Do you want to learn how to make Homemade Elderberry Syrup from simple ingredients from home? You might have been told that elderberries and elderberry syrup help significantly with the flu and cold season. So you may be on the hunt for that perfect recipe to make your own, either after not being able to find the syrup sold in stores, or finding out how expensive pre-made store bought elderberry syrup is, you want a DIY version. Some may also want to make their own just so they can know exactly what ingredients are in the syrup!
Either way, I am here to share a homemade elderberry syrup with you, along with 17 other homemade remedies for cold and flu viruses.
But before I share the recipe, I feel like I need to share why I am sharing this recipe.
My Sick Story
First off, I want to start by saying that this is not my recipe. You see, just a couple of months ago, I got sick. VERY sick. This was an unbelievable sick and flu year.
In fact, I have prided myself in the past on how quickly we can recover from cold and flu viruses in years’ past. We simply load up on echinacea, vitamin c, essential oils, and zinc at the very first sign or symptom of the sickness. We have been able to significantly reduce the amount of time we have been sick for several years. We have been sick, but it hasn’t been bad or prolonged, like many complain about when sickness hits.
But this year, something very weird happened…..
On December 23rd, my kids got the flu. We didn’t recover quickly, but it was about 3 days. However, it wasn’t awful. Most of my kids barely acted sick. They had the flu on Christmas day, we stayed home. It was sad because we had family that flew in from out of town for the holiday and we didn’t want to risk spreading sickness, so we did not get to see them. But we made the most of our Christmas as just our family.
The kids recovered mostly by the 26th-27th, but we still stayed in and home in case they were still contagious. I thought I was free and clear. Then on December 27th, I got the flu. I followed all of the same procedures and routines that I had for my kids. It wasn’t too bad, but I hadn’t been that sick for a while. I did go out on December 31st to another family members house for the New Year. Looking back, this was dumb, but I felt well enough to celebrate. I had a cough and I had laryngitis, so I couldn’t talk well.
January 1 rolled around. I was super tired and not feeling well. I just chalked it up to being up until midnight the night before (actually, 1 am).
But, as the day went on, I got increasingly more ill. I ultimately found myself to be sicker than I ever remember being. I continued all of my echinacea, vitamin c, zinc and essential oils. I was getting worse and worse. After a couple of days, I finally went to the doctor. He told me that I had the really bad flu from that year, and then I caught a cold virus on top of it. So I was dealing with both a flu and cold at the same time. I didn’t know this was possible, but whatever I had caused me to be sicker than I have ever been. I tried every home remedy I know of, and even used OTC meds and Tylenol, but yet was getting worse every day.
After about another week, I pleaded on my Facebook wall with my friends to please pray for me. I was not getting better, but progressively worse over 2-weeks. Twice, I thought I should probably go to the hospital. But because of my plea, many of my friends came with advice of all kinds.
The most popular advice was of this miracle fruit called Elderberry. Many of my friends said I needed to take Elderberry syrup. I hadn’t heard of this remedy and because all of my old methods worked for years, then I never dived deeper into home remedies. But I was desperate and was willing to try anything.
One of the friends that gave this recommendation said she would make me some syrup and bring it to me. This friend showed such love and care and I am ever grateful to her for taking the time and expense to provide this homemade syrup.
After taking 3 doses in 12 hours, I finally started to feel like I was moving in the better direction. I was so relieved!! I took the homemade Elderberry syrup faithfully and made a full recovery shortly after. Because I finally turned around after a few hours and a few doses of this concoction, I give credit to Elderberry syrup helping my body to fight the sickness.
My new solution to a very old problem
You can bet that Elderberry syrup is now my immediate “go-to” solution for our family for the well known, infamous cold and flu virus. A couple of months after my flu bout, two of my kids showed signs of a cold. One of my daughters was in an intense math competition, which requires her to state equations very quickly over 60 seconds and takes every moment of breath, that I was worried she would lose it all due to a cold.
So I gave the sick kids Homemade Elderberry syrup every few hours, and I also had her take it too (there is no problem with a healthy person taking it too because it is not medicine, but fruit and spices). She never got sick! She completed her math scouting video and didn’t have to fight for breath with a cold and sniffles! It worked again and was amazing!
