Maybe a fancy craft cocktail isn’t in your budget this year (sheesh, mine either), but Simple Syrup should still be a staple in your kitchen! Whether you’re sweetening your morning coffee, making fresh lemonade, giving tea time a little boost, or dressing up plain old soda water, simple syrups are a great budget-friendly hack to accentuate whatever you’re sipping on. Not to mention, it’s a fun way to get creative with whatever herbs and citrus you may have on hand. There’s no waste allowed in my budget-conscious kitchen!
Easy Recipe for Simple Syrup
Simple syrup is a quick, two-ingredient sweetener made from equal parts sugar and water, which simmer until the sugar dissolves and the mixture slightly thickens. It’s also a fun blank canvas for experimenting with different flavors in your kitchen! I’ve shared a few favorite flavor ideas below, but they only scratch the surface of what’s possible. It keeps for weeks in the fridge, can be used for more than just cocktails, and is much cheaper to make at home (after all, it’s only sugar and water!)
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Homemade Simple Syrup Recipe
Learn how to make Homemade Simple Syrup with just sugar and water. Plus, easy flavor ideas, storage tips, and creative ways to use it beyond cocktails!
Course Dessert, Sauce
Cuisine American
Total Cost $0.34 batch
Cook Time 5 minutesminutes
Total Time 5 minutesminutes
Servings 1batch
Calories 770kcal
Author Jess Rice
Equipment
Medium Pot
Ingredients
1cupwater$0.00
1cupgranulated sugar$0.34
Optional Ingredients
Orange
Lemon
Lime
Rosemary
Thyme
Lavender
Mint
Sage
Chamomile
Instructions
Combine the water and sugar in a pot.
Simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Be careful not to boil to avoid making candy by accident!
Remove from heat, add herbs or citrus rinds, and let it cool on the countertop.
Once cooled, refrigerate for up to four weeks. It’s best to remove the herbs or tea once cooled so your flavors stay nice and bright! (Make sure you label your simple syrup if you’re playing with fun flavors. They all tend to look alike.)
how to make Homemade simple syrup step-by-step photos
Gather all of your ingredients: You don’t have to add any extra ingredients to your syrup, but experimenting with different flavors is really easy and fun!
Simmer: Add 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a pot and simmer over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until all of the sugar dissolves. Don’t let this mixture come to a boil! Otherwise, you might accidentally make candy. A gentle simmer is all you need.
Add extra flavors: Once the sugar is dissolved, take the pot off the heat and add your chosen herbs or citrus (optional).
Cool: Let the mixture cool on the countertop. If you added any additional ingredients, they’ll infuse the syrup with flavor as it cools.
Store: Your simple syrup is ready to use once cooled. I’d remove any added herbs or citrus once cooled to keep the flavors nice and bright. Pour them into airtight containers (e.g., mason jars) and refrigerate for up to four weeks. Label the jars if you’re playing with fun flavors, as they can all look alike.
Recipe Tips & Suggestions
Don’t bring the mixture to a boil. You want it to remain at a simmer the entire time to dissolve the sugar. Boiling can reduce it too much and start to turn it into candy, plus it can bubble up and make a sticky mess on your stove! Stick to a gentle simmer, and once the sugar is dissolved, it’s done.
Let it cool at room temperature. I take my saucepan off the heat and let it hang out on the counter until it’s completely cool. Doing this helps prevent condensation in the container and also means I’m not putting anything hot straight into the fridge. Letting it cool also gives any additional flavors time to infuse the syrup before storing.
Make a rich simple syrup. The basic simple syrup ratio is 1:1, meaning you use 1 part sugar to 1 part water, as I’ve done in this recipe. But sometimes, a recipe may call for rich simple syrup. This is a more concentrated version with a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water, which is made using the same process but is slightly thicker and sweeter.
Use a different sugar. You can make this recipe from just about any type of sugar. Try white granulated, brown sugar (light or dark), coconut sugar, or turbinado using the 1:1 ratio. Using different sugars can change the flavor and color of your syrup, but I think it’s a fun way to play around with depth and richness in whatever you’re sweetening.
More Flavor Ideas!
Seeing that this recipe is so cheap and easy to make, you really can have fun with the flavors and get a little adventurous. Once you’ve found one or two you love, I highly recommend combining them to make a new flavor—think lemon + thyme, strawberry + basil, or ginger + lime! Here are a few more ideas:
Grapefruit peel
Berries (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry)
Basil (so good when mixed with strawberry or lemon)
Cardamom pods, star anise, cloves, or cinnamon sticks
Fresh ginger slices
Vanilla bean pods
Earl Grey tea or chai
Jalapeño or black peppercorns (for a spicy or peppery kick!)
How to Use Homemade Simple Syrup
Once you’ve got a jar of this homemade simple syrup in the fridge, you’ll find yourself reaching for it all the time. I love using it for:
Mixing into oatmeal
Sweetening coffee or tea
Making sugared cranberries
Stirring into homemade lemonade or soda water
Brushing onto cakes or cupcakes to keep them moist (try a little brushed over my cornbread cake if you don’t love buttercream!)
For adding sweetness to cocktails and mocktails, like my avocado margaritas or apple cider shrubs
Drizzling over a fresh fruit salad
Storage Instructions
Once cooled, keep your homemade simple syrup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 weeks. Remove any additional ingredients (fruit peels, herbs, etc.) before storing for the best flavor.
