Looking for a way to extend the life of fresh raspberries and add raspberry flavor to everything? With this easy-to-make Raspberry Simple Syrup, you can make all kinds of raspberry drinks and cocktails and add raspberry flavor to breakfast, dessert, and more!
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Is there anything more exciting than raspberry season? I get so excited when I see those tiny little containers of berries on sale.
For the most part, raspberries are available all year-round, but off-season, they can be crazy expensive. And considering I can eat a container of them in under a minute (seriously!), I get very excited when I see the price come down.
But fresh raspberries can go bad so quickly and sometimes I find myself saving them for something special, only to realize they're past their prime.
One way to enjoy that fresh raspberry flavor for longer is to turn your raspberries into simple syrup! I also love using freeze-dried raspberries in these raspberry shortbread cookies.
🍬 What is simple syrup
Simple syrup is essentially water and sugar simmered together until they thicken into a syrup. Plain simple syrup is often used to sweeten cocktails, but you can also make simple syrup in almost any flavor you can imagine.
When you simmer fresh raspberries with the water and sugar, you end up with raspberry simple syrup. And with that, you can add raspberry flavor to so many things!
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
If you love the flavor of fresh raspberries and wish there was an easy way to add it to drinks, breakfast, desserts, and more, this recipe is for you.
This is also a great idea for anyone who has gone raspberry picking and wants a way to preserve some of the raspberry flavor for longer!
🗒 Ingredients
You only need three ingredients for this raspberry syrup and if you already know what simple syrup is, you can probably guess what they are!
You just need:
- Water
- Granulated sugar
- Raspberries (I like using fresh, but you can also use frozen)
👩🍳 How to make raspberry simple syrup
Like most simple syrups, this raspberry version is incredibly easy and can be ready in just a few minutes.
Simply, put sugar, water, and raspberries in a medium-size saucepan and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes, until mixture has thickened a bit.
Strain mixture into a bowl, being sure to press down on the berries to extract as much juice as possible.
Keep syrup in bowl or pour into a mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.
This raspberry simple syrup tastes JUST like fresh raspberries and it will likely be hard for you to resist slurping it right from the spoon!
And you're totally welcome to. Luckily, I also have a whole lot of other ideas for how you enjoy it!
🥤 How to use
There's no shortage of uses for raspberry simple syrup, though the most obvious and common one is incorporating it into drinks.
Here are my favorite ideas for making the most of your homemade syrup:
- Raspberry Vodka Lemonade: One of my favorite things to do with this syrup is to make cocktails with it and Raspberry Vodka Lemonade is one of my favorites!
- Spicy Raspberry Whiskey Sour: Adding raspberry simple syrup to a homemade spicy whiskey sour makes it even more delicious! For whatever reason, raspberries and whisky just go really well together.
- More Raspberry Cocktails: You can add a little bit of this syrup to nearly any cocktail for instant raspberry flavor. Some of my favorites include raspberry mojitos, raspberry margaritas, and raspberry gin and tonic.
- Raspberry Lemonade: If you prefer to leave the alcohol out and make a family friendly drink, you can make a simple raspberry lemonade by making homemade lemonade and adding some syrup.
- Homemade Raspberry Soda: If you mix some of this syrup with plain seltzer water, you instantly have a homemade raspberry soda!
- Ice Cream Topping: Drizzle a little raspberry syrup over vanilla or chocolate ice cream... Or the flavor of your choice.
- Iced Coffee Flavoring: You can add this to hot or iced coffee, but I think it's most delicious in iced coffee with a little bit of milk or cream. It can also be used to make a raspberry latte!
- Tea Sweetener: Adding some raspberry simple syrup into your tea will instantly turn it into a raspberry tea!
- Oatmeal and Yogurt Topping: Add a little sweetness and raspberry flavor to your healthy breakfast.
- Pancake, Waffle, and French Toast Topping: Use this syrup instead of maple syrup and add some fresh raspberries for delicious raspberry pancakes, waffles, or french toast!
- Cake Moistener: Lots of bakers use simple syrup as a way to add moistness and a little sweetness and flavor to baked cakes. This syrup will add a great raspberry flavor to vanilla or chocolate cakes.
- Salad Dressing Ingredient: Adding a little raspberry simple syrup into your homemade salad dressing mixture will give it an instant boost of raspberry flavor!
- Meat Marinade: Use some of the syrup in your meat marinades for some summery raspberry flavor.
⏲ How to store
When stored in an airtight container in your fridge, this should stay good for about a month.
You can store it in any type of airtight container, but I highly recommend storing in mason jars. I like to use these small 8 oz. jars or a larger 16 oz. jar. This recipe does make slightly more than a cup, so you'll need more than one 8 oz. jar if going that route.
I highly recommend keeping a jar of this in your fridge at all times, so you can add raspberry flavor to drinks, desserts, and more whenever you want.
🧊 Can I use frozen raspberries?
You can! The color and flavor of the syrup may be slightly altered, but frozen raspberries should work just fine in this simple syrup.
🛍 Where to purchase
I love making homemade simple syrups, but also totally understand if you'd prefer to purchase. There are lots of options for buying raspberry simple syrup and most store-bought bottles will have an even longer shelf-life than homemade. Here are some options:
- Royal Rose Raspberry Simple Syrup
- Monin Raspberry Syrup
- Torani Raspberry Syrup
- Torani Puremade Raspberry Syrup
- Liber & Co Raspberry Gum Syrup
- Jordan's Skinny Sugar-Free Raspberry Syrup
🥣 More raspberry recipes
If you're as excited about raspberry season as I am, you might be looking for more ways to enjoy the delicious berries (aside from just eating them straight out of the container!). Here are some of my raspberry recipes:
- Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies
- Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes
- Raspberry Coconut French Toast Casserole
- Raspberry Spread for Sandwiches
- Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Muffins
- Raspberry Vanilla Whiskey Sipper
- Raspberry, Mango, and Ginger Muffins
- Raspberry Cream Sandwich Cookies
- Raspberry Rolls (from Sugar Salt Magic)
💡 More simple syrup recipes
I love making simple syrups and have recipes for all kinds of unique and fun flavors ready for you. Check all of them out here.
I have everything from the standard vanilla and jalapeño to more out-there flavors like bubblegum and pistachio.
I can't wait to hear about what you make with this raspberry simple syrup!
📖 Recipe
Raspberry Simple Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
Instructions
- Put sugar, water, and raspberries in a medium-size saucepan and bring mixture to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes, until mixture has thickened a bit.
- Strain mixture into a bowl, being sure to press down on the berries to extract as much juice as possible.
- Keep syrup in bowl or pour into a mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.
Jess says
Made this to add to homemade lemonade and it came out so good!
Sheila says
Perfect for iced tea 😃