This Homemade Elderberry Syrup is a wonderful help to the immune system. This easy recipe can be made on the stove top, in the crock pot or in the Instant Pot. Use it medicinally, on pancakes, or as a flavor syrup for sparkling water and cocktails!
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Homemade Elderberry Syrup
Homemade Elderberry Syrup has so many uses. It can be served at breakfast, added to sparkling water or you can drink a little every day to boost your immune system! There are many benefits to making it at home on your own versus buying it already made.
There are also many different ways to make elderberry syrup. In this post I’ll show you how to prepare it in 3 different ways: on the stovetop, in the crock pot, and in the instant pot!
Pros to making Elderberry Syrup at home:
- Save Money. It’s much cheaper to make on your own at home! You will save a lot of money versus buying store bought.
- Use Local Honey. If you make your own at home, you can use local honey. Raw, local honey will contain a blend of local pollen, which can help to strengthen a person’s immune system, and reduce pollen allergy symptoms. It is also a good source of antioxidants, helps digestive issues, is antibacterial and anti fungal properties.
- Control The Flavor/Sweetness. When making your own elderberry syrup at home, you can easily adjust ingredients to meet your tastes. You can use more honey if you like it sweeter, or cut the honey completely if you can’t have any sugar. It’s much more customizable!
What is Elderberry?
Elder, or elderberry, is a plant with medicinal properties. The flowers, berries, and bark of the plant are often used in healing herbal remedies, especially in the form of a syrup.
What are the Health Benefits of Elderberry Syrup?
Elderberries contain antioxidants and vitamins that will give you the support you need to get through flu season! In fact, many health professionals recommend taking a tablespoon or two a day to help boost your immune system. It’s said that elderberries can also protect the heart, help with inflammation, ease allergy symptoms, and help you de-stress.
Of course, always check with your doctor before introducing a new supplement to your diet. Thankfully everything in this homemade elderberry syrup is natural, but it’s always smart to check in!
Recipe Ingredients
Elderberry syrup is made with just 6 ingredients! Gather the following:
- Elderberries: Dried or fresh, either will work. I buy them from amazon – Dried Elderberries – because they are much cheaper there than anywhere I could find locally.
- Ginger: I used 1 small bulb of fresh ginger – you don’t have to peel it, but you can if you want to.
- Cinnamon Sticks: I like to use the whole stick. You can use ground cinnamon instead, if needed.
- Whole Cloves
- Honey: Raw, local honey is best.
- Water
How to Make Elderberry Syrup
There are 3 methods for making elderberry syrup. You can use the stovetop, your crock pot, or the instant pot – whichever is easiest! Each will yield about 3 cups of syrup.
Stovetop
Heat Elderberries: Place elderberries, ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and water in a saucepan over medium heat.
Let Simmer: Cover pan with a lid and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, until reduced by half.
Mash the Berries: Remove from the stove. Using a spoon or other masher, mash the berries a little. Allow syrup to cool completely.
Strain the Syrup: Pour contents through a fine mesh strainer to remove all berries and spices.
Add Honey: Pour into a large clean jar. Add the honey and stir (or shake) until well combined.
Instant Pot
Put Ingredients in the Instant Pot: Place elderberries, ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and water in instant pot. Seal the instant pot and set it to Manual and High Pressure for 15 minutes. You can do a quick release or let the pressure naturally release. Either work great for this recipe!
Mash & Strain the Berries: Using a spoon or other masher, mash the berries a little. Allow syrup to cool completely. Pour contents through a fine mesh strainer to remove all berries and spices.
Add Honey: Pour into a large clean jar. Add the honey and stir (or shake) until well combined.
Crock Pot
Put Ingredients in the Crock Pot: Place elderberries, ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and water in a crockpot. Cover crockpot with lid and cook for 8 hours.
Mash the Berries: Remove from the crock pot. Using a spoon or other masher, mash the berries a little. Allow syrup to cool completely. Pour contents through a fine mesh strainer to remove all berries and spices.
Add Honey and Shake: Pour into a large clean jar. Add the honey and stir (or shake) until well combined.