I asked my friend for her recipe before this last round of colds, which ended up being very mild for the sick ones. I love this stuff and now swear by it. I know so many people who have suffered greatly during this cold and flu season. Thus, I have to share my friend’s recipe for Homemade Elderberry Syrup so you can make a DIY version and use it as needed. I would even recommend taking some after being around someone who was sick before you even have any symptoms.
How to make Homemade Elderberry Syrup
Ingredients needed for Homemade Elderberry Syrup:
- 1/2 cup dried elderberries (here is a decent deal for organic ones on Amazon)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 TBSP. dried ginger root (or 1 inch of fresh ginger, grated)
- 1/2 – 1 cup honey (depending on how sweet you want it)
Directions for Homemade Elderberry Syrup:
- Cover dried elderberries, cloves, cinnamon sticks and ginger with 4 cups of water in a saucepan.
- Bring to a simmer over low heat for 1 hour or until water is reduced to half.
- Strain herbs, squeezing out excess liquid and compost.
- Pour liquid into a glass mason jar to cool to room temperature.
- Once liquid has cooled, add in honey.
- Mix well.
- Label and store in refrigerator to keep cool. Will store for a couple of weeks.
That’s it! It’s a simple solution for a major problem.
I would love to know if you have had any experience with elderberry too.
Here’s a printable version of the Homemade Elderberry Syrup recipe:
| Elderberry Syrup Recipe Plus 17 More Natural Cold and Flu Home Remedies | Print |
Recipe type: Herbal, at Home Remedy
Author: Cassie from TheThriftyCouple
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 36
Do you want to learn how to make Homemade Elderberry Syrup from simple ingredients from home? You might have been told that elderberries and elderberry syrup help significantly with the flu and cold season. This recipe is that solution!
Ingredients
- ½ cup dried elderberries
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 TBSP. dried ginger root (or 1 inch of fresh ginger, grated)
- ½ - 1 cup honey (depending on how sweet you want it)
Instructions
- Cover dried elderberries, cloves, cinnamon sticks and ginger with 4 cups of water in a saucepan.
- Bring to a simmer over low heat for 1 hour or until water is reduced to half.
- Strain herbs, squeezing out excess liquid and compost.
- Pour liquid into a glass mason jar to cool to room temperature.
- Once liquid has cooled, add in honey.
- Mix well.
- Label and store in refrigerator to keep cool. Will store for a couple of weeks.
17 Other Homemade, Natural, DIY Cold and Flu Helps
Now that I have shared the Homemade Elderberry Syrup solution, we also thought it would be helpful to add some additional ideas to your cold and flu remedy list. Anything extra you can do can be a potential help to either reduce the sick time, provide extra comfort or reduce severity of the virus.
If you have any extra things you do, please share in the comments below!
Homemade Vapor Rub @turningtheclockback
Natural Flu Shot @turningtheclockback
DIY Natural Decongestant Shower Tablets @beautycrafter
DIY Vicks Shower Tablets @momfoodie
All-Natural Sore Throat Remedy @drugstoredivas
Natural Homemade Cough Drops @reusegrowenjoy
Homemade Chicken Soup @grandmasglutenfreerecipes
Homemade All-Natural Cough Syrup @creeklinehouse
Homemade Ginger Tea @littlehouseliving
Immunity Boosting Ginger Shots @diycandy
Honey Lemon Tea Base @hillsboroughhomesteading
Tumeric Milk @forgottenwayfarms
Immune Boosting Jello @suzyandco
Mango Turmeric Smoothie @mywifecancook
Cold Remedy Drink @confessionsofanoverworkedmom
All Natural Cough Remedy Smoothie @smashedpeasandcarrots
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Ruth Leitschuck
This email has so many helpful tips for better health. Thank you so much. I’ll be ordering dried elderberries for making the syrup.
Ann Buda
This is a wonderful newsletter- thank you for this.
I have used elderberry syrup for some time now always with positive results. I have noticed a big incline in price due to its popularity. I’m going to make this homemade version (minus the cinnamon due to a child’s allergy).
Peace and blessings Ann