Elderberry Syrup Recipe (and How to Make Any Herbal Syrup)
Elderberry syrup recipe from University of Maine Extension, compared with Illinois and Oregon State. Cook the berries; don't can this recipe.
Elderberry syrup recipe
Elderberry syrup is berries simmered in water, strained, and sweetened. Three things to know before you start:
- Cook the berries, and pick out every stem and leaf. Oregon State Extension says raw elderberries of every variety should be cooked. A 1983 CDC report describes a group who got sick after drinking juice pressed from berries with their leaves and branches. See Always cook elderberries.
- No dose from the main references. Europe’s medicines regulator, the NIH’s complementary-health center, and University of Maine Extension (UMaine) don’t give one. Here’s why.
- This syrup isn’t for canning. UMaine reports that several elderberry varieties aren’t acidic enough for safe boiling-water canning. Keep it in the fridge or freezer instead (storage).
The recipe below is UMaine’s, adapted from University of Illinois Extension. This table compares it with Illinois’s original and an Oregon State recipe.
Making syrup from another herb, like thyme or lemon balm? Skip to how to make any herbal syrup.
How the UMaine, Illinois, and Oregon State recipes compare
The three recipes differ on amounts and simmer time. UMaine and Illinois both say 2 weeks in the fridge. Each column comes from its own source, linked in the header. A dash means that source doesn’t say.
| UMaine | Illinois | Oregon State† | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starts with | 1 cup dried / 2 cups fresh | ⅔ cup dried§ | 2½ cups juice† |
| Water | 4 cups | 3½ cups | None (juice) |
| Sweetener | ½ cup raw honey | ½ cup honey | 3½ cups sugar |
| Simmer | To about half | 1 hr, or to half§ | 3 min† |
| Fridge | 2 weeks | Up to 2 weeks | No time given‡ |
| Freezer | Up to 8 months, best quality | — | No time given‡ |
| Canning | No | — | Blue only, this recipe‡ |
† Oregon State’s recipe is for blue elderberry syrup and starts from strained juice. Its 3-minute simmer is for juice and sugar only, and the guide gives no step for making the juice. Our advice: if you’re starting from whole berries, use UMaine’s simmer (why cooking matters).
‡ For American or European berries, Oregon State says syrup made with this recipe “must be refrigerated or frozen.” For what Oregon State says about canning, see storage.
§ Illinois uses dried black elderberries and simmers covered. Our advice: treat Illinois’s hour as the time for that batch, not a safety minimum.
What you’ll need
Ingredients
UMaine’s recipe makes about 2 cups.
- 1 cup dried elderberries or 2 cups fresh or frozen elderberries
- 4 cups water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ¼ teaspoon dried ground clove
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- ½ cup raw honey (or more to taste)
Tools
UMaine’s recipe calls for a medium saucepan, a fine-mesh sieve, and a glass pint or quart jar.
How to make elderberry syrup, step by step
1. Clean up and prep the berries
Clean the kitchen area and wash your hands with soap and water. If you’re using fresh berries, wash them well and pick out any leaves or stems. The safety notes explain why stems matter.
2. Bring to a boil, then simmer until reduced by about half
Put the berries, water, and spices in the saucepan. Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer until the liquid is reduced by about half. This is the cooking step.
Our advice: don’t stop early. To judge the level, note where the liquid sits on the side of the pot when you start.
3. Sterilize the jar while it simmers
Boil a glass pint or quart jar, fully submerged in water, for 10 minutes.
4. Strain
Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into the sterilized jar. Our advice: press the berries with the back of a spoon to get the last of the liquid.
5. Cool, then add honey
Let the syrup cool to room temperature. Add the honey and stir. Honey isn’t for babies under age 1; see sweeteners.
6. Lid, label, and refrigerate or freeze
Put the lid on, then refrigerate or freeze the syrup. The storage section says how long it keeps. Our advice: label the jar with what’s in it and the date.
Steps 1–6 follow UMaine’s recipe.
Fresh, frozen, or dried elderberries
Dried berries still need cooking. Dried elderberries “should be rehydrated in water or juice and cooked before consuming to destroy the toxins,” says Oregon State Extension. UMaine’s recipe simmers the dried berries in water, and it also works with fresh or frozen berries.
Picking your own? Unripe berries aren’t safe raw either (see Always cook elderberries). Our elderberry guide shows how to tell when they’re ripe and how to pick and destem them.
Red elderberries are a different plant. Oregon State says food preservers “should avoid using these to create food products.”
Honey, sugar, or maple syrup
Elderberries are sour on their own. “Elderberries are very tart so the syrup is often sweetened with honey, sugar, or maple syrup,” UMaine notes.
If you use honey, keep this rule from the CDC: “Do not feed honey to a child who is younger than 1 year old.”
Our advice: if you use sugar or maple syrup instead, sweeten to taste. UMaine gives no separate amount for them, so we don’t either.
How to use your elderberry syrup
Use it the way you’d use any fruit syrup. UMaine suggests enjoying it by the spoonful or stirring it into tea or sparkling water. The Illinois recipe card says: “Use in smoothies, hot tea, pancakes, etc.”
Is there a standard serving or dose?
Not from Europe’s medicines regulator, the NIH’s complementary-health center, or UMaine. Here’s why.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has an herbal committee that writes official summaries, called monographs. It assessed European elder fruit (Sambucus nigra) and found that a monograph “cannot be established at present” (EMA). Complete information on traditional use with a specified posology (dosing) and strength was missing. Without that information, EMA couldn’t establish a monograph meeting its requirement of at least 30 years of medicinal use, including at least 15 years in the European Union. (EMA does have a monograph for elder flower. This answer is about the berry.)
The NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) gives no amount on its elderberry page. UMaine’s recipe gives no serving size. The Illinois card lists its nutrition facts “per 2 Tablespoon serving,” which is a nutrition-label serving, not a dose. So we don’t give one here.
Our advice: if you’re wondering how much to take, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
How long homemade elderberry syrup lasts
UMaine’s recipe keeps in the fridge or the freezer, not on the pantry shelf.
In the fridge: 2 weeks, UMaine says.
In the freezer: up to 8 months, for best quality, by UMaine’s count. Oregon State’s blue elderberry syrup recipe includes a note for syrup made from American and European elderberries: “If frozen, leave 1-inch headspace to allow for expansion.” Our advice: freeze small portions in ice cube trays, then move the cubes to a freezer bag.
Can you can it? No, not this recipe.
UMaine explains that the pH of several elderberry varieties was found “at or above the safe cutoff of 4.6” for boiling-water canning.
Oregon State’s blue elderberry syrup in the table above isn’t a canning route for other elderberries: “It is not safe to can syrup from American and European varieties using this recipe.” Oregon State says American and European elderberries “can only be safely canned using a recipe with a specific high-sugar ratio.” That’s a separate recipe in the same guide, for American and European elderberry jams, jellies, and syrups. It uses weighed granulated sugar, not honey, and the guide says to “Carefully follow the recipe” it gives.
Not sure which elderberry you have? Oregon State’s answer: “If unsure of the type of elderberries, use only the high sugar ratio recipes or freeze or dehydrate for preservation.”
When to toss it (our advice): if it looks cloudy, fizzes, grows mold, or smells off, throw it out. When in doubt, throw it out.
Elderberry syrup safety notes
These notes are about taking or drinking elderberry syrup, not growing it. For growing and plant ID, see how to grow and harvest elderberry safely.
Always cook elderberries
Cook elderberries before you eat them. Here’s what the health and extension sources say.
Writing about the berry of the European or black elder, NCCIH says raw or unripe elderberries and other parts of the elder tree, such as the leaves and stem, “contain poisonous cyanide-producing substances that can cause nausea, vomiting, and severe diarrhea”. In the same sentence, NCCIH says “cooking eliminates this toxin” (NCCIH).
“Caution: All varieties of raw elderberries should be cooked before consuming,” Oregon State Extension warns. It adds, “Stems and leaves contain higher levels of toxins, so it is important to remove these before processing.” Memorial Sloan Kettering agrees: “Don’t eat elderberry leaves and stems.” (Oregon State Extension; MSKCC)
UMaine says cooking “reduces these toxins.”
NCCIH, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Oregon State, and UMaine give no general minimum cooking time for destroying the toxins. UMaine’s advice is to “follow any heating instructions contained in a recipe.”
The 1983 CDC report: juice made with leaves and branches
In August 1983, 11 of 25 people at a gathering in Monterey County, California, got sick soon after drinking refreshments. Eight were flown by helicopter to a hospital. The berries came from the western elder (Sambucus mexicana).
“Bunches of berries were crushed with their leaves and branches in a stainless-steel press,” the CDC report says. The report also says, “All recovered quickly, including the patient hospitalized overnight.” (CDC)
That’s why step 1 of the recipe has you pick out every leaf and stem.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
NCCIH: “Little is known about whether it’s safe to use elderberry for health purposes during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.”
Memorial Sloan Kettering: “Avoid use during pregnancy or if lactating due to risk of toxicity and potential GI distress.”
Our advice: talk to your doctor first.
Children
No honey for babies under age 1 (see sweeteners).
NCCIH’s and Memorial Sloan Kettering’s elderberry pages give no advice on giving elderberry syrup to children. Our advice: ask your pediatrician before giving any elderberry preparation to a child.
Medicines and supplements
NCCIH advises: “If you take any type of medicine, talk with your health care provider before using elderberry or other herbal products; some herbs and medicines interact in harmful ways.”
Diabetes medicines, diuretics, and laxatives: elderberry may add to their effects, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering. For diabetes medicines and diuretics (water pills), it notes, “Clinical relevance has yet to be determined.”
Supplements: Memorial Sloan Kettering lists syrup among the forms elderberry supplements come in: “You can also take elderberry supplements as gummies, tablets, or syrup.” For elderberry supplements, its advice is to “talk with your healthcare providers before taking elderberry supplements.” It also says, “It’s generally safe to use elderberry in food and tea.”
It doesn’t say whether homemade syrup counts as food or as a supplement. NCCIH’s advice above still applies: if you take any medicine, check with your provider first.
How to make any herbal syrup
For other herbs, make a strong tea first, then strain it and sweeten it to taste (our advice).
- Roots, bark, and seeds: simmer them as a decoction.
- Leaves and flowers: steep them as a hot infusion. Drying your own? See our drying guide. This method doesn’t cover herb-infused honey, which is a different preparation.
Keep it in the fridge. An Ask Extension expert, answering a question about herbal syrups, said: “There are not any research based recipes for canning infused simple syrups.” The next sentence reads: “If you want to do this, you would need to refrigerate the syrup for storage, only keeping for a couple of weeks, or make fresh.” (Ask Extension)
Before you make a syrup from any herb, read its plant guide for safety notes. For example, see the guides for thyme, lemon balm, or anise hyssop.
Grow your own syrup herbs
Want berries from your own yard? How to grow and harvest elderberry safely covers ripe-only picking, destemming, and drying.
Elderberry is a big shrub, though. For a first garden, start smaller: chamomile, lemon balm, calendula, peppermint, and thyme all grow in pots. Start your first medicinal herb garden.
Learn more: How to make herbal infused oils