Beverage recipes sometimes call for “raspberry syrup,” a bright red, sugary syrup that gives a raspberry flavor and color to drinks. Why buy the bottled stuff when it’s so easy to make your own? Raspberries are in season right now, which means you’ll have all kinds of beautiful berries to choose from at the market. Plus, you’ll have the added benefit of knowing what went into your syrup– just three ingredients, all natural, nothing artificial. Homemade raspberry syrup can be added to beverages and cocktails to give them a strong, sweet raspberry flavor. Try flavoring lemonade with it to make raspberry lemonade or seltzer to make a raspberry Italian soda. It makes a lovely addition to cocktails and mocktails. Reduce it to a thicker consistency, and you can drizzle it on pancakes or waffles as an alternative to maple syrup. Yum!
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Homemade Raspberry Syrup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds raspberries
- 1 quart water (4 cups)
- 2 cups sugar
NOTES
Instructions
- Rinse the raspberries clean.
- Place the raspberries in a medium saucepan.
- Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a medium simmer and let the raspberries cook for about 20 minutes. Skim any foam that rises to the top.
- After about 20 minutes, the raspberries will have lost most of their color and the water should be deep pink/red in color. Remove from heat. Strain the raspberry liquid through a fine mesh strainer into another clean pot, separating the solid berries from the liquid. DO NOT press down on the solids to extract more juice; it's tempting, but doing this will make your raspberry syrup cloudy.
- Once the raspberry liquid has been strained, discard the solid berries. Add 2 cups of sugar to the raspberry liquid. Bring back to a boil, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar into the syrup. Let the syrup simmer for 5 minutes till the sugar is completely dissolved, skimming any additional foam that rises to the top.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Pour into a glass container, seal, and refrigerate. The syrup should last for several weeks.
Katie says
Great, thanks Tori!
Katie says
Is there any way to use the berries after they’ve been strained? Or would they not be good any more. I LOVE raspberries, and I would hate to throw them out if they are still good. Looking forward to trying this recipe!
Tori Avey says
Hi Katie, they lose their color and a lot of their flavor to the syrup– but they are still pretty tasty. I have used them to top yogurt or ice cream. Enjoy!
Jayna Stewart says
Can I juice the raspberries and then add the juice to the water and sugar? I’m addicted to the raspberry flavor shot from Tim Hortons for my coffee. I can’t wait to make my own!
Pat Kiernan says
Hi can i use frozen raspberries to make the syrup?.
Tori Avey says
Hi Pat– yes that should be fine.
H. W. Meade says
How much of the syrup would you use to flavor 1 gallon of iced tea? Would you boil the syrup with the tea when making, or add it after?
Thank You….
Tori Avey says
H.W. Meade I don’t have a specific amount to recommend, you may add it to either hot or cold tea. I would simply recommending adding it little by little until the flavor is right for you.
Amy says
HI. I was wondering if I could use honey for the sweetner. We are trying to be paleo, but i just love raspberry syrup in my coffee. Thanks for any advice.
Tori Avey says
Hi Amy, I’ve never tried this with honey. If you try it will you please let us know how it turned out?
abe says
Can you add everclear to this or some other strong alcohol to make a drink?
Tori Avey says
Hi Abe, you can add a little of the syrup to a clear hard liquor like vodka with clear soda, or add a splash to champagne. Anywhere a cocktail recipe calls for “raspberry syrup,” this recipe may be used. There are lots of possibilities here!
Pearl says
Yes, they do have one. However it’s not on the menu. I hope it works too!
Pearl says
Hi tori, is this syrup suitable for making the cotton candy frap from Starbucks? I would love to make the drink at home you see.
Tori Avey says
Hi Pearl, I have never tasted the cotton candy frap (I didn’t know they have one?), so I’m not sure if the flavor is similar. This is a nice, sweet, raspberry-flavored syrup. Hope it works for you!
Shaynne says
Tori
Could you also use blackberries to make the syrup? I love both raspberries and blackberries and thought if I could make some of both that would be great.
