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?

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168 Comments

  1. Aimee – I just made this syrup and it is fantastic. It was way easier than I expected making my own syrup would be! Thanks for this recipe and all the other you post 🙂

  2. Where did you find the bottle to put your syrup in? I have been on the hunt for bottles and can’t seem to find any I like.
    Thanks,

  3. Could I make this recipe with blackberries or strawberries? I have lots of fresh berries that I want to make into syrup and Jar up for the winter.

    One other question, could I cut the sugar down a bit and still be able to can it?

    Thanks! I love this recipe! The first batch I made I canned, and last night we had it over vanilla ice cream.

  4. Aimee, Do you know if this has enough acid to can? I’m thinking it does, but am a novice canner, and wanted to check in and see. I’d love to give some as gifts this Christmas, and have enough berries for a double batch right now.

    Thanks so much–for your help, and all your lovely writing and recipe-ing!

    Best,
    a.

  5. You can make syrup with any fruit, really. I don’t know if all will be thick enough to put on pancakes but I’ve made other fruit syrups that we’ve used to flavor sparkling water. Cherry soda is fabulous!

    I have LOTS of blueberries in the freezer. I’m going to try this over Christmas break!

  6. I love this recipe. I just made it again because we have already gone through the first batch I made last month. I was a little worried that it wouldn’t thicken at all when I was boiling the water, but I just continued and it turned out just fine.

    1. You can hot water bath this. Do not cool it at the end. Place into jars, (leaving 1/4 inch at top) and hot bath for 5-7 minutes.
      Cool overnight, and test for seal. Good for approx 1 year (but better, if eaten within 8 months, or so).

  7. I’m curious if I could use all of the berry by pureeing it in my vitamix. If so, how would that change the amounts needed?
    Thanks so much.

    1. I think the consistency would change a lot, it would be more like a butter. You’d also have to pick your berries over very well to remove stems. Mine are always full of stems!

  8. When you say “clean” jars, do you mean clean, or sterilized?
    Thanks! This canning/preserving things is scary to me…

  9. There’s a compliment here, in amongst my sad waily wailyness. I made this today and the entire house was suffused with blueberry lemon goodness, I set the pot of syrup aside to cool and decided to tackle the cleanup. That’s when I saw it; my candy thermometer was broken. The glass housing the core was cracked and pieces of glass were missing. Which means they must be in my beautiful aubergine colored syrup! Sad now. I think it would have been lovely and delicious, it smells divine. Your directions were perfect and detailed.

  10. Intead of discardingthe berried once they have been juiced, why not make blueberry butter. It’s tasty and no fruit is wasted. 🙂

  11. Could you possibly do this with Saskatoon berries as well? or is there a different process with Saskatoons? Thank you!

  12. I can’t wait to make this, it looks delicious, and I think will be a perfect addition to yogurt for my son who doesn’t like actual pieces of fruit in it. I’m just confused on the “wash out your pot” part of step 5. What does that mean exactly? I can’t imagine it means to clean it out, because then how would you bring just lemon peel and sugar to a boil? Thanks!

      1. You both are right. That is SO confusing. I just made a batch again this week. Lemme update the recipe with better directions. You’re supposed to combine the strained blueberry juice back in the pot with the sugar and peel…

  13. Hi!
    I just found your recipe from a google search. Spent all morning picking berries at a local farm and do not want them to go to waste. This looks divine! Thank you for sharing!

  14. So I made this syrup yesterday and was very happy with!! Easy to make and tasted great. I never did get mine up to 225 degrees, but deemed it good enough to stop cooking with it was about 212. But today when I went to have some it was basically jelly. I had to heat and add a significant amount of water to make it syrup again…what did I do wrong???

    1. Nothing, Kelly, that’s my bad. I altered the recipe somewhat after making it again last week. I should have taken that part out. So sorry!! Going to update it now. Basically, we’re just looking for a slight thicken….

      1. You said that the 225c was taken out, but it’s still there. So you are saying to just cook it slightly then remove or can? 225 should give a very thick almost candy???

  15. Good to know…thanks. We will be making this again! So here’s hoping the long term consistency is right this time.

  16. I made this today and put about a half cup into a homemade quart of kefir. It is delicious! I think my picky boys will like it too. Thanks for sharing the recipe and process.

  17. Hey all, glad the revisions were done before I tried this recipe because it turned out great! So simple..so yummy! Kept the pulp.. Maybe fruit leather? ( I had very few stems). Thanks for sharing.

  18. Aimee,
    I use a steamer juicer to make my jelly – could I use it instead of the method of cooking and straining? Usually when I’m done with the steamer juicer, all I have is juice, pure beautiful juice. If that was the case, how would I make the syrup? Just go to the adding lemon and sugar stage?

  19. I made this today only I used ripe Pinot Noir grapes instead if blueberries. We have a single grape vine and I needed something to do with the grapes since there’s not enough to make wine. The syrup is amazingly good. Was going to give it as holiday gifts but I don’t think it’ll last that long!

  20. Mine turned out grainy. What did I do wrong? The flavor is great and the smell is divine, but the graininess makes it not ideal for gift giving. I’d appreciate any suggestions!

  21. Just wondering if I could use frozen blueberries in this recipe instead of the fresh. And if I can, should I be using less then the 1 cup of water specified in the recipe?

  22. WHOA. This is delicious. My roommate and I made this for Christmas presents for all of our loved ones this year. So easy, affordable, and delicious!!! We added a bit of lavender instead of cinnamon, and its great. Thank you for this recipe!

  23. I just found your recipe thru a Google search I am going to try it today thank you so much form sharing it.

    1. i was wondering the same thing just now. ive done this with blueberries but not strawberries yet

  24. I just made this and it came out extremely good…I used frozen blueberries.

    Only thing is, it seems kind of thin and runny…I was looking at it thinking I might make a drink out of it, lol.

    I did try boiling it for about 15 minutes longer…we’ll see if that helps.

  25. Ooops…I guess I boiled it 15 minutes too long…it’s blueberry jelly now.

    It’s okay, I’ll just heat it up when I need to use it again.

  26. I used a cup of boiling water to “rinse” off the skins in the strainer and extract more juice, then increased the cooking time with the sugar to get it to thicken up a bit more. Worked great! I’m going to mix the syrup with vodka to make a blueberry martini.

  27. cleaning the blues, I put my berries on a clean large towel, roll it back n forth as I sort out the bad berries, it takes very little time, the towel holds the stems and leaves.
    the pulp can be used for fruit leather or I played around with it until I made a tasty condiment from the pulp to eat with cooked veggies, meats, sort of like a cranberry sauce.
    I had been making blueberry “juice” for a few years with my juice steamer. The syrup has a bit more sugar. I prefer lime juice in my blueberry juice.
    I water bath can the pulp, the juice and now the syrup.
    To avoid making jam, the water is critical.
    I do not see where or when you add your water ? … do you first boil the water and sugar with the lemon peel and then add the blueberry juice and then the lemon juice at the end. I read your directions twice and am not connecting the dots on when you add the water.
    tks for the help.

  28. I didn’t have such luck with this recipe. First off it only yields 1 1/2 PINT. Secondly, I think there is far to much lemon, it tastes very lemon-y. I was HIGHLY disappointed in this recipe and I have been canning for 25 years.,

  29. I have some blueberry juice left over from making blueberry butter that I’d like to make into syrup. How many cups of juice do you get after straining your blueberries?