We read blog after blog claiming things like elderberry syrup, fire cider, and some type of tonic all help to reduce cold and flu symptoms. I myself live Elderberry and Astragalus syrup. My favorite misconception, however, is that echinacea is a preventative to catching the common cold and flu. while in reality, clinical studies have been shown that echinacea does not, at all, prevent anything. However, it is a great herb once you get sick, and helps lessen the symptoms and length of the cold or flu. Just make sure you don’t take it if you have a ragweed allergy, because you’ll make yourself ten times worse.
So what happens when you spend hundreds of dollars in all of these herbs and then, they don’t work? Well, I’ll tell you what—your husband looks at you and bans you from ordering herbs off the internet for the next 6 months.
I kid…kind of.
As I study Master Herbalism, I find more and more that approaching health from a scientific herbal standpoint really makes a huge difference. For years, I’ve used the same Elderberry syrup recipe, and most years it worked, however, I saw some variances and I could never figure out why. This came from a lack of education on my part. I think about it now and I cringe at the advice I was giving others, but we live and learn. The reality is that my syrup was effective some times and not other times because I wasn’t measuring my herbs by weight. But it was also because I wasn’t using these herbs to their fullest potential.
Recently, I discovered I could make my elderberry syrup much more amazing with preventative benefits. My goodness, what a difference it has made in our family. The combination of elderberries and astragalus root have maximized our ability to prevent viral issues and the common cold. These herbs have also helped us boost our immunity, as a preventative, when we are in situations where we need it. This looks a lot like taking this syrup before going to school, before going on a play date, to an amusement park, or even the grocery store. We all know that Elderberries have major health benefits, including immunity boosting and reducing the duration of colds and flu.
Elderberry and Astragalus Syrup
100 g dried black elderberries
20 g dried astragalus root
15 g dried ginger root (or powder)
8 g dried clove (whole)
1 quart distilled water (or previously boiled water)
½ cup organic sugar (or evaporated cane juice)
1 cup raw honey
Method:
- In a large sauce pan, add elderberries, astragalus, ginger, clove, and water. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook down this mixture on medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture has reduced by half. This can take 20 to 30 minutes.
- Remove from heat and strain your liquid into a bowl or container (glass). Measure your liquid, which will be about 1.5 to 2 cups, most likely.
- Place your liquid back into a sauce pan with your sugar and honey. Bring your mixture back to a boil, stirring frequently to ensure proper mixing, and boil for 10 minutes, or until your desired consistency. We enjoy a thick honey like syrup, but you can make it as thin or as thick as you’d like. Consistency is not key.
- Funnel your syrup into glass bottles once cooled a bit, and cap tightly. Preserving them in the refrigerator promotes shelf life and ensures less bacterial contamination. However, they can be stored in your pantry or medicine cabinet as well.
- Make this recipe in smaller batches if only using for one or two family members. Double or triple the batch if making for larger families.
Raw Honey Note: When using raw honey in syrups, you’re not always using raw honey for its medicinal properties, as those are destroyed during the boiling process. You are using honey as a means to deliver the herbal medicine, as a natural sweetener. Raw honey doesn’t have to be used—you can use organic processed honey, but we always have raw honey on hand on our homestead.
Wait and add the raw honey after the mixture begins to cool to maintain its medicinal properties if you’d like to, however, you’ll most likely need to indefinitely store the syrup in the fridge to ensure a longer shelf life.
Flu Fighting Elderberry and Astragalus Syrup
Ingredients
- 100 g dried black elderberries
- 20 g dried astragalus root
- 15 g dried ginger root (or powder)
- 8 g dried clove (whole)
- 1 quart distilled water (or previously boiled water)
- ½ cup organic sugar (or evaporated cane juice)
- 1 cup raw honey
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan, add elderberries, astragalus, ginger, clove, and water. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook down this mixture on medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture has reduced by half. This can take 20 to 30 minutes.
- Remove from heat and strain your liquid into a bowl or container (glass). Measure your liquid, which will be about 1.5 to 2 cups, most likely.
- Place your liquid back into a sauce pan with your sugar and honey. Bring your mixture back to a boil, stirring frequently to ensure proper mixing, and boil for 10 minutes, or until your desired consistency. We enjoy a thick honey like syrup, but you can make it as thin or as thick as you’d like. Consistency is not key.
