Elderberry Syrup Recipe: A Sweet Treat for Your Immune System
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This elderberry syrup recipe shows you how to forage, clean, and use elderberries to make a sweet, dark purple syrup. You can use it as a delicious alternative to maple syrup in food recipes or take it by the teaspoon to help boost your immune system. This recipe uses simple ingredients, easy-to-follow instructions, and gentle heating. It makes over a pint (625 ml) of elderberry syrup that can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer.
As we head into late summer, hedgerows and wild spaces are filled with a bounty of wild berries and fruit. Some of the best are blackberries, rosehips, sloes, and elderberries; you may have picked some before. All are packed with vitamin C and antioxidants, but the berries, in particular, have gorgeous flavor. Blackberries are relatively easy to identify, but elderberries make truly delicious preserves. They’re naturally tart but have a deep and earthy berry flavor that comes out when you cook them with sugar. It’s so good!
Let’s look into how to find them, the best practices for foraging, and how to use them to make elderberry syrup. Sometimes found in health food shops, elderberry syrup is a traditional sweet preserve known for its deep berry deliciousness and immunity-boosting properties. Homemade is always better than shop-bought since you can avoid overheating the fruit and reducing its vitamin C levels.
Health Benefits of Elderberries
Elderberries have a delicious flavor but are also famous as a natural immune system booster. Studies have shown that sambucol, found naturally in elderberry extract, appears to short-circuit flu symptoms by inactivating the flu virus. It also contains modest amounts of vitamin C, which also helps strengthen the immune system. This validates what people have known for years since elderberries are heavily featured in traditional North American and European folk medicine.
Though elderberries shouldn’t be eaten raw, they’re perfectly safe after cooking. They pair well with citrusy flavors and sugar, which is why elderberry syrup is such a great recipe for them. The syrup is a delicious topping but may also have immune system-boosting properties. So, when you’re feeling a little unwell, have a tablespoon on its own or mix it with raw honey. Honey is another amazing natural medicine that’s helpful for soothing sore throats and coughs and fighting infections.
Identifying Elderberries
Though you can buy dried elderberries to make this recipe, you can also pick the berries fresh. I live in the British Isles, and elder trees are abundant and relatively easy to find here. The predominant species is Sambucus Nigra, the European elder, and they love growing along roadsides and the edges of fields. They also often grow densely with other native shrubs to form hedgerows. I’ve planted two hedgerows on our land, and both include elder trees. That means I don’t have to go far to forage for the berries, and there’s no second-guessing that they actually are elderberries. I encourage you to do the same if you can.
However, elderberries are unlikely to be confused with any other autumn berry here. In spring, elder trees bloom with umbels of creamy-white flowers that smell and taste delicious. I use them to make cordial and bubbly but leave plenty to turn into berries later in summer. Elderberries are initially small, hard, and green, developing in droopy clusters. As they ripen, they plump up and turn a mauve color, then glossy dark purple. The stems also turn a beautiful reddish-purple.
When foraging, please do not strip the entire tree of berries. Wild birds and animals depend on them for food. My rule is to take no more than ten percent of what’s on a wild tree. If you grow your own elder trees, feel free to harvest more.
North American Elder
There’s a variety of European elder with pink flowers and dark leaves that can also be used in recipes. It’s commonly known as Black Elder and is only found planted in gardens—usually as an ornamental. You can find it and the European elder in the Americas, but the American Elder is the predominant species across the pond. It grows wild, mainly east of the Rockies and from Canada south to Bolivia.
Also known by its Latin name, Sambucus canadensis, it’s a sub-species of the European elder and looks very similar. The only difference I’m aware of is that it doesn’t grow as tall. It grows to about twenty feet tall, while European elder can grow to about thirty. There’s a European elder that grows on the other side of our hedgerow, and it’s probably just over thirty feet tall. The berries that form on it are mainly at the top and much enjoyed by birds.
How to Clean Elderberries
Once you have picked elderberries, it’s time to clean them. After that, you can either freeze them or use them in recipes. First, I pluck the berries from the stems. You can gently pull the berries off with your fingers, but using a fork is far quicker. I then sort through the berries, removing as many small pieces of stem as possible. I don’t stress out if there’s a small amount left. Elder stems are mildly toxic, so it’s best to remove them. They’re not harmful if only a few are in the pot when you’re cooking the berries, though.