Thanks!!
Tori Avey says
Yes!
Margaret Howe says
How many cups of frozen raspberries in 2 pounds?
Tori Avey says
Hi Margaret, it’s about 5 1/3 cups.
Cheri says
HI
Once you strain the raspberries what do you do with the raspberry water in the first pan? Do you add to the syrup and then cook it? Or discard with the wasted raspberry pulp?
Tori Avey says
Hi Cheri, I’m not sure I understand your question. The raspberry water becomes the syrup after you cook it down with the sugar… no liquid is discarded, only the solid berries. Does that make sense?
Peggy Andrews says
Hi, Tori. Thank you for this recipe! i’m so excited to make it this week. I’d like to bottle some for friends – I’ve never used the type of jars that you show for canning, and would like to. Can you help me with some canning advice? After preparing the syrup, boiling it for 5 minutes and adding some lemon juice as I bottle – do I water bath it? I assume I’d need to cover the bottles with water in the water-bath canner? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you so much.
Tori Avey says
Hi Peggy, yes you should use the water bath/boiling water method. I use mason jars for home canning, I wouldn’t can it in the bottle that appears in this post. Check out the following post which covers canning in depth: https://toriavey.com/how-to/how-to-can-boiling-water-method/ Using that method, cover the jars by 2 inches of water and process for 10 minutes. Hope that helps!
Tony Gallardo says
Thank you so much. I’m a learning cocktail hobbiest and was looking for a raspberry simple syrup when I stumbled upon your site. It was great! Been making a drink called ‘Blinker’ for my wife and I – we love it. I took the remaining raspberry leftovers and further boiled them with water and sugar, reduced, then puréed them into a jam. Kids love it. Thanks again
Tori Avey says
You’re welcome Tony!
Rocio says
Hi, I really want to make this for my summer iced teas this year. Can the sugar possibly be substituted with Agave syrup instead of sugar?Or is sugar needed for the process.
Tori Avey says
Hi Rocio, the syrupy texture here comes from the addition of sugar. You can use agave ,but it will be a much more watery syrup and will not thicken the way it should. If you don’t mind having a more watery syrup, it will probably be fine… but the agave is heavier than the water, so it may settle/separate a bit after it cools.
Emma says
Hey I was wonder where you got those bottles they are adorable!!!
Tori Avey says
Hi Emma! I got them at World Market. 🙂
Liza says
I am a big Raspberry syrup lover and I love to drizzle it over almost everything and making a syrup at home is a really good idea.
Sebastian says
Hey Tori, I have seen people in France pour raspberry syrup — like Torani syrups — into chilled white wine. I wanted to try something non-alcoholic in case one of my guests wanted to add it to lemonade or Pellegrino. Alas, my local green market was out of raspberries so…I ended up buying creme de cassis anyway but will try this when I next see the berries.
Sebastian says
Well, this is very easy! Would you/do you recommend using this to make a sort of Kir? I don’t want to run around looking for creme de cassis since I am sure I will only use it once. Your thoughts! 😉
Tori Avey says
Hi Sebastian! Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe a Kir is a cocktail made from creme de cassis and white wine. You can certainly make a cocktail using the raspberry syrup and white wine, although I’m not sure how similar it would be to a Kir, given the creme de cassis is a liqueur and contains alcohol.
Kelly says
I love your blog! Thank you for all the wonderful recipes and tips. I was wondering if you have ever canned this syrup? I would love to make enough for gifts for the coming year. My first grandchild is due at the end of December so I am already working on family gifts. I know my daughter will need me, so I need to be ready a little early this year:) Thanks so much Tori!
Tori Avey says
I have never canned this syrup Kelly, but I have a feeling it will work great as long as you use sterile canning procedures. Make sure you boil the finished syrup for a full 5 minutes before canning. You should also add 2 tbsp of lemon juice at the end of cooking to increase the acidity a bit. Mazel tov on your new grandchild!!