If you follow my Instagram page you might have noticed I posted about making Elderberry syrup with the instapot recently. We have had a bunch of colds already this fall and I’m so over it. Back to taking this stuff daily for us! A bunch of friends were asking for the recipe and it was too many words for Instagram so I’ll post it here 👍🏻
When we were visiting Chicago a few weeks ago, my Grandma got sick the day we were leaving. When we went to say goodbye to her, my three year old looked concerned and asked her “Grandma you take your elderberry sauce?”. It cracked my up because she had NO idea what he was talking about. If your like Great Grandma and have no idea what I’m talking about, Elderberries are a low-calorie food packed with vitamin C, dietary fiber and antioxidants in the form phenolic acids, flavonols and anthocyanins. They should not be eaten in their raw form and can cause some major stomach issues. I buy them dehydrated in bulk and ready to go for this recipe. I honestly believe it does help boost your immune system so we try and take a tsp or so every weekday and none on the weekends to give our body a little break (I was told to do this a while ago, and just went with it 🤷♀️). Sadly, I went to try and find a link to the elderberries I normally buy online and discovered that it is nearly impossible to find any dried elderberries right now online. They are sold out everywhere. I still have a 1/2 mason jar full thankfully from last year but man I didn’t realize you can’t find the KEY ingredient for this recipe right now. I guess we need to stock up in the spring before cold and flu season 🤔 I’ll post the recipe below, and if you happen to find any berries please let me know where. I don’t want to run out! Elderberry Syrup Ingredients 1 cup elderberries 4 cups water 1 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp powder 1 orange, zested and juiced 1/2 lemon, zested and juiced 1 inch piece of ginger or 1 TBS powdered 1/2tsp cloves or clove powder 1/2 cup Raw honey (add more if you like it sweeter or for picky kids) A quick note: these ingredients (besides the elderberries) are being added for flavor purposes. This is what I use 90% of the time but they can totally be switched up, and you can experiment with other dried fruits and spices your family loves instead. I now love making it in the instapot because it’s faster but you can 100% make this on the stove too (look for the notes at the end for stovetop) Place all ingredients in the instapot EXCEPT for the honey. The honey goes in very last after the syrup has completely cooled so you don’t kill all the 🍯 goodness. Set manual high setting for 7 minutes. Seal and push start. When it is done, do a quick release for the steam and then you have two options. You can turn on the simmer function (no lid now) and reduce liquid by 1/2 to make a thick syrup and then let it sit off until cool. Or if you are short on time or just don’t want a thick syrup you can stop here and cool your sauce to room temperature. I like to carefully mash the berries with a flat spoon to release all the goodness I can out of them. Once cool you need to strain it with a fine strainer or cheesecloth works great too. Squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can from the ingredients. Now it is time to add your honey. After that you are done! Yay look at you go girlfriend. Store it in a glass jar in the refrigerator. I like to use a repurposed jar that’s easy to pour. It easily lasts a month or two in the fridge. If you simmer the sauce down you will have a lot less and it’s more concentrated. If you don’t simmer it down you will have more ounces at the end. HOW MUCH DO I TAKE? When I don’t simmer it to a syrup, I just take about a shot glass full and give my kids about 1/2 shot glass every weekday. When it’s a thicker syrup I would do about 1/2 shot glass for me and 1/4 for the kids. STOVETOP users: place all ingredients but honey in a pot and bring to boil. Cover and simmer for about 45-60 minutes until liquid is reduced by half. Mash berries carefully and let cool. Strain and add honey! I hope you can find some elderberries and give it a try. If you do please let me know how you liked it! If you are a Vegas follower reading this and want to know where to buy great raw honey. The Farm at Gilcrease sells local raw honey which is great for local allergies. I also stock up and buy large containers from Vegas Food Coop a few times a year when they have their drops. The honey from them comes from Honeyville Utah from a high quality trusted seller and is sooooooooo good!! It’s my families favorite. The website for that is https://vegasfoodcoop.com