Forget store-bought syrups. This homemade blueberry simple syrup sweetens your favorite cocktails, mocktails, iced coffee, and iced tea while also making an incredible drizzle for pancakes, waffles, French toast, yogurt, and ice cream. With just three simple ingredients and about 15 minutes of hands-on time, you’ll have a homemade syrup that tastes infinitely better than store-bought versions and costs a fraction of the price.
My husband and I love mixing up homemade drink recipes, and have been making our own simple syrup for coffees, cocktails, and mocktails for nearly a decade. We started making DIY simply syrups in our 20s specifically to master the art of homemade cocktail making while avoiding paying for another special ingredient. Once we realized how easy homemade simple syrups are, there was no turning back.
This blueberry simple syrup was perfected while testing our summertime blueberry vodka lemonade recipe, but has become a staple in our fridge during the summertime to use as a topping on our favorite pancake and waffle recipes and desserts like ice cream too. We also enjoy mixing it into yogurt too! With our step-by-step photos and three simple steps, you’ll know how to make blueberry simple syrup like a pro.
And if fruit syrups are your thing, you’ve got to try our strawberry syrup and peach syrup recipes too!
Jump to:
- What is Simple Syrup?
- You’ll Love This Homemade Blueberry Syrup Recipe!
- Blueberry Simple Syrup Recipe Ingredients
- How To Make Blueberry Simple Syrup
- Making This as a Topping? Thicken it!
- Blueberry Drink Syrup Variations
- How To Use Blueberry Simple Syrup
- Storing Blueberry Syrup For Drinks
- Blueberry Simple Syrup FAQs
- Love This Recipe? You May Also Enjoy
- Blueberry Syrup for Drinks
What is Simple Syrup?
Regular simple syrup is a liquefied form of sugar that is often used to sweeten cocktail recipes, mocktail recipes, iced teas, and iced coffees. Using a liquid sweetener allows iced drinks to be sweetened without adding a grainy texture, creating a more enjoyable sip. A plain simple syrup is made with equal parts water to sugar.
You’ll Love This Homemade Blueberry Syrup Recipe!
Sweet blueberry flavor. Fresh blueberries create a wonderful burst of flavor in this homemade simple syrup.
Minimal, simple ingredients. All you need is 3 basic ingredients to make your own blueberry syrup.
Super easy recipe. Once you make it, you won’t bother with store-bought syrups again!
Cost effective. Homemade syrups cost a fraction of the pricey coffeeshop versions and taste infinitely better too.
Versatile. Perfect for sweetening your favorite drinks like cocktails, mocktails, iced coffee, and iced tea, or used as a topping drizzled over pancakes, waffles, French toast, yogurt, and ice cream.
Blueberry Simple Syrup Recipe Ingredients
- Granulated Sugar. White sugar is a standard ingredient for simple syrup recipes.
- Water. Water is a key ingredient for making simple syrup.
- Fresh Blueberries. Whether you went berry picking with your family, or grabbed a pint at the farmers market or your local grocery store, fresh blueberries are the star ingredient in this homemade syrup recipe that adds natural flavors and beautiful color to this syrup.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Helpful Tools For Making This Blueberry Simple Syrup Recipe
A fine mesh sieve is super helpful for straining out the berries from this recipe! I actually end up using mine a ton in my kitchen, so would say it’s a great addition to your kitchen tools if you do not have one. Alternatively, you could use a slotted spoon to remove the fruit form your berry syrup.
How To Make Blueberry Simple Syrup
Combine ingredients and heat. Add the granulated sugar, water, and blueberries to a small or medium saucepan over medium heat.
Simmer, stir occasionally and smash the blueberries. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally and smashing blueberries to help release juices, until the sugar dissolves (approximately 10 minutes).
Let it steep. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to steep at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The longer it steeps, the more intense the blueberry flavor will be. You can adjust this based on how strong you like your syrup (and how much time you have).
Strain. Pour the cooled liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl or liquid measuring cup to remove the fruit and any seeds that may have been released from the berries during cooking.
Transfer the liquid to an airtight container and store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. The fruit that was removed can be enjoyed on yogurt or over ice cream (my husband always calls dibs), or you can discard it.
Use and enjoy!
Making This as a Topping? Thicken it!
If you’re making this syrup exclusively to use on waffles, pancakes, French toast, etc… thickening it will give you a more maple syrup like consistency.