- Funnel your syrup into glass bottles once cooled a bit, and cap tightly. Preserving them in the refrigerator promotes shelf life and ensures less bacterial contamination. However, they can be stored in your pantry or medicine cabinet as well.
- Make this recipe in smaller batches if only using for one or two family members. Double or triple the batch if making for larger families.
Notes
Raw Honey Note: When using raw honey in syrups, you’re not always using raw honey for its medicinal properties, as those are destroyed during the boiling process. You are using honey as a means to deliver the herbal medicine, as a natural sweetener. Raw honey doesn't have to be used—you can use organic processed honey, but we always have raw honey on hand on our homestead.
Wait and add the raw honey after the mixture begins to cool to maintain its medicinal properties if you'd like to, however, you’ll most likely need to indefinitely store the syrup in the fridge to ensure a longer shelf life.
© Amy K. Fewell | The Homesteader’s Herbal Companion
Elderberry and Astragalus resources:
Gray AM, Abdel-Wahab YH, Flatt PR. The traditional plant treatment, Sambucus nigra(elder), exhibits insulin-like and insulin-releasing actions in vitro. J Nutr. 2000;130(1):15-20.
Kong F. Pilot clinical study on a proprietary elderberry extract: efficacy in addressing influenza symptoms. Online Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics. 2009;5:32-43.
Roschek B, Fink RC, McMichael MD, et al. Elderberry flavonoids bind to and prevent H1N1 infection in vitro. Phytochemistry. 2009;70:1255-61.Roxas M, Jurenka J. Colds and influenza: a review of diagnosis and conventional, botanical, and nutritional considerations. Altern Med Rev. 2007 Mar;12(1):25-48. Review.Ulbricht C, Basch E, Cheung L, et al. An evidence-based systematic review of elderberry and elderflower(Sambucus nigra) by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration. J Diet Suppl. 2014;11(1):80-120.
Shao BM, Xu W, Dai H, et al. A study on the immune receptors for polysaccharides from the roots of Astragalus membranaceus, a Chinese medicinal herb. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2004;320(4):1103-1111.
2017 Flu Shot only 10% effective — https://www.cbsnews.com/news/this-years-flu-vaccine-may-only-be-10-effective-experts-warn/
Good morning! I am making this right now in hopes that we can avoid the plague going around this year. ? I was wondering how much to give as a dose for adults and children.
Hi sara!
As a preventative–
Adults and children, 2 tsp
As a healing agent (if you get sick) —
Adults, 2 tbs every 2-3 hours
Children, 3 tsp every 2-3 hours
Fantastic!!! Thank you!
What is the shelf life of the syrup? Both pantry & refrigerator?
Shelflife is about 6 months on shelf, 8-10 months in fridge.
Who knows if you’ll ever see this but THANK YOU, I always turn to this recipe! I was wondering what you think of making this with colloidal silver?
Can you use astragalus powder instead of dried astragalus?
Hi. Can you use astragalus powder if you cannot find the dried root? If so, how much?
I wouldn’t really suggest it, as it’s hard to strain out the powder
I use the powder and mine is like a thin jelly, not gritty. No issues!
Hi there 🙂 Do you happen to have a bulk recipe for making elderberry syrup?
Thank you!!
Hi Alexandria! You’d really just double or triple this recipe 🙂
We have a few Elderberry trees ready to harvest the berries on and was curious if you have done this with fresh berries instead of dried? If so would the amount in the recipe change?
We have used fresh berries and it’s delicious! They will release more water, so use less water.
I’m curious if this is also true for frozen berries?
Hi Amy!
I have a few questions/comments. First, would it be possible to use the same weight of fresh/frozen elderberries as dried? All other recipes I see say that they are interchangeable, but I wonder how accurate that is. Second, is it necessary to use the additional 1/2 cup of sugar? Currently I do 1 cup of berries and 1 cup of honey to 6 cups of water and that is plenty sweet for our family…Third, I’m wondering about manuka honey and just thought I’d put a bug in your ear… have you ever thought of including some manuka honey I;different healing recipes? I would think it could be beneficial (although expensive – so maybe unnecessary?).
