You might think that making lemon syrup requires lemon juice and sugar. While that can make a sweet, tangy syrup, there’s actually a better way to make a sweet, delicious lemon syrup: use the peels or zest! And there’s no sourness, only citrus! This lemon syrup is perfect for lemonade, tea, cocktails, pancakes—you name it.

So, how do you make the best lemon syrup, ever?

Table of Contents

Lemon Syrup Takeaways:

Use a LOT of lemons for a small amount of syrup.
Use good-quality, fresh lemons for the best flavor.
Let the syrup mixtures sit overnight for maximum extraction.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe:

This syrup has an incredible burst of citrus flavor without any tartness or sourness!
It’s way stronger than commercial syrups and much more flavorful.
It’s perfect for adding a nice brightness to drinks.
You can make this ahead of time and enjoy lemon-flavored beverages all week long.

What is Lemon Syrup?

Lemon syrup is a sweetened lemon-flavored syrup used in cocktails, lemonades, sodas, and more! The most common method of making it is by reducing lemon juice with sugar and water in a pot.

But did you know that citrus fruits contain most of their flavor in their peels? All the essential oils you love are hidden in the peels, so making syrup from the peel is actually the better way to make lemon syrup, aka an oleo saccharum!

Boiling lemon juice syrup will give you a really tart, slightly bitter, and dull lemon flavor. Yes, it’s sour and tastes like lemon, but it loses the citrus fragrance that’s soft and floral.

A lemon oleo saccharum is when you macerate citrus peels by adding sugar, which extracts all the essential oils hidden in the peel. You get all the fresh, citrusy, zesty flavor that is uber concentrated and makes your drinks taste exactly like a lemon. Without the sourness! It’s the perfect recipe for lemonade syrup!

Lemon Syrup Uses

The possibilities are endless with lemon syrup. You can make mocktails and cocktails, such as a lemon drop, lemon margarita, and lemon sour. Stir it into sparkling water for a healthy Sprite or lemon lime soda, add it to a pitcher for the perfect lemonade, or use it as the base for flavored lemonades.

It’s also perfect in tea, water, juice, or beverages where you want a little bit of zing. Of course, it’s great in matcha and coffee, as well as other cafe-style beverages. I LOVE it in my lemon cream matcha latte recipe, it’s such an underrated pairing.

But beyond bevvies, you can drizzle it on pancakes, yogurt, granola, cakes, cookies, you name it. It’s incredibly versatile and gives you the brightest burst of flavor.

Lemon Syrup Recipe: Ingredients

You only need 2 ingredients to make this amazing lemon syrup:

Lemons — Yellow Meyer or Eureka lemons work great here! They’re best straight off a tree, either from your own (or your neighbor’s, I won’t tell). But you can use any lemon you have!
Sugar — White granulated sugar works best! It’s clean and neutral. Powdered sugar helps extract oils faster because of its larger surface area. But for extra flavor, you can use brown sugar, turbinado sugar, or even honey.

That’s it! However, you’ll also want a peeler on hand to create peels.

How to Make Lemon Syrup

Wash and Peel Lemons. Gently scrub the lemon skin with a soft toothbrush or sponge to remove any dirt. Run under water to wash and pat dry with a towel.
Using a peeler, create thin lemon peel strips, trying to avoid as much of the pith (white part) as possible. If you accidentally cut off a lot of pith, use a knife to remove as much as possible.
Add the peels to a shallow but large container with a lid.
Add Sugar. Add sugar to the lemon peels and shake or toss with a spoon to generously coat each peel. Make sure to disperse the peels evenly so that there’s little overlap.
Macerate Overnight. Cover the sugar and peels, and let it sit on the countertop for a couple of hours or overnight until the oils are extracted. There should be a clear, yellowish liquid near the bottom of the container.
Remove Peels. Once macerated, strain the syrup to remove the peels. For some tang, you can squeeze a little bit of lemon juice into the syrup and stir to combine.
Store and Enjoy! Store syrup in an airtight bottle in the fridge for long-term storage.
Enjoy the syrup in cocktails, mocktails, lemonade, tea, matcha, coffee, water, and on pancakes, yogurt, or other sweet foods!

How to Store Lemon Syrup

Most homemade syrups should be stored in the fridge to preserve them long-term, which includes this lemon oleo saccharum. While sugar is a good preservative, there’s not enough sugar in this syrup to preserve at room temperature. Thus, syrups live in the fridge until you need them!

