How to Make Simple Syrup

Make Simple Syrup at home in minutes with just 2 ingredients: water and sugar. Use it in cocktails, iced tea, or brushed over baked goods.

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Prep Time 2 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 12 minutes

Servings (1-ounce) servings

Calories 65kcal

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved (do not boil). Remove from heat and cool completely.
Pour into sterile container and store covered in the refrigerator.

Yield: 1 cup sugar + 1 cup water = 1 1/2 cups simple syrup
Uses: Delicious in cold beverages like cocktails, iced tea, iced coffee, or lemonade.
Rich Simple Syrup: A more concentrated sugar syrup in a ratio of 2:1 (2 parts sugar to 1 part water). Simmer this for at least 10 minutes to make sure all the sugar crystals dissolve. This denser syrup is ideal for brushing on baked goods like pound cake or muffins.
Sour mix: Stir in 1 cup fresh lemon juice and 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice to the cooled simple syrup recipe below (you’ll have about 3 1/4 cups sour mix).
Flavored syrup: Steep flavors in hot simple syrup, then strain out the flavoring ingredients. Store in the refrigerator and use within 2 weeks. Some flavor ideas include fresh herbs (rosemary, mint, basil), spices (cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, fresh ginger root), citrus (orange or lemon zest), or even flowers (lavender, rose petals).
Hummingbird nectar: To feed your flying friends, combine 4 parts water and 1 part sugar over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved. Cool completely, then add to your hummingbird feeder. Do not add red food coloring.
Storage: Store simple, rich, and flavored syrups covered in the refrigerator.
- Basic simple syrup: 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator.
- Rich simple syrup: up to 6 months in the refrigerator
- Demerara syrup: up to 6 months in the refrigerator
- Flavored simple syrup: 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator