Add a little sweetness and burst of brightness to tea, iced and hot, with homemade lemon syrup. Super easy to make with just 3 ingredients in less than 5 minutes!
CONTENTS
Recipe Highlights
- Lemon syrup is a lemon flavored simple syrup (liquid sugar) made with three ingredients: sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. It’s super easy to make at home in just 4 minutes.
- Use this homemade syrup to flavor and sweeten hot and cold drinks like tea and coffee. It’s especially great in iced tea since it mixes well with the cold beverage unlike sugar which can sink straight to the bottom of the cup.
- The recipe makes a cup of syrup, which can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 weeks.
- Add it to iced tea so instantly make lemon iced tea or to butterfly pea flower tea to turn it from blue to purple.
RELATED: Mint Syrup
Ingredient Notes
- Sugar
Regular white sugar or cane sugar can be used. Brown sugar can be used too but the syrup will be a brown color instead of yellow. - Lemon juice
About 6 lemons will be enough for this recipe. Use a citrus juicer to freshly squeeze the lemons. - Lemon zest
The zest is the yellow part of the peel of a lemon. Make sure the peel is thoroughly cleaned before zesting. Use a grater to scrape the yellow peel but make sure not to add the white part of the lemon which can make it taste bitter. You’ll only need the zest from one lemon for this recipe.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a quick overview of the steps to make this syrup. For full ingredients and instructions, scroll down to the recipe.
- Put all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer.
Stir to make sure sugar dissolves completely. - Take off heat and cool.
- Strain and pour syrup into an airtight container.
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Expert Tips
- The recipe makes a cup of lemon syrup which is 16 tablespoons. Use 1-2 tablespoons to flavor and sweeten a cup of tea.
- This simple syrup will keep for about 3 weeks when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Don’t heat the syrup for too long on the stovetop, otherwise it’ll get too thick and won’t be as easy to add to iced drinks.
- Use lemon syrup on pancakes or drizzled on slices of pound cake. Add it to sparkling water to get fizzy lemonade. Pour into iced tea to make lemon iced tea. Add it to ginger tea for a boost of lemon.
RELATED: Strawberry Syrup
Questions You May Have
Do I need to let the syrup come to a boil?
Nope, a simmer is all you need to fully dissolve the sugar into the lemon juice.
How is lemon syrup different than lemonade?
Lemonade is basically diluted lemon syrup. You can add water to the lemon syrup and make homemade lemonade.
What can I use to strain the lemon zest?
I place a mesh strainer on top of the funnel and strain the syrup straight into the glass bottle.
More Simple Syrups
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Simple Lemon Syrup
Add a little sweetness and burst of brightness to tea with homemade lemon syrup.
INGREDIENTS
- ¾ cup lemon juice (6 lemons)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer.Stir to make sure sugar dissolves completely.
- Take off heat and cool.
- Strain and pour syrup into an airtight container.Use a mesh strainer to separate the lemon zest from the syrup. The syrup will keep for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
EQUIPMENT
NOTES
- Recipe makes 1 cup (16 tablespoons) of lemon syrup.
- Use 1-2 tablespoons of syrup for each cup.
- Don’t heat the syrup for too long on the stovetop, otherwise it’ll get too thick and won’t be as easy to add to iced drinks.
Syrup Uses
- Add lemon syrup in sparkling water to make lemon flavored soda.
- Pour syrup into iced tea to make lemon iced tea.
- Add syrup to butterfly pea flower tea to change the color of blue tea to purple.
- Use lemon syrup on pancakes.
- Drizzle syrup on slices of pound cake.
- Add it to ginger tea to make lemon ginger tea.
NUTRITION
Calories: 78 | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 24mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 1mg
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Hi! Thanks for the recipe! Could one make orange or apple syrup with this recipe?
Hi Anamit, oranges and apples are pretty sweet on their own so you can probably just add the juice instead of making it into a simple syrup.