When it comes to winter preparedness in my house, one thing that I almost always stock up on is Elderberry Syrup. I have found that the real brands (not mixed berry blends – just elderberry!) are pretty expensive even when bought in bulk.
I am so sick of paying $15 to $18 per bottle (for what is usually an 8-ounce bottle). We go through this stuff fast with all of us taking it almost every day in the winter months (except me this year since I’m pregnant).
After doing a bunch of research, I realized that making homemade elderberry syrup is actually super easy and SO much more economical.
Not only can you 100% control the quality of ingredients but this is a big money-saver!
This batch of elderberry syrup costs about $25 to make and yields just about 8 cups of finished product. If you bought 8 bottles averaging $15 / piece, that would be $120. That is a savings of about $100!
NOTES:
- I ordered one pound of Frontier Brand Whole Organic Elderberries from Amazon for just over $20.
- If you plan to give this to a baby under 1 year of age, substitute pure Maple Syrup for the honey as babies under 1 year shouldn’t be given raw honey.
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How To Make Elderberry Syrup. Homemade Elderberry Syrup with Raw Honey
- 1 pound dried whole elderberries organic preferred
- 20 cups water
- 1 whole cinnamon stick
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger powder or 1" piece fresh ginger root
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 2 cups raw honey (16 ounces)
- 1 small lemon juiced
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Combine all ingredients except honey in a large soup pot and bring to a rapid boil. Once boiling, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.
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Remove cover, raise heat to medium and continue cooking uncovered until reduced by about half. This should take approximately another hour.
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Remove from heat and use a mesh strainer to drain liquid into a glass container.
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Allow to cool to room temperature, whisk in raw honey until fully dissolved and add lemon juice. We tend to like mildly sweet things so if you need this sweeter, add more honey and adjust as desired.
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Transfer to glass storage containers (mason jars, etc.) and store in the refrigerator.
Individual Serving Size is 1 teaspoon per day for children or 1 tablespoon per day for adults. Recipe Makes Approximately 8 cups or 384 teaspoons.
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Can you store it in the freezer and have the same effect?
Hi Emily – not sure – I’ve only stored in the fridge!
I have a friend who makes this every year for her family from foraged berries and swears by it for illnesses! I did not realize (until just now) that it could be found wild in the Northwest, I thoguht it was only in Eastern North America, but it looks like it’s here as well. Though buying the berries from Amazon certainly simplifies things!
I love the idea of foraging for them – I need to hone in on some wild elderberry bushes around here!
And it’s good for?
Hi Jenna,
Elderberry Syrup is used as an immune system booster. Here are some links with more info…
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/herbsupplementguide/a/elderberry.htm
http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-elderberry.html
http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/elderberry
Her landscaper put it in a few years ago. Who knew it would do so well – she was amazed for sure!
Wow, that is a pretty fantastic savings! I bet your homemade stuff tastes much better too!
It does Faith – very clean tasting and my son loves it (which is the best part!)
My girlfriend has a tree that was loaded with berries. We had no idea what to do with them, except to make pancake syrup. Love this idea!
An elderberry tree? Here in WA? Wow – I am so jealous!!
Good to know! One of my coworkers is an elderberry lover so I’m going to pass this along to her!
Thanks for passing it on Joanne! Hope you are having a great weekend 🙂
Mmm so simple and so good, I adore elderberry syrup, I’m still scoping out bushes around these parts that haven’t been picked yet.Is elderberry contraindicated during pregnancy?
Hi Chantelle,
There is a lot of conflicting info out there and not any research or studies to back any of it up. Based on that,
my midwife advises staying away from Elderberry Syrup while pregnant.
Perfect! Thanks!
How long would this keep in the fridge? What kind of a dose would an adult take for an immune boost?
Hi Kelly,
It should keep for at least 2 to 3 months if stored in the fridge!
The dosage (on the bottles we used to buy) is 1 tsp per day for kids under 12 and 1 Tablespoon per day for adults.