Spicy-sweet ginger ale syrup makes the most delicious homemade soda. This ginger syrup recipe makes a great holiday gift, too!
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Don't you love a good food gift around the holidays? This homemade ginger syrup for making ginger ale is a lovely hostess gift, stocking stuffer, or coworker gift.
If you like making flavored syrups, also check out my Instant Pot elderberry syrup! It's perfect for cold season but also just plain delicious! And if you love giving food gifts, my curry lentil soup jars also make lovely holiday gifts.
Ginger ale syrup seriously makes the best homemade ginger ale EVER! And all you need to do to make it is boil, cool, strain, and refrigerate.
I'm also including a printable recipe card, so your recipient can make their own ginger ale with their syrup like a champ! Print onto card stock, cut it out, and include it with a bottle of the syrup for a super cute holiday gift.
If you're a carbonated drinks person, like me, also check out my review of De la Calle Tepache! These fizzy drinks are fermented, like kombucha, but they're made from pineapple.
✓ Ingredients and substitutions
- water - The base for your syrup.
- sugar - For sweetness. I haven't tested this with alternative sweeteners, but if you want to do this sugar-free, I'd suggest looking for a sugar-free simple syrup recipe, and using that ratio of water to sweetener. For other sugars, like coconut sugar, just know that the sugar might change the flavor of the syrup. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but just something to keep in mind.
- ginger - No need to peel your ginger for this recipe. Just coarsely chop it. You can use a knife to do this or use your food processor.
🥣 How to make ginger ale syrup
Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan.
Bring to a boil on medium heat until the sugar is fully dissolved, about 2 minutes, then cover and bring to a simmer over low heat for 45 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let it cool a little bit.
Pour the cooled syrup through a fine mesh strainer into a glass container.
💡 Helpful tips
- It takes quite a bit of ginger to make the syrup, so I saved time by using my mini food processor to chop it.
- You don't need to worry about peeling the ginger for this recipe. The peel will get filtered out later on.
- Do let the mixture cool slightly before transferring to the storage jar. If it's still super hot, it can cause the glass to shatter. It doesn't have to be room temperature. Just cool it for a few minutes off of the heat.
🖨️ Ginger ale printable recipe card
Are you giving this syrup as a gift? Include a recipe card to give your recipient an idea for how to use it! This recipe card shows them how to make simple, delicious ginger ale from this syrup.
You can download a pdf of the card here, or right-click and save the image below:
☕️ How to use ginger syrup
This ginger syrup recipe is lovely as the base for homemade ginger ale. Making ginger ale with this syrup couldn't be simpler! Just add a splash of the syrup to a cup of soda water, top it off with ice, and add a squeeze of lime juice. Drink it as-is, or use the ginger ale in any drink recipe that calls for it, like this tequila and ginger ale cocktail.
Here are some more ways to use this ginger syrup:
- Drizzle it over ice cream.
- Use it in place of ⅓ of the maple syrup on your pancakes or waffles.
- Use it instead of simple syrup to sweeten a batch of homemade lemonade to make ginger lemonade.
- Add a splash to vegan hot chocolate for a spicy kick.
- Sweeten your next batch of iced tea with it.
Anywhere that you'd use a liquid sweetener and want to add a little ginger spice, this syrup is your friend.
🫙 Storage directions
Your ginger syrup will keep for 3 to 4 weeks in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
I like to store this in a glass sauce bottle, so it's easy to pour. Storing this syrup in a mason jar is fine, but it can be messy to pour, especially when the jar is very full.
🫚 More recipes for ginger lovers
📖 Recipe
🥤 Homemade Ginger Ale Syrup
Equipment
- funnel
Ingredients
For the ginger syrup
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups organic sugar
- 2 cups coarsely chopped ginger leaving the peel on is fine
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium heat until the sugar is fully dissolved, about 2 minutes, then cover and bring to a simmer over low heat for 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, and let it cool for a few minutes
- Pour the cooled syrup through a fine mesh strainer into a glass container.
Moni A
hi. question
If I chop the honey into slices or big chunks, could I just candy the chunks/slices afterwards? or would I definitely need to peel them in that case?
Becky Striepe
I'd definitely peel if you're planning to candy the ginger, because the texture of the peel isn't great.
Cassandra
This looked great until I came to the part about straining out the garlic. :)
I am going to try this one.
Becky Striepe
Whoops! I use them both in so many recipes, I think my fingers took over for my brain. Fixing that right up, and enjoy the ginger (not garlic!) syrup! :)
Elizabeth
Thank you for recipe. I'm having trouble downloading pdf.
Becky Striepe
Thank you for letting me know, Elizabeth! I fixed the link - some stuff got moved around during my site redesign. Enjoy the syrup!
JACKIE
Making the syrup now and tried to download recipe card and can;t. It says "page not found" Suggestions? Appreciate it and your recipes.
Becky Striepe
Thank you for telling me! During my site redesign, the links to a bunch of my printables broke. This one is now fixed!
pam
I made ginger syrup this week too! Will be posting mine next week :)
Becky Striepe
Very cool! Can't wait to see it.
Tina Marie
These look scrumptious. Out in time for the holiday spirits to roll! Stopping over from Tipsy Tuesday.
Klimaya
Why this site don't have other languages support?
Klimaya
Can I found any information regarding to this subject in different languages?
Becky Striepe
I'm sorry. Right now my site doesn't have that capability. I hope to add it in the future when I can afford some technical help!
Dianne
Such a great gift! You have the best DIY ideas!
Becky Striepe
Aw thank you, Dianne!
The Vegan 8
I'm SO doing this. Ginger is one of my favorite flavors ever and I love this creative idea!
Starr
My family will love this! Does the syrup need to be refrigerated?
Becky Striepe
Definitely keep it in the fridge. I'll add that to the recipe, too!
Starr
Thanks. I'll make sure the recipients know this.
Jenn
This is such a cute idea! And that Basil Sling sounds delightful!!