How to Make Lavender Simple Syrup

Learn how to make homemade lavender simple syrup with fresh or dried lavender—perfect for sweetening drinks, lattes, and desserts without tasting like soap. Includes tips for harvesting, steeping, and storing.

I dream of living on a lavender farm. Imagine walking through rows upon rows of lavender flowers budding and blooming. Bees frantically gathering sweet lavender nectar, the intoxicating scent of rich, floral lavender thick in the hot summer air.

But we can’t all live in the south of France, can we?

So I’ve recreated a small piece of that dream at home. Along the south side of our house, I planted a 20-foot row of English lavender and let it grow wild among the other perennials.

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It seems to be happy there on the warmest, sunniest part of our yard and reseeds like crazy if I don’t harvest all the flowers.

And I do like to leave plenty of flowers around for the bees.

This year, we have a little bunny family living in our lavender. I like to imagine they’re the best smelling bunnies in town.

But I digress.

Today we’re here to make lavender simple syrup, a sweet, floral infusion perfect for drinks and desserts.

Lavender is a strong flavor, and if not used responsibly, will make food and drinks taste like soap.

Don’t worry. This recipe will show you how to make lavender simple syrup that has just the right amount of floral notes.

Table of Contents

• What Is Simple Syrup?
• Best Ways to Use Lavender Simple Syrup
• What You’ll Need to Make Lavender Syrup
• When and How to Harvest Lavender
• Lavender Simple Syrup Recipe
• Tips and FAQs
• Recipe Card

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What Is Lavender Simple Syrup?

Simple syrup is just sugar dissolved in water. It makes a thick, sticky liquid that has a variety of uses.

Most commonly, simple syrup is used in drinks in place of granulated sugar, which can be hard to dissolve in an iced beverage.

Have you ever tried adding a packet of sugar to unsweetened iced tea? You’ll be stirring that cup until your arm falls off.

Another reason to make simple syrup is that it’s very easy to flavor.

You can use a variety of different sugars (brown sugar, coconut sugar, etc.) to change the color and flavor.

Or you can flavor it by infusing the syrup with flowers or herbs, such as lavender.

Best Ways to Use Lavender Simple Syrup

You can use homemade lavender syrup in drinks and desserts, or anywhere you’d like a sweet floral flavor. Try it:

• Mixed with lemonade
• In a Tom Collins
• In coffee for a lavender latte (iced or hot)
• With matcha
• Drizzled over cakes, scones, pancakes or waffles
• Stirred into an ice cream base to make homemade lavender ice cream
• Poured over ice cream (perhaps the aforementioned homemade lavender ice cream for a lavender overload)

You can also stir a spoonful into a cup of hot or iced herbal tea. If you’re curious about using lavender in tea, I’ve written this post on how to brew herbal tea at home.

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What You’ll Need to Make Lavender Syrup

For this recipe, you’ll need:

• 4 heaping tablespoons dried lavender (or a handful of fresh lavender sprigs)
• 1 cup cane sugar
• 1 cup water
• a small saucepan
• a fine-mesh strainer

NOTE: Use culinary-grade lavender for this recipe. Don’t go off to Hobby Lobby to buy lavender to eat. That stuff is for crafts only.

Want to grow your own? Lavender is one of the easiest herbs to start with, especially if you love herbal tea. You’ll find more inspiration in my post on best herbs to grow for tea.

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When and How to Harvest Lavender

If you’re growing your own English lavender, you can use it in this recipe. Just make sure it hasn’t been sprayed with chemicals or peed on by the neighbor’s dog.

The best time to harvest lavender is when the flowers have budded but are not yet blooming.

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Pick lavender buds in the morning before they bloom for the best, strongest flavor. You don’t have to wash it, but a little rinse won’t hurt either.

For this recipe, I leave the lavender buds on the stem rather than separating them.

Fresh stems and leaves are full of lavender flavor, so you can even use these in your syrup if your lavender is no longer in bloom.

Note on types of lavender: Use English lavender or Lavandula angustifolia for culinary use. Other ornamental lavenders like Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) have too much camphor that gives it a strong soapy flavor. (Find out more about culinary lavender in this article.)

A few good varieties to cook with are:

• Munstead
• Melissa
• Hidcote
• Royal Velvet

Lavender Simple Syrup Recipe

Place lavender buds in a saucepan with a cup of cane sugar and a cup of water.

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir continuously making sure the sugar completely dissolves.

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Simmer on low heat for one minute.

Remove from heat and allow the flowers to steep in the syrup for 20 minutes.

Taste the syrup and if it’s strong enough, strain out the lavender.

If you’d like a stronger flavor, allow the lavender buds to steep for an additional 10 minutes before straining.

Transfer the syrup to a clean glass jar or bottle.

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Tips and FAQs

• Store at room temperature for a week or up to a month in the refrigerator.
• You can reuse the lavender as a garnish or topping if you’d like, or simply compost or discard. It won’t have much flavor left.
• Add food coloring if you want your homemade syrup to be lavender-colored. Adding a few crushed blueberries will also color the syrup slightly.

Lavender simple syrup is easy to make and adds a sophisticated floral twist to your favorite drinks and desserts. It’s the best flavor of early summer, in my opinion, bottled up and kept in the fridge.

And who knows? Maybe one day we’ll both end up on lavender farms having lavender tea and scones.

Have you made lavender syrup before? Let us know how you like to use it or share your favorite lavender treat in the comments!

Recipe Card