Vibrant Lavender Simple Syrup Recipe

If you own lavender plants in your landscape, this Lavender Simple Syrup is incredibly beautiful, delicious, and easy to make. There are so many fun uses from desserts to cocktails. Here is everything you need to know on how to make lavender syrup at home.

Jump to Recipe

Best Lavender Plants for Syrups, Cooking, & Baking

There are 23 different varieties of lavender. I am going to go over the most common lavender plants you’ll find in nurseries used for landscaping and which are best for making this Lavender Simple Syrup recipe.

English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia):

This type of lavender is a variety of English lavender. It is also called culinary lavender. If you are planting an edible landscape, this is the best type of lavender to use for making this lavender simple syrup recipe, for baking, cooking, and spice blends. Any type of English lavender will work great for cooking but the Hidcote variety is the best.

When we were remodeling our home, I decided to design an edible landscape. Above you can see one of my Hidcote Giant lavender plants which I found at Rogers Gardens in Newport Beach, CA (the lavender is behind the rock, the other purple plants are Salvia). This type of lavender will produce a fresh lavender flavor without any bitterness or soapy flavor.

French Lavender  (Lavandula dentata)

French Lavender is the second best lavender to use in cooking as its camphor content is not as high as Spanish lavender. French lavender is most commonly used for cosmetics such as soaps and fragrances.

Spanish Lavender (Lavandula stoechas):

Spanish lavender is the most common and has huge beautiful violet blooms. Spanish lavender is beautiful, but it has a more soapy flavor due to its high camphor content. While it can still be used it is more ornamental than culinary.

How to Dry Lavender by Hanging

• First, cut your lavender leaving about 6 inches of stem.
• Rinse under cool water to clean off any debris, dirt, or bugs.
• Hang Upside down by typing a string at the base of the stems. It can take several days for the lavender to dry out.

How to Dry Lavender in the Oven

• Put a large piece of oven-safe parchment paper on a baking sheet and spread the lavender over the parchment.
• Bake at 180°F leaving the oven door slightly open for air circulation
• Check every 30 minutes. The lavender can take 2-3 hours to fully dry.

The Best Lavender to Buy

You can also buy English lavender that is already dried and ready for use. Many dried lavenders I’ve found do not list the variety of lavender used which is important because technically all lavender is edible. For this reason, I recommend this Dried Culinary Lavender. You want to make sure that the lavender you purchase says English, Culinary, or “Food-Grade”.

When you open the lavender it should be colorful, very fragrant, and contain little to no stems.

How to Get Vibrant Purple Colored Lavender Syrup

Some people will add a drop or two of colored die to obtain a more vibrant purple syrup, but I achieve those same results by using fresh lavender. The more fresh and vibrant your lavender, the more purple the color will be in your syrup. I have used this lavender on amazon with great results and lavender from the garden will always result in a beautiful color.

If you see clear or very light-colored lavender simple syrup online, it means the lavender they used was not fresh and I would skip it.

If you aren’t a fan of your color, you can also add 5-6 fresh blueberries which won’t affect the flavor but will add an extra purple hue to the syrup. Another trick is to mix 1 teaspoon of butterfly pea powder with a squeeze of lemon.

How to Make Lavender Syrup

This Lavender Simple Syrup recipe is so easy and produces the most delicious, sweet, deep purple syrup.

• First add the water, dried lavender, blueberries, and sugar to a sauce pan
• Then over medium heat, bring to a simmer.
• Once your syrup begins to simmer, lower the heat and continue simmering for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, strain your syrup in a fine mesh metal strainer to remove the dried lavender.
• Finally, pour the syrup into your preferred glass syrup holder. This Glass Syrup Dispenser Set is great because it comes with pourers, stoppers, labels, a funnel, and cleaning brush. Plus the glass are beautiful.

Recipes Using Lavender Simple Syrup

This lavender simple syrup recipe can be used in a plethora of recipes, such as the new Starbucks Iced Lavender Cream Oat Milk Matcha drink, but also for cocktails, desserts, drinks, lattes, and a substitute for maple syrup.

Storage

The best way to store Lavender Simple Syrup is in the refrigerator. It will last for 3 weeks.

If you make this Lavender Simple Syrup recipe or have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I would love to hear from you!

Find Delicious Recipes By Category