After I’ve plucked and sorted the elderberries, it’s time to rinse them. This removes any dust or residue from birds or other animals and helps me remove the unripe berries. I fill the bowl they’re in (or the sink) with cold water and gently swish them around. Unripe berries and stem pieces float to the surface, and it’s easy to scoop them out – I use a sieve for this. When that’s finished, I pour or scoop the purple elderberries into a colander and let them drain.
More Elderberry Recipes
This homemade elderberry syrup is my favorite way to use a small bowlful of elderberries. The recipe I’ve shared below makes light syrup perfect as a topping for pancakes, waffles, or ice cream or to mix into a berry dessert. However, if you’re looking for even more elder and autumn berry ideas, check out these other recipes:
- Elderberry Jelly Recipe
- Elderflower Cordial Recipe
- Blackberry Gin Recipe
- How to Make Hawthorn Tincture
Elderberry Syrup Recipe
Equipment
- cheesecloth/muslin (optional)
Ingredients
- 3.25 cups elderberries ((fresh or frozen) / 500 g / or 1.5 cups dried elderberries)
- 1 cinnamon stick (optional*)
- 1 lemon
- 2.25 cups white sugar (500 g)
Instructions
Make the Elderberry Juice
- This recipe can be made with fresh, frozen*, or dried elderberries. If using fresh, gently pull the berries from the stalks, discarding the stalks and any green berries. A fork is a handy tool for this step.
- If you're using dried berries, put them in a large saucepan and pour enough scalding water over them to cover them by half an inch (1 cm). Leave them to sit for an hour before adding the cinnamon stick and skipping to step 5.
- If freshly picked, rinse the elderberries in cold water. Green berries and stems will float to the surface for you to pick off.
- Measure the berries and place them in a large saucepan with the cinnamon stick. Fill the saucepan with enough water to cover the berries by up to a half inch (1 cm).
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Cook for five minutes, mashing the berries with a potato masher.
- Strain the berry mixture through a fine mesh sieve and into a heat-proof bowl. You can line the sieve with cheesecloth to ensure no sediments pass through, but this is optional.
- Allow the juice to drip through the sieve until it stops. This can take a couple of hours. Alternatively, leave it to drip overnight.
Make Elderberry Syrup
- Measure the elderberry juice. For every 2 ⅛ cups (500 ml), you'll need 2 ¼ cups (500 g) of white granulated sugar.
- Juice the lemon. For me, the juice of one lemon is about 2 TBSP.
- Add the lemon juice, elderberry juice, and sugar to a large saucepan.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Allow it to simmer for ten minutes*, and stir it often to ensure that the sugar dissolves.
- After ten minutes, take the elderberry syrup off the heat. You can either pour the hot syrup into warmed jars or bottles or allow it to cool before pouring it into containers or ice cube trays*.
- Homemade elderberry syrup can be refrigerated for up to three months or frozen for up to a year. If not freezing as ice cubes, ensure that the container the liquid is in is freezer-proof and has space for expansion.
Hi ,Tanya ,it never fails ,you always bring back memories of days gone by. my grandmother and I going out and picking Elderberries, then Grandma making a delicious Elderberry Soup ,with little dumplings . There was nothing better. I planted 2 elderberry bushes in my garden this year and looking forward to making the Syrup. Love your website.
Such a lovely message…thank you Blanca and so happy to bring back fond memories :) Hoping you get many lush elderflower and elderberry harvests in the years to come!
The syrup is also good when topped up with prosecco…. A bit like kir.
The berries are much easier to work with if you FREEZE them before separating them from the stems.
Hello Tanya,
I just bought some dried Elderberries and would love to make your syrup. Do you think the recipe should be tweaked at all? Thanks in advance!
Use half the amount of dried berries and you should be good to go!
Where did you buy them from please?
Hi Sarah, in the USA, here’s where you can buy dried elderberries. You can get them in the UK here, and in Canada here.
Great article. I love this syrup an take it every time I’m starting to feel not so great. I’ll also make elderberry tea with it. I haven’t processed it like you do, but will start in the future. Thank you.
I just want to let you know, here in the states, we have pokeberries which can be confused with elderberries. They both have the red stem the berries grow on, but the pokeberries main stems are hollow, whereas the elderberries’ are woody. Also pokeberries grow more like a cluster and elderberries like a fan.
Pokeberries…interesting. I’ve just googled them and see that they are indeed similar looking, but toxic! Thank you for the tip Linda.