Thanks for your help!
Anna
You can use fresh, dried, or frozen, but with frozen and fresh, just remember they release more water. So adjust accordingly or cook off longer.
You can use manuka honey, just make sure you aren’t over dosing on it. It’s very potent!
Oh! One other note. In a small amount of research on astragalus, I came across a warning that pregnant moms should not use it – and while I typically snob the idea, this time I feel pressed to share this information. Here is a link so that other moms can make their own informed decision. Blessings!
https://draxe.com/astragalus/
Astragalus is generally safe for women who are pregnant unless they are taking high dosages, as with most tonic herbs.
I have never read astragalus is not safe for pregnant women-I wonder where Dr Axe got that information. I am currently pregnant and I had astragalus root to our bone broths, as well as our herbal syrups for cough and immunity. I’m still learning, but I hope its okay to do what I have already done!
What are the benefits for using astragalus?
Wher do I find all those items
The products are hyperlinked in the recipe 🙂
Where is the best place for me to get the above products. This is new to me and I don’t want to get contaminated products. Thank you. Love your feed
Is the sugar needed?
You can omit the sugar.
Hello Amy. First, thank you. My question is, after looking up ingredients and amounts, it appears to be over $100. Fine with that, but want to make sure I am correct before over ordering. Is the amounts you used in your video for a BIG batch, or the same as the recipe on your blog calls for?Sorry…don’t cook much by weight and want to be sure before ordering. Thank you.
Hi Amy, thank you for the great recipe. I have been using astragalus for a while now & only recently started adding the dried elderberry to my tea concoction with ginger powder. I love the syrup recipe as my 6-yr old would never drink my tea.
My question is regarding amounts. I don’t have a scale & am wondering if you have an approximation on the weight to volume so I get the correct amount of each ingredient. Thank you so much ❤️
So glad I found your page! I’m a big Elderberry user and my husband, a brain cancer survivor swears by Astragalus, so now I’m motivated to make this! Thank you! I apologize if you mentioned somewhere, but I can’t seem to find where you buy your elderberrys and astragalus root?
Can you can elderberr syrup?
Can you use coconut sugar?
I think that would be fine!
Could I add rose hips into this recipe also? Any idea of how much? Thanks!
You can! I’d add about 1/4 of the amount you use for the elderberry measurement.
Can you please add the measurements in cups/tbs/etc vs weight/grams.
Most true herbalists will never give you measurements by cups or tbsp. Herbs normally need to be weighed out. But, I can give you a general measurement of a bulk batch, which is 1 lb elderberry, 1/4 lb astragalus, and enough water to just cover them.
Hi Amy! Amy here.. lol.. I have a question about the dried berries and ginger that are strained off after boiling. Could they be laid out, dried again and reused for another batch or for something else?
I wouldn’t use them for medicinal purposes. Most of the medicinal value has been extracted in the syrup. But you could make a tea with them for flavor!
Hi Amy, Just wanted to say thank you. We love making your Elderberry and Astragalus Syrup. We live in North Queensland, Australia and when I make this we have to close the house up. It attracts all of the bee’s from around our neighbourhood. So cool. xxx
Well, now I wish I have read this comment before making it. I thought the bees just went crazy today! It was quite dangerous! I’ll know beter next time :).
Could I use xylitol in place of the sugar for this recipe?
Hello!
Can I omit the honey? Trying to avoid carbs.
you can!
Good morning! I’m wondering if this recipe can be canned so I can have it on hand for later ? What are your thoughts ?
Could I add echinacea to this recipe? Or chamomile? If so how much would you recommend is safe?
Could I add echinacea to this recipe? Or chamomile? If so how much would you recommend is safe?
Can I use maple syrup in place of the honey? I’m out of honey at the moment.
Hi Amy!! Thank you for everything you share! I’d like to make this and leave out the ginger as many of my friends complain about the ginger (they don’t like how spicy it is) it doesn’t bother me but I’m making it to sell to friends and family so I’d like to leave it out. Would there be a replacement for leaving it out? Or just simply leave it out?
Where do I find your bulk recipe? I tried to eye it and it did not make a gallon. 😔