To do so, create a cornstarch “slurry” and stir it into your blueberry syrup mixture after it’s simmered. I generally do this by combining 1 teaspoon of cornstarch into 3-4 teaspoons of cold water in a glass and mixing it until there are no lumps. Then add it to your saucepan and stir the slurry into your warm syrup on the stovetop. The syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.
Blueberry Drink Syrup Variations
- Use frozen blueberries. If blueberries aren’t in season, frozen blueberries will work just fine. Just swap frozen berries one-for-one for the fresh berries in the recipe card.
- Use more blueberries. I’ve found that using 1 cup of blueberries creates a fabulous syrup. However, if you want to toss a whole pint in I’m not going to stop you. This will just add more blueberry flavor and natural sweetness to your syrup.
- Add lemon. You can also add a splash of lemon juice (about 1 teaspoon) to your blueberry syrup if desired. Doing this can cut the sweetness a smidge if that is your preference.
How To Use Blueberry Simple Syrup
You can do so much with blueberry syrup! Try using it for:
- Sweetening iced drinks like mocktails, cocktails, teas, and sodas!
- Make our blueberry lemonade cocktail recipe.
- Modify our virgin mojito recipe to make n/a blueberry mojitos using this syrup in place of the agave! You can muddle in a few fresh blueberries too.
- Use as a topping for your favorite pancakes, waffles, and French toast.
- Stir it into yogurt (it’s a great way to flavor plain yogurt!).
- Use it as a topping for ice cream or frozen yogurt.
- Use it in homemade milkshakes.
- Add it to oatmeal. It’s especially delicious on our baked blueberry oatmeal!
Storing Blueberry Syrup For Drinks
Store your homemade blueberry simple syrup in an airtight container in your fridge for up to two weeks. I like to use a sealed glass bottle when making my own simple syrups. However, you can use an upcycled glass jar or a mason jar for storage too!
Blueberry Simple Syrup FAQs
Store your homemade blueberry simple syrup in an airtight container in your fridge for up to two weeks.
While you can leave your blueberry syrup at room temperature for a few days, it is recommended to refrigerate your homemade simple syrup to extend it’s shelf life and to reduce the speed of potential bacterial growth. Refrigerating your syrup will allow you to use it for several weeks!
If you would like thicker blueberry syrup, I recommend creating a cornstarch “slurry” and stirring it into your blueberry syrup mixture after you’ve simmered the mixture for about 10 minutes. To do this, simply stir about 1 teaspoon of cornstarch into 3-4 teaspoons of cold water until there are no lumps. Then whisk it into your warm syrup mixture on the stovetop.
You’ll know your syrup is done when all of the granulated sugar crystals have dissolved and the mixture looks clear (no longer cloudy).
Love This Recipe? You May Also Enjoy
Blueberry Syrup for Drinks
Ingredients
- 1 C granulated sugar
- 1 C water
- 1 C fresh blueberries (rinsed, stems removed)
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally and smashing blueberries to help release juices, until the sugar has dissolved (approximately 10 minutes)
- Remove from heat and allow to steep for 30 minutes – 1 hours.
- Pour cooled liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl or liquid measuring cup to remove fruit.
- Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.
Notes
- Use frozen blueberries. If blueberries aren’t in season, frozen blueberries will work just fine. Replace one-for-one.
- Use more blueberries. Increase the 1 cup noted with 1 pint of blueberries if desired. This will just add more blueberry flavor and natural sweetness to your syrup.
- Add lemon. You can also add a splash of lemon juice (about 1 teaspoon) to your blueberry syrup if desired.
Emily says
I made this keto and it was so good thank you for the recipe.
Meredith says
I’m so happy to hear you could enjoy this, made keto, too! Thanks for giving it a try.
Emily L Currie says
I made this tonight with powdered bocha sweet sweetener and it was awesome. Even my hubby who is not on a keto diet loved it. I used real lemon packets for the lemonade part and it was so refreshing in this heat.
Meredith says
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe, and could tailor it to your diet Emily! Thanks so much for giving this a try.
Brent B says
Can’t wait to try this on some summer drinks! Blueberry-vodka-lemonade anyone!?
Meredith says
glad you’re excited Brent! And YES, be sure to check out my blueberry vodka lemonade recipe – it’s the perfect drink to use this blueberry syrup in! Cheers!