One way to avoid that would be to source your bush’s early summer when they bloom, the pokeberry flowers are nothing like Elderberry so you will know for sure then you just go back in Autumn/Fall to get the berries :)
Hmm…..no if you have ever walked up to an Elderberry bush, or tree where I live, you could not really confuse them for Poke Berries. Elderberry stems are only red/purple when the berries are ripe and then only about the last 6 inches of stem turn red.
The berries do not grow in the same “grape like clusters” that Poke Berries grow in.
Do you know if you can use dried elderberries for this recipe? Would you adjust any of the other ingredients?
You can do Gillian but I've never tried myself. My rule of thumb when using dried herbs/berries is use half as much dried as you would for fresh.
just this minute finished making the elderberry syrup…. thanks Tanya for the recipe. Might make some vanilla ice cream for the first time to go with it.
Make some Vanilla ice cream? Excellent!
Sounds wonderful…OI love to make syrups as they are so versatile!!
and don't forget…delicious! :)
A beautiful and informative post! I really like that you are telling the story behind as well! I might have to go and see if there are some berries left to pick – I've been looking at them while walking the dog but never got around to taking them home with me.
It might be a bit late for them now but it doesn't hurt looking :)
This sounds lovely. But, like Caro, I have picked elderberries in the past and they have smelled like cat's wee! Any ideas what we are doing wrong? Xxx
You've done nothing wrong Fran! Some varieties of Elder (of which there are many) will have an unpleasant scent/taste. Just avoid picking berries from that tree again and try to find another tree(s) that smell more like something you'd like to eat :)
Hi Fran, mine tasted okay (actually, delicious!) but started to ferment in the bottle so had a yeasty undertone and I binned it. I'm wondering now how to recognise the "good" berries – I hadn't realised there were so many varieties! Let me know if you find out! Caro x
I'm going to ask your advice here, Tanya. I made elderberry syrup a few weeks ago when it seemed the last of the berries were available. I used a recipe very similar to yours, sterilised my muslin and the bottles used, had a taste (oh so delicious!!) sealed the bottles with sterilised lids and a few days later found that the syrup/cordial had started to ferment! Fizzy on the tongue with a slight yeasty undertone. Not pleasant. I did toy with the idea that perhaps I could turn it into elderberry wine (if I knew how!) but, eventually, just ditched it. Have you ever had this happen? I'd love to know how to prevent it happening again as I think this syrup is just the business! Caro x
PS. Wonderful photos and a great foolproof recipe for anyone new to making this!
How did you sterilise your bottles and lids Caro? Did you boil the syrup again after you strained it though the muslin? This hasn't happened to me before but there seems to be some step that is introducing yeast/bacteria into your syrup.
If the syrup is not pleasant then probably throw it out and start afresh!
Jars were washed and then dried in the oven for 20 mins at 150C, lids were boiled for 15 mins on the stove, muslin was freshly washed and pressed with a very hot iron and the berries were boiled again after being strained. The only thing I'm unsure of is the funnel used to decant the syrup from pan to bottle. It was washed thoroughly but a bit tricky to clean the spout! Perhaps that's the cause …
Thanks for your advice anyway, Tanya. I'll certainly be on the lookout for some elderberries to start again. It's such a simple and quick process (compared to making rosehip syrup), that it won't be a bother if I can find the berries!
Sounds all fine so you could be right about the funnel! Good luck with hunting down more berries :)
I use Elderberries in my 8 fruit hedgerow jelly this year.
I also made elderberry syrup and at stage 1 put into the pan, 2 cinnamon sticks,about 2" piece of ginger peeled and chopped fairly fine and 12 whole cloves, then went to stage 2 and let it strain gently.
It is lovely in the same uses you mention. One of my favourite ways to use it is with slightly cooled boiled water and a slice of lemon quartered in it, deliscous and both refreshing ans soothing.
Great spice tips Sandie!
A great recipe Tanya. And very interesting to know about the health benefits of elderberries.
Nature provides :)
i've seen these growing wild here but have never used them. i will have to look for them now. this looks wonderful.
It really tastes wonderful too Jaz…see if you can find them again and give the recipe a go :)
The flowers are also excellent, you can make a cordial or an Elderflower champagne which is delicious. Lots of recipes online. The flowers have a lovely delicate flavour and the kids love it (the adults will love the Champagne too) :) We made Elderflower ice-blocks since they flower early summer.
as a side note, if you don’t have many bush’s around make sure to leave some flowers so they turn into berries :) the berries are ready at the beginning of Autumn (or fall if your’e American)