cough Syrup
Discover this natural remedy made with honey, lemon thyme, marshmallow root, and slippery elm bark.
How to Make a Turmeric Golden Milk Spice Mix
Keep this shelf-stable mix on your pantry shelf and be ready anytime a cold or the flu hits.
How to Make Immune Boosting Honey with Garlic, Ginger, and Turmeric
With cold and flu season upon us, this is the perfect infused honey recipe.
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Elderberry Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Dried elderberries
- 1 cup Dried hibiscus flowers
- 1 cup Dried rosehips, crushed
- Filtered water to cover
- 1 cup Honey preferably raw
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a 4-quart soup pot and cover with 8 cups of filtered water.
- Place soup pot on the stove, turn heat to high, and bring the mixture to a boil. Afterward, turn down to low and allow the mixture to simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, remove the lid and allow the mixture to continue to simmer on the stove on low for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, remove the soup pot from the stove, and transfer to a heatproof surface. Allow mixture to cool for a few minutes.
- While the mixture is cooling slightly, prepare a heatproof container, such as an 8-cup Pyrex glass measuring cup, and place a strainer over the container.
- Place the soup pot close to the heatproof container with the strainer. Using a soup ladle, transfer the liquid and the solids into the strainer, allowing the liquid to drain into the heatproof container.
- Pour 1 cup of honey into the liquid in the heatproof container and mix thoroughly until the honey is completely dissolved. This is your Elderberry syrup.
- Decant the Elderberry Syrup into a container and refrigerate.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Shop for items used in this blog post or video
Favorite Home Remedy Making Supplies
Here are some of my favorite Natural Home Remedy Supplies. (I listed a variety of Elderberry options at different prices.)
- Organic Whole Elderberries, 1 Pound
- European Whole Elderberries, 1 Pound
- Wildcrafted Whole Elderberries, 1 Pound
- Organic Hibiscus Flowers, Cut and Sifted, 1 Pound
- Organic Whole Rosehips, 1 Pound
- 100% Certified Organic Raw Honey, 1 Pound
- Pyrex, Prep-ware 8-Cup Measuring Cup Made of glass, red
- Bormioli Rocco Fido Square Clear Jar, 101.50-Ounce
- Bormioli Fido Clear Square Canning Jar 1.5 Liter
- All-Clad Brushed 18/10 Stainless Steel Dishwasher Safe Soup Pot with Lid Cookware, 4-Quart
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Recommended Reading
- The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
- Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and Diet Dictocrats
- Nourishing Broth: An Old-Fashioned Remedy for the Modern World
Disclaimer:I am not a medical doctor, a medical professional, a dietician, or a nutritionist. All content found on the MarysNest.com website, including text, images, videos, eBooks or eGuides, social media, or other formats, were created solely for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or proper nutritional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have watched in a video or read on this website. Use caution when following the recipe in this video. The creator and publisher of this video and website will not be held responsible for any adverse effects that may arise from the use of this recipe and method or any other recipe and method on this website or corresponding video channel.
Hello Mary! Great recipe and great info! Especially on projected shelf life. Most recipes state 6 months. I even saw one that said 3 months and they had an even higher honey concentration than yours. Just a note, in your instructions it says, “Add all ingredients to a 4-quart soup pot and cover with 8 cups of filtered water.” Maybe it should be re-worded to not include the honey. I know you mention the honey later, but if someone doesn’t read through the recipe first (which they should) then they might end up simmering their honey for an hour. Just thought I would mention it. Thank you again for providing these resources! ☺
Hi Monica, Thank you so much for your comment and about the tip for re-wording the recipe! Great advice. As to shelf life, yes, I just followed the recommendations of the association mentioned in the recipe. I felt they were the most reliable “official” source. Have you seen my playlist for making other immune boosting foods and natural remedies including a Super Mineral Detox Broth? You can look through it here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkRuW3pBo2U0p9nRAWldbyqYSbgwzARGd I think you will like these videos.
Do you enjoy making traditional foods? If so, I have a playlist of some of my videos titled “Mastering the Basics of Traditional Nutrient Dense Foods Cooking”. It’s a series of 15 detailed videos that covers How to Make Bone Broth, Cultured Dairy, Ferments, Sourdough Starter (my foolproof stater), Sourdough Bread, Soaked and Sprouted Nuts and Beans, and How to Soak and Sprout Grains to Make your own Sprouted Flour at Home. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkRuW3pBo2U3b4eu0QraZReKlGzA11h3y And please share the playlist with any other folks you think might be interested in learning about these types of things. I’m passionate about the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon (of the Weston A Price Foundation) and want to help as many people as I can learn how to make Traditional “Nutrient Dense” Foods.
Please let me know if you have any questions. I’m so happy to help! And I’m SO glad you’re here!! Love and God Bless, Mary❤️😘❤️
PS – Do you know about our FB group? It’s called Mary’s Nest Modern Pioneers. Come join us! We have a lot of fun chatting about Traditional Foods: https://www.facebook.com/groups/171869080205145/?source_id=210509998974645
How funny that you responded this morning and I came here just now needing to reference your recipe because I am making more syrup today. We ran through our first (smaller) batch quick since my husband was sick and now I’m getting symptoms too. Thank you, again!