Tips for Success
Here are some tips on how to get the best results with your syrup:
- Can You Give this Syrup to Kids? This recipe is kid approved from the age of 12 months and older. My kids love it! Because it has honey in it, you can only give it to your child once they are over the age of 12 months.
- Honey Adjustments: This elderberry syrup uses 1 whole cup of honey to keep it sweet and kid approved. You can absolutely cut back on the honey if you prefer it less sweet.
- When to Add the Honey: Raw honey is best and making sure the syrup is room temperature before adding the honey is important. Heating up raw honey changes the makeup of the honey, and can weaken or destroy enzymes, vitamins, and minerals that we get from raw honey. So it is important to let your syrup cool before adding raw honey.
- Shake the Bottle Before Using: Always be sure to give the bottle a good shake before using as the honey can gather at the bottom on the bottle.
How to Use Elderberry Syrup
Once you have the elderberry syrup, how should you use it? Here are a couple of ideas:
- In Cocktails: Elderberry syrup makes for great flavoring!
- As a Syrup: Pour it on pancakes, waffles, toasts, oatmeal, ice cream, etc.
- By Itself: As stated above, with a little honey it tastes great all on its own!
Can you take Elderberry Syrup daily?
Yes, you can! Adults generally take between 1 to 2 tablespoons per day, and kids take about 1 to 2 teaspoons, but this can vary and it is a good idea to talk to a medical professional to decide what is best for you personally.
How to Store
Elderberry Syrup will last for 3 months in the fridge when stored in an airtight glass jar.
Mason jars work for this or any jar with a lid that seals. I prefer to use a jar that is easy to pour from, so I bought these glass jars with lids on amazon. When I stored mine in a mason jar, I always made a mess trying to pour out a dose and these jars make it much easier!
You can also freeze the syrup in small containers or in an ice cube tray to defrost as needed.
Elderberry Syrup
Ingredients
- ¾ cup dried elderberries, or ⅓ cup fresh
- 1 small bulb fresh ginger, sliced (peeled or unpeeled!)
- 1 tablespoon whole cloves
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup honey
- Storage Jars With Lid
- Chalkboard Labels, optional
Instructions
Stovetop Method:
- Place elderberries, ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and water in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Cover pan with a lid and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, until reduced by half.
- Remove from the stove. Using a spoon or other masher, mash the berries a little. Allow syrup to cool completely.
- Pour contents through a fine mesh strainer to remove all berries and spices.
- Pour into a large clean jar. Add the honey and stir (or shake) until well combined.
Instant Pot Method:
- Place elderberries, ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and water in instant pot.
- Seal the instant pot and set it to Manual and High Pressure for 15 minutes.
- You can do a quick release or let the pressure naturally release. Either work great for this recipe!
- Using a spoon or other masher, mash the berries a little. Allow syrup to cool completely.
- Pour contents through a fine mesh strainer to remove all berries and spices.
- Pour into a large clean jar. Add the honey and stir (or shake) until well combined.
Crock Pot Method:
- Place elderberries, ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and water in a crockpot.
- Cover crockpot with lid and cook for 8 hours.
- Remove from the crock pot. Using a spoon or other masher, mash the berries a little. Allow syrup to cool completely.
- Pour contents through a fine mesh strainer to remove all berries and spices.
- Pour into a large clean jar. Add the honey and stir (or shake) until well combined.
Notes
Yes, you can! Adults generally take between 2-3 teaspoons per day, and kids take about 1 teaspoon, but this can vary and it is a good idea to talk to a medical professional to decide what is good for you personally. HOW TO STORE
Elderberry Syrup will last for 3 months in the fridge when stored in an airtight glass jar. You can also freeze the syrup in small containers or in an ice cube tray to defrost as needed.
Nutrition
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Can I double this recipe if I wanted to make more at once?
Of course! Just use a large pot!
This is great to teach folks how to do this but you need to at least double the berries to get 3 cups of syrup at a potency level to be truly therapeutic. Recipes are all over the place, but the research done on elderberry syrup was done on a much stronger concoction. One full cup to one 16oz jar is much closer. Or just less water. Keep teaching! It’s so good to at least get the info out there!! Pm me if you want some links to research on that. We make it commercially too but I teach as much as I can on how others can make their own and I’m a huge advocate for natural wellness!