How to Make Your Own Blueberry Syrup

Imagine a blueberry syrup that actually tastes like blueberries, real ripe blueberries, and not just sugar. Now imagine producing it right in your own kitchen and stashing a few bottles of it away for winter. That is what we’re going to do today!

Never mind the laundry piling up (our machine is currently out of order, so that gives me a good excuse) and the sticky floors, blueberry season is short and the berries won’t wait around. Unfortunately, the laundry will.

This syrup is my new favorite way to preserve the sweet dark berries. When a recent tally of my jam pantry showed I still had nineteen varieties of homemade jam to be consumed, I relinquished my plan to make blueberry jam with my market haul and decided to go with syrup. We’re huge pancake fans around here and fresh fruit syrups will not go to waste.

With average pancake syrups such as Aunt Jemima consisting basically of corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavoring, along with the hefty price tag of pure maple syrup, homemade fruit syrup is an extremely attractive option for topping your buckwheat pancakes – or blueberry sundaes.

A few ways we enjoy blueberry syrup:

  • Stirred into yogurt
  • Poured over ice cream
  • Drizzled over plain cheesecake
  • Spilled over pancakes or waffles
  • Added to milkshakes or smoothies

Ready to make your own blueberry syrup? Let’s do it!

Blueberry Syrup

Sweet Summertime Blueberry Syrup

5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Preserves
Servings: 3 250 ml jars
Calories: 417kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 lemon organic, whole and washed
  • 5 cups blueberries organic, washed
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup Turbinado sugar firmly packed (or white sugar)

Instructions

  • Using a sharp paring knife, peel three or four strips of lemon peel from the lemon. Skin should be about 1/2 inch wide and not have too much of the bitter pith or white part on it. Then juice the lemon, and set both zest and juice aside.
  • Place blueberries and  water in a medium pot. Don’t worry about stems or leaves; they will be strained out later. Using a potato masher, crush the berries.
  • Over medium-high heat, bring the berries and water to a boil, then lower the temperature to medium-low. Simmer berries for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. They will darken considerably.
  • Remove pot from heat and ladle berries into a fine sieve set over a heat-proof bowl or measuring cup. Using the back of a smaller ladle, press on the berry solids to extract as much juice as possible. Discard solids. (Update: or save them if you like. This part is apparently alarming to quite a few commenters! But my solids are full of stems, not worthy of a smoothie.)
  • Return the blueberry juices to the pot, then add the lemon peel (not juice yet) and the sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes until the mixture thickens slightly. (Optional: Add a stick of cinnamon here, if you like).
  • Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice and stir to combine. Boil another minute or two. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Remove lemon zest.
  • Using a funnel, pour syrup into clean jars. Top with lid and store in the refrigerator for up to three months, or the freezer for up to nine.

Notes

Recipe Update!
A lot of you have asked about canning this syrup. Yes, I have done so with success. Brush up on your canning basics before you proceed, then ladle hot syrup into hot, sterilized jars (I use 1/4 pint), wipe rings, and cover with lids. Place in a hot water canning bath and process for 10 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 417kcal | Carbohydrates: 106g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 259mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 92g | Vitamin A: 135IU | Vitamin C: 43mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1.2mg

Would you use fruit syrups at your table?

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




168 Comments

  1. I have made jam before but this time I wanted to try blueberry. I made it, jarred it, and water bath. It sealed very nicely but did not jell. I think I over cooked it because I was interrupted. My question is that since it is sealed can I use it for syrup !!!

  2. I made this for the first time over a year ago and it was delicious, even my kids love it. I have used the same recipe for raspberry syrup and it turned out perfectly, I used it to make a very tasty raspberry vingarette then froze the rest. Thank you Aimee for fabulous, family friendly recipes!

  3. I ended up putting all of the lemon juice in insted of the 2 tablespoons and the syrup turned out very nicely. Also if your lemon peels are thin enough wouldn’t they be very close to candied lemon peels? I sucked on the zest after removing it and enjoyed the change from sweet blueberry to lemon!

  4. Followed your recipe with a few adjusttments since I didn’t have as many berries as the recipe called for plus I used huckleberries instead of blueberries & they cost an arm and a leg here unless you pick or get them as a gift.

    Have loved reading responses since they gave me a ton of ideas of what I can do with berries I couldn’t get to last Fall. I had flash frozen raspberries, blackberries & strawberries when my mother became ill and I needed to go there.

    My syrup turned out superb! Thanks!

  5. Hello. I have a lot of frozen blueberries and I tried this recipe but it was to watery. How would I thicken it? With more sugar? Thanks

  6. HI, I did this for the first time today and it looks, tastes and smells yummy however it has gone solid when cooled. What did I do wrong and can I rescue it? Thanks x

  7. If the syrup is canned can I keep this in a cupboard instead of a fridge until opened? Also how long will it keep?

    1. Always keep canned goods in a cupboard until you use them. Unopened canned goods can last 1 – 2 years.

  8. I WOULD use fruit syrup at my table but haven’t yet because all of the store bought syrups use corn syrup and I didn’t want to use those. So thank-you for this recipe. As soon as I can I’ll be making homemade blueberry syrup for the family. I have an empty maple syrup jar waiting to be filled. I can already see this going on pancakes, waffles, cheesecake and I love the commenters’ ideas of using the leftovers for blueberry butter and smoothies :). Nom, nom.

  9. I made this recipe last night and used my Vitamix to blend the whole berry. The ONLY waste I had were the stems. This morning we had so.e for breakfast… it was FABULOUS !!! 6LBS. of upick berries yielded 8 pints of syrup. yummo !!! 🙂

  10. So excited to go pick blueberries in the morning!! I think I made five or six batches of this last year!! Our whole family LOVES it!! Thanks for the great recipe! We are putting up way more than last year as we ran out by December!

  11. I picked some organic blueberries at my sisters house yesterday and made syrup from your recipe this evening. Superb! I used Rapunzel organic cane sugar. I put in 50% of the sugar called for in the recipe, as late season blueberries are quite sweet. It was perfect. Thank you so much!

  12. I’ve scoured the internet for a blueberry syrup recipe and now I can stop. Yours makes the most sense to me. Little sugar and lots of berries. Making it today. Thanks!!

  13. OMG! This sooo good – I really wanted to lick the pan clean to not waste even one drop of syrup! After the syrup was done I put the “solids” back in the pan and cooked them for a few minutes with a little sugar and lemon rind (I didn’t have any stems or debris in my berries). This will be great on an English muffin or toast.

  14. I have purchased several bags of blueberries and I was going to just steam them to get the juice. I have a steamer/juicer. Can I leave the water out of the recipe

    1. Hi Susan,
      We’ve been updating our recipes to a new format that includes a print button. The Blueberry Syrup is a really old one. I just updated the post for you.
      Print and enjoy!

  15. Absolutely delicious recipe! It’s towards the end of blueberry season and I went blueberry picking. The natural sweetness of the berries plus the lemon juice made this almost perfectly tart and sweet! Thank you! I made it and added culinary lavender and it was incredible! I used a little over 1/2 cup coconut sugar instead to make it “Paleo”. Perfect recipe!

  16. 5 stars
    Such a hit! Thank you! Our diet is limited for health reasons and this made a vegan gluten free birthday cake special! Thank you for sharing this recipe!