This Lavender Simple Syrup Recipe is a versatile addition to coffee drinks, lemonade, cocktails, desserts, and more! Its vibrant floral flavor adds a ton of depth to your favorite recipes. Plus, it’s incredibly easy to make at home with just a few ingredients in just 15 minutes!
We just LOVE lavender! It's not just for linen sprays or potpourri, either! The delicate floral flavor adds a touch of gourmet whimsy to a variety of dishes.
Lavender pairs particularly well with lemon and honey, which is why you'll find it in our lavender martini, our lavender gin fizz, this lavender lemonade, or our honey lavender latte.
It's also wonderful in baked goods, and considering our love for lavender, we're certain you'll find some new delicious sweets on our site soon.
We add a touch of (optional!) butterfly pea flowers to this syrup, to give it an all-natural delicate purple hue, just like in our color changing butterfly pea lemonade!
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❤️Why We Love This Recipe
- Quick and easy. This syrup is ready in 15 minutes or less, and all you need is a saucepan and a fine mesh sieve. It's incredibly easy to prepare!
- Made with simple ingredients. You only need 3 staple ingredients to make this recipe! Dried culinary lavender is easy to acquire online, so you can make this recipe year-round!
- Delicately elevates a variety of recipes. If you want your loved ones to think you're a true gourmand, whip out this simple syrup for your next gathering, it's guaranteed to impress. It's wonderful for spring and summer gatherings, birthday parties, baby showers, backyard BBQs, Valentine's Day, Easter, brunches, and even Halloween!
🪻Ingredients
Here are the ingredients we used for this recipe. You can find more information for substitutions below.
- Dried lavender. Make sure to use culinary-grade lavender buds. Fresh lavender can also be used if it's in season, but you will just need a lot more of it to get the same potency of lavender flavor.
- Butterfly pea flowers. These are completely optional, but add a lovely (and all-natural!) purple hue to the syrup.
- Lemon juice. Another optional ingredient, but when the acid from the lemon juice interacts with the pH of the butterfly pea flowers, it transforms the color from a deeper purple color to a paler color that is more "lavender" in shade!
Visit the recipe card for the full quantities and nutritional information.
✨Substitutions & Variations
Here are a few suggestions on additional flavors to try, or simple variations to this recipe.
- Using fresh lavender. You can certainly use fresh lavender instead of dried, but keep in mind that dried lavender has a much stronger flavor, so you will need to use a lot more fresh lavender!
- Sugar free. Make sure to check out sugar free lavender simple syrup if you're looking to decrease your sugar intake!
- Fruity. Lavender and a variety of fruits go very well together, try adding some blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries to the syrup for extra flavor. You can also combine the lavender syrup with our raspberry simple syrup, this strawberry simple syrup, or blueberry simple syrup.
- Honey-lavender syrup. Instead of sugar, you can use honey to sweeten this syrup for extra flavor.
This recipe hasn't been tested with any other substitutions or variations, so we can't guarantee any results. If you make a change, let us know how it goes in the comments below!
🔪Prep Work
- Measure out the ingredients.
- Squeeze lemon juice.
📋Instructions
Add the water, lavender, and butterfly pea flowers to a pot. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add in the optional squeeze of lemon to make the water turn from blueish to purple! (Image 1)
Pro tip: You can add as many butterfly pea flowers as you'd like to impact the color. The more you add, the deeper the purple color. Butterfly pea flowers have very little flavor, and if anything they're just slightly earthy, and the complement lavender very well!
Next, strain the lavender water mixture into a separate container through a metal sieve. Discard the flowers. (Image 2)
Add the lavender water mixture back to the pot over low heat. Add in the sugar, and stir until the sugar dissolves. (Image 3)
⭑Pro tip: You can also add the sugar at the beginning of the process, we just like to add it after straining to make the syrup thicker.
Allow the syrup to cool completely before adding it to cold drinks, like this delicious lavender lemonade. Enjoy!
✨Top Tips
- Start with less lavender and add more to taste if making this syrup for the first time. It's easy to overdo it with lavender, as it can have a strong flavor that can be overpowering if you use too much. Start by adding less, you can always add more later!
- Make sure to buy organic culinary lavender. Please don't use lavender that is full of pesticides! Make sure to use lavender that is safe for consumption.
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💭Frequently Asked Questions
Lavender on its own imparts very little color usually, and it can also depend on the type of lavender you use, and how fresh it is. This is why we use a little bit of help from butterfly pea flowers and lemon juice to create a stunning color.
You can also use a few drops of purple food coloring, or blue and red food coloring to make purple if you'd like to make the syrup purple.
Store in a sterilized, airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or potentially even longer! If the color begins to cloudy or off at all, or it has a strange smell, that means it has gone bad and should be discarded.
You can store this syrup at room temperature for a few days if it's made without lemon juice. If you add lemon juice to it, then be sure to discard it after 24 hours if you're not refrigerating it.
The leftovers can also be frozen pretty indefinitely, at least 6 months, but up to a year or more in an airtight, freezer-safe container.
More Uses For Lavender Simple Syrup
- Drizzle this syrup overtop of cake layers to make them extra moist, and add a floral sweetness!
- Make lavender soda pop by adding syrup to soda water!
- Sweeten your tea to make a delicious floral drink!
🪻More Lavender Recipes To Consider
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📖 Recipe
Lavender Simple Syrup Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.5 tablespoons dried culinary lavender buds
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon butterfly pea flowers optional, for a lovely purple hue
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice optional, to react with the
- 1 cup sugar 200g
Instructions
- Add the water, lavender, and butterfly pea flowers to a pot. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer for 5-10 minutes.1.5 tablespoons dried culinary lavender buds, 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon butterfly pea flowers
- Add in the optional squeeze of lemon to make the water turn from blueish to purple!1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- Next, strain the lavender water mixture into a separate container through a metal sieve. Discard the flowers.
- Add the lavender water mixture back to the pot over low heat. Add in the sugar, and stir until the sugar dissolves.1 cup sugar
- Allow the syrup to cool completely before adding it to cold drinks, like this delicious lavender lemonade, lavender gin fizz, and this lavender martini. It's fine served warm in our honey lavender latte! Enjoy!
- Store in a sterilized, airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or potentially even longer! If the color begins to cloudy or off at all, or it has a strange smell, that means it has gone bad and should be discarded.You can store this syrup at room temperature for a few days if it's made without lemon juice. If you add lemon juice to it, then be sure to discard it after 24 hours if you're not refrigerating it.The leftovers can also be frozen pretty indefinitely, at least 6 months, but up to a year or more in an airtight, freezer-safe container.
Notes
- You can add as many butterfly pea flowers as you'd like to impact the color. The more you add, the deeper the purple color. Butterfly pea flowers have very little flavor, and if anything they're just slightly earthy, and they complement lavender very well!
- Start with less lavender and add more to taste if making this syrup for the first time. It's easy to overdo it with lavender, as it can have a strong flavor that can be overpowering if you use too much. Start by adding less, you can always add more later!
- Make sure to buy organic culinary lavender. Please don't use lavender that is full of pesticides! Make sure to use lavender that is safe for consumption.
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