You’ll also want to store your syrup in an airtight container or bottle to protect it from moisture or bacteria, which could harbor mold. Water easily introduces germs to our syrup, so we want to keep it as dry as possible. I like using mason jars, which have an airtight lid, or glass bottles with a screw cap or lid. Squeezy bottles are also good, just make sure they have a sealable cap for the tip of the opening.

In the fridge, the syrup should last 1 – 2 weeks at its peak, but you could try to store it for up to 4 weeks. But if it looks or smells funny, toss it.

Tips for the Best Lemon Syrup

Wash Lemons Well: Normally, washing lemons doesn’t take very long or much care since we care about the juice inside and not the outside. However, because the peels are the star of this show, we want to clean them extra well so that the syrup is clear of any dirt or bugs.
Cut Off Extra Pith: The pith is that white, foamy part of a citrus fruit that’s bitter. If you add pith to sugar, the sugar draws out bitter compounds that can make your syrup slightly unpleasant. For the smoothest flavor, try to remove as much pith as possible from your peels, but be careful! I like to scrape my peels with a semi-sharp knife against my cutting board to get them as thin as possible with just the zest.
Use LOTS of Lemons: Since the flavor is from the oils in the peel, to make a lot of syrup, you’ll need a lot of lemons. I’d say 10 – 12 lemons will give you maybe a fourth cup of syrup. But a little goes a long way. This is a great recipe to try when you have tons of lemons to process!

Print Recipe

The Best Lemon Syrup

This lemon syrup is perfect for lemonade, tea, cocktails, pancakes—you name it.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

Total Time1 10

Course: Drinks

Equipment

1 vegetable peeler

Ingredients

5 – 6 whole lemons
White sugar same amount by weight

Instructions

Wash and Peel Lemons. Gently scrub the lemon skin with a soft toothbrush or sponge to remove any dirt. Run under water to wash and pat dry with a towel.
Using a peeler, create thin lemon peel strips, trying to avoid as much of the pith (white part) as possible. If you accidentally cut off a lot of pith, use a knife to remove as much as possible.
Add the peels to a shallow but large container with a lid.
Add Sugar. Add sugar to the lemon peels and shake or toss with a spoon to generously coat each peel. Make sure to disperse the peels evenly so that there's little overlap.
Macerate Overnight. Cover the sugar and peels, and let it sit on the countertop for a couple of hours or overnight until the oils are extracted. There should be a clear, yellowish liquid near the bottom of the container.
Remove Peels. Once macerated, strain the syrup to remove the peels. For some tang, you can squeeze a little bit of lemon juice into the syrup and stir to combine.
Store and Enjoy! Store syrup in an airtight bottle in the fridge for long-term storage.
Enjoy the syrup in cocktails, mocktails, lemonade, tea, matcha, coffee, water, and on pancakes, yogurt, or other sweet foods!

FAQ’s

What is the ratio for oleo saccharum?

Most oleo saccharums are equal parts sugar to fruit by weight. It’s best to weigh both components on a food scale for accurate measurements. However, you can also eyeball it based on how heavy it is and if the fruit or peel is adequately coated in sugar. You don’t want too much sugar because then it won’t dissolve into syrup, but too little and you won’t have much syrup.

Can I use this for lemonade?

Yes! Lemon oleo saccharum is the perfect lemonade syrup because it’s sweet, floral, bright, and citrusy. If you ever thought lemonade just wasn’t lemony enough, it’s because it’s missing all the essential oils that make a lemon smell good. Just a couple of tablespoons of this syrup with some lemon juice, sugar, and water (or even just water) gives you an incredible gourmet-tasting lemonade.

How long does lemon syrup last in the fridge?

This lemon syrup should last up to two weeks in the fridge, given it’s stored properly. Honestly, it would even last up to a month, but for safety reasons, 2 weeks is a healthy shelf life.

Can I make this with lemon zest?

You bet! If you don’t want to peel lemons, you could use a microplane or box grater to zest lemons instead. Then, add sugar and let it sit overnight. The awkward part is removing small bits of zest from your syrup, or you can leave it in for texture. But personally, it might be better to use larger peels for easy removal later.

Other Simple Syrup Recipes to Try

Once you start making your own homemade syrups, you’ll never buy store-bought again. If you loved this lemon syrup, here are some other simple syrup recipes to try next:

ispillice

The Best Lemon Syrup Recipe (for Lemonade and More)