Lemon Simple Syrup (3 Ingredients)
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Flavored simple syrups are a delicious way to add variety and flavor – along with sweetness – to your drinks. This lemon simple syrup has three ingredients – water, sugar, and lemon peel – and takes minutes to make. It’s perfect for sweetening iced tea or adding to a delicious homemade lemonade.
Made with ingredients easily found at your local grocery store, this easy recipe is a great way to use a part of the lemon often discarded – lemon rinds.
I love this simple lemon syrup for sweetening cold drinks like iced tea because you don’t have to worry about sugar granules not dissolving and making your drink gritty. This simple recipe is also one of my favorite ways to level up your cocktail or mocktails. Just trade out traditional simple syrup for lemon syrup.
Ingredients
- White sugar – Either cane sugar or beet sugar will work here. Using any other kind of sugar – honey, brown sugar, etc. – will change the flavor of your syrup.
- Lemon – Fresh lemon is the only option for this recipe. You’ll need the peel off of the fresh fruit for the syrup, so look for a lemon that’s fresh and firm. Now is not the time to use up that lemon that’s been hanging out in the back of the fridge for a month. Do not use lemon zest or lemon juice instead.
- Water – Filtered water will give you the best flavor.
How to Make Lemon Simple Syrup
Using a vegetable peeler, peel two large strips of lemon rind off of the outside of the lemon. Be careful not to get the pith (the white part) underneath the peel, which is bitter.
Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir until this sugar dissolves.
Remove from heat and add in the lemon peels. Let mixture steep until it’s cooled to room temperature. Remove the lemon peels with a fork or fine mesh strainer.
Pour your lemon syrup into a glass bottle or jar and place it in the refrigerator. Let it cool completely before using.
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3 Ingredient Lemon Simple Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 – 2 inch pieces fresh lemon peel
Instructions
- Using a vegetable peeler, peel two large strips of lemon rind off of the outside of the lemon. Be careful not to get the white pith underneed the peel, which is bitter.
- Bring water to a boil in a small pot over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and add in the lemon peels.
- Let mixture steep until it’s cooled to room temperature.
- Remove the lemon peels with a fork or fine mesh strainer.
- Pour your lemon syrup into a glass bottle or jar and place it in the refrigerator. Let it cool completely before using.
- Lemon simple syrup will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Discard it if it starts to look cloudy or changes color in any way.
Recipe Tips
Use very fresh lemons. Choose a fresh lemon that’s firm to the touch. Soft, squishy lemons are typically fine for juicing, but they’ve lost a lot of the oils in their outer peel. Because of that they won’t peel nicely and will have minimal flavor in that outer peel.
Don’t zest the lemon peel. There’s no need for it – it won’t make the flavor stronger or infuse faster. Plus it’s a pain to get that lemon zest back out of your syrup and you don’t want to leave it in because it’ll create a bad texture in your drinks.
Store your syrup in glass containers with a tight-fitting lid. Use a glass bottle or glass jar (a mason jar works great!) so it doesn’t absorb any lingering odors or flavors from plastic containers.
How Long Does Lemon Syrup Last?
Store your syrup in an airtight container. Lemon simple syrup will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Discard it if it starts to look cloudy or changes color in any way.
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Add fresh mint leaves, fresh basil leaves, or dried lavender to your lemon syrup when you add in the lemon peels to create delicious variations on this lemon syrup recipe.
How to Use Lemon Simple Syrup
There are so many ways to use lemon syrup! Try one of these ideas:
- Swap it out for the traditional simple syrup in my Homemade Lemonade recipe.
- Use it to sweeten your iced tea or hot tea.
- Toss 2 Tbsp of lemon syrup with 1 Tbsp fresh, chopped mint and drizzle over fruit salads.
- Mix it with soda water or your favorite sparkling water to make homemade lemon soda.
- Use it in place of traditional simple syrup in my classic Lemon Drop Martini.
Frequently Asked Questions
The citrus oils in the lemon peel is what gives this syrup its flavor. Using lemon juice will dilute the flavor and result in a more subtle lemon flavor. Save the juice from your lemon for making homemade lemonade and stick to using the peels in your syrup.
While I don’t have a lot of lemon choices in Michigan (no lemon trees here!), the traditional lemons available at every super market – as well as Meyer lemons – were both excellent when testing this sugar syrup recipe.
Don’t Miss These Simple Syrup Recipes
Looking for more easy simple syrup recipes? Try my grapefruit simple syrup, orange simple syrup, pineapple simple syrup or fresh ginger simple syrup.
