Simple Homemade Lemon Syrup
on Dec 25, 2020, Updated Jan 13, 2021
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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!
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.
For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Put all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer.
Stir to make sure sugar dissolves completely.
Step 2: Take off heat and cool.
Photo Credit: amazon.com
Serving Suggestions
- 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 to ginger tea to make lemon ginger tea.
RELATED: Simple Butterfly Pea Flower Syrup
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.
RELATED: Strawberry Syrup
Questions You May Have
Nope, a simmer is all you need to fully dissolve the sugar into the lemon juice.
Lemonade is basically diluted lemon syrup. You can add water to the lemon syrup and make homemade lemonade.
I place a mesh strainer on top of the funnel and strain the syrup straight into the glass bottle.
Related
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Simple Lemon Syrup
Ingredients
- ¾ cup lemon juice, (juice from 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.
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi, can I substitute honey for sugar?
Hi Andrea, you can, but you would need to dilute the honey so it’s pourable. I would add equal part water to honey to create a syrup.
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.