Homemade Blueberry Syrup Recipe (2024)

This blueberry syrup recipe is easy to make and has the perfect balance of sweetness while preserving the delicious blueberry flavor.

When you hear the word syrup, you probably think of maple syrup. My family love maple syrup, but there’s something that just feels so special when you pour homemade blueberry syrup over a fluffy stack of pancakes.

If you check the price of blueberry syrup at the grocery store, you’ll probably set it right back down on the shelf. Fortunately, it’s incredibly easy to make your own blueberry syrup at home with a handful of simple ingredients.

While it may seem like you need an abundance of blueberries to make fresh blueberry syrup, you can use either frozen or fresh berries, so you can make this recipe any time of year. And the best part is you don’t need much sugar to sweeten this incredible syrup.

Ingredients

• 4 cups of blueberries
• ¾ cup of filtered water
• 5 tablespoons of granulated sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons of fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 2-3 large slices of lemon peel

By the Numbers: How to Make Blueberry Syrup

Follow these easy steps to make your own blueberry syrup with simple ingredients in your own kitchen.

Step 1: Add Blueberries and Water to Pan

Start by washing 4 cups of blueberries, then place them in your medium saucepan with ¾ cup of water.

Step 2: Boil and Mash Berries

Use a potato masher to smash and break down the berries. Turn the stove on to medium-high heat and bring the berries to a boil. Keep smashing until they are all broken down.

Step 3: Simmer Blueberries into a Sauce

Once they come to a boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for about 15 minutes. Be sure to stir regularly. The berries will keep breaking down and turn into a sauce.

Step 4: Strain Blueberry Syrup

Place a fine mesh strainer or a strainer lined with cheesecloth over a large bowl. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the berry mixture through the strainer.

Press as much of the liquid out of the berries as you can. You can discard the berry solids, compost them or use them for another purpose – you don’t need them for the syrup.

Step 5: Heat Blueberry Juice, Lemon Peel and Sugar

Pour the strained blueberry juice back into your saucepan along with the lemon peel and sugar.

Step 6: Thicken Blueberry Syrup

Bring your syrup to low boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes. The blueberry syrup will slightly thicken.

Step 7: Add Lemon Juice

Once it has slightly thickened, stir in 1 ½ teaspoons of lemon juice into the mixture and simmer for another 1-2 minutes.

Step 8: Strain & Cool Blueberry Syrup

Turn off the heat and remove the lemon zest slices. If you zest slices are too small to get with a utensil, you can strain the mixture again to remove them.

Once cooled, transfer to a pint-sized mason jar or 4 four-ounce jars and store in the refrigerator.

Tips for Making Blueberry Syrup

Answers to all of your questions about making the best homemade blueberry syrup recipe, including tips, variations and substitution ideas.

Fresh or frozen blueberries?

It doesn’t matter whether you use frozen or fresh blueberries when making homemade blueberry syrup. Both fresh and frozen berries taste great… just make sure to choose the most ripe and flavorful berries possible.

How to serve blueberry syrup?

There are so many yummy ways to enjoy blueberry syrup. It’s a real treat:

• In place of maple syrup on pancakes (like these cream cheese pancakes) and French toast.
• On top of homemade cheesecake or pound cake.
• Over vanilla ice cream, yogurt or in oatmeal.
• Mixed into cream cheese for fruit dip.
• Used to flavor cold drinks like iced tea.
• Made into a Blueberry Balsamic Salad Dressing by combining ½ cup of blueberry syrup with ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and ½ cup olive oil.

How to make a smoother syrup?

If you find your homemade syrup isn’t as smooth as you’d like (not all fine mesh strainers are created equal), you can use an immersion blender, regular blender or food processor to make it even smoother once it’s cooled to room temperature.

How to store blueberry syrup?

Store your homemade blueberry syrup in the refrigerator in a sealed glass mason jars or another airtight container. It should last for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

Can you freeze blueberry syrup?

Yes, blueberry syrup may be frozen in freezer-safe containers for up to one year. Be sure to leave 1-inch of headspace to allow for expansion.

How to can blueberry syrup?

This recipe makes a single pint of blueberry syrup, so it’s not likely you’ll need to can it (I find it’s easier to pop small jars in the freezer since we can only safely pressure can at our current altitude).

However, if you do want to can your syrup, you can follow these steps for hot water bath canning:

1. Pour blueberry syrup into a sterile, hot jar through a jar funnel, leaving ¼” headspace, and remove any air bubbles.
2. Wipe the rim of the jar clean, then center a heated lid on top of the jar and screw on the band (it should be fingertip tight).
3. Place your prepared jar of blueberry syrup into a simmering water canner using jar lifters. Repeat these steps with all jars.
4. Bring the water to a full boil and process your blueberry syrup jars in the boiling water canner for 15 minutes.
5. Remove the hot jars from the pan with the jar lifters and place jars to cool on a towel on the counter for 12-24 hours.
6. Once completely cooled, make sure they sealed properly, then label and store them. Canned syrup must be used within 18 months of canning. After the jar is opened, it must be stored in the fridge.

If you want to learn more about canning your own food at home, read my post about choosing canning supplies.

More Blueberry Recipes

Blueberries are one of my favorite fruits to enjoy yearround. Here are some of my family’s favorite blueberry recipes:

• Instant Pot Blueberry Jam
• Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins
• Blueberry Date Energy Balls
• Blueberry Almond Baked Oatmeal

How to make other fruit syrups?

You can use this same method to make other fruit syrups like strawberry syrup, raspberry syrup and blackberry syrup. They all taste amazing when used as pancake syrup.

Is it possible to substitute fruit juice?

You can substitute fruit juice for the water, but not for the fruit or you’ll end up with a blueberry simple syrup instead of blueberry syrup (it won’t thicken the same way).

If you want more of a fruit-flavored simple syrup instead of a fruit syrup, you can do that by heating together one part fruit juice to two parts granulated sugar. This is a much sweeter ratio than you’ll find in the recipe below.

Where to buy fresh blueberries?

You can get them at your local grocery store or farmer’s market, but I personally prefer to shop online. Lately, I’ve been buying most of my produce from Misfits Market. I’ve been impressed with how many different staples they carry, and each week there seem to be more and more options to choose from!

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