3 Easy & Delicious Homemade Honey Cough Drops To Make At Home
Are you looking for a natural cough drop recipe? These homemade honey cough drops are incredibly easy to make, all-natural, healthy, and effective at soothing a sore throat and cough!
Are you tired of having to rely on store-bought cough drops to keep your throat feeling soothed when a cold hits?
Instead of reaching for those generic, artificial temporary fixes, why not try something a little more homemade—and delicious?
These three tasty variations for honey cough drops are super easy and you can make them from the comfort of your own home. All you need are three natural ingredients which you likely already have in your kitchen right now!
Ditch the store-bought cough drops that are made with harmful ingredients, artificial dyes and flavours and instead give these homemade, all-natural cough drops a try!
Made with real ingredients, safe, and non-toxic. They really help soothe a sore throat, relieve a cough and support your body in its recovery processes.
So good, they’ll be gone in days!
Reasons You’ll Love These Homemade Honey Cough Drops
There are so many reasons to love these natural cough drops but if you’re on the fence about making them here are just a couple of reasons why they rock!
Honey Lemon Ginger Cough Drop Benefits
These cough drops only require raw honey, fresh lemon juice and ginger root to make. All of these ingredients have been used in traditional medicine and natural remedies for centuries. They are powerful natural ingredients that are packed full of health benefits!
- Raw honey is a potent source of antioxidants and also has powerful antibacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties
- Honey soothes irritation and inflammation, which is helpful when it comes to sore throat and cough
- Honey helps reduce and loosen mucous secretions making it easier for the body to remove
- Ginger root has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, analgesic, and antipyretic properties making it the perfect addition in these homemade honey cough drops for sore throat, cough, cold and flu!
- Lemon is a great source of vitamin C, which has been found to help shorten the duration of colds
- Lemon helps thin and loosen mucous, making it easier for the body to expectorate
- Lemon is also a natural anesthetic which can help soothe throat pain associated with coughs, colds and flu
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What You’ll Need For These DIY Honey Cough Drops
Ingredients:
1/4 Cup Raw Honey – Any type of honey (wildflower, buckwheat, manuka) will work for this recipe, just be sure that it is unpasteurized
1/4 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice – Use fresh lemon juice. Store-bought pre-made lemon juice often has additives and will not provide the same health benefits as a fresh lemon.
1-Inch Piece Fresh Ginger Root
Supplies:
Small Pot or Pan
Parchment Paper or Silicone Molds (for cooling)
How to Make These Homemade Honey Cough Drops
- Peel and chop your fresh ginger root into thin slices or small cubes. Add this to your pot, along with the honey and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
2. Bring all of the ingredients to a gentle boil, and let it cook for 5-10 minutes.
You’ll notice bubbles forming on the surface; this is normal!
Just be careful not to burn the honey; a gentle boil is enough. After several minutes, you’ll notice the mixture darken slightly and thicken. Continue to stir occasionally until the mixture thickens to where it coats your spoon/spatula.
3. Once ready, take it off of the heat and either strain the ginger pieces out or simply remove them with a spoon.
4. Fill your silicone molds or drop them into circular disks onto some parchment paper. Allow them to cool and dry in a cool area. (A cool pantry or even the fridge are great options)
5. Once your honey ginger lemon cough drops have cooled fully, either wrap them in small pieces of wax paper or gently dust them with icing sugar to help with any stickiness when storing.
Tips for Storing These All-Natural Cough Drops
Because these cough drops are made from simple, all-natural ingredients, they are stickier than store-bought. They’re not rock-hard solid like most store-bought cough drops are because there are no additives.
To prevent your natural cough drops from sticking to each other or to your storage container, once dried, you can use little rectangular pieces of wax paper to gently wrap the cough drops.
Another option is to coat them with a little bit of icing sugar, which will also help prevent the cough drops from sticking.
Since these homemade cough drops are softer, I choose to store them in a glass jar in the fridge. You can also store them in a cool, dry area away from direct sunlight, just note that they may soften in warmer temperatures.
How Long Do These Homemade Cough Drops Last?
These DIY cough drops will last for up to 3 months if stored in the refrigerator or a cool, dry area. But, I’m sure you’ll go through them much faster than that đŸ™‚
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- Easy DIY Fermented Garlic Honey Recipe For Cold & Flu
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2 More Delicious Variations You Should Try!
The base of these easy homemade cough drops is honey. If you want to experiment with flavours here are two different variations that you should try next. Let me know which ones you love the most, below!
Homemade Honey Cinnamon Cough Drops
1/4 Cup Raw Honey
1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
If you’re not the biggest fan of ginger, give these yummy homemade cough drops without ginger a try! A warm, cozy honey cinnamon flavour is perfect for the winter!
To make these, bring the honey and cinnamon to a gentle boil. You’ll notice some bubbles on the surface; this is normal.
Allow it to simmer for about 5-10 minutes until you notice it thicken. Either pour them into your silicone molds or drop them onto some parchment paper and let them cool.
Once dried, wrap them in some wax paper or lightly dust in some icing sugar to prevent stickiness. Store in the fridge in a glass jar.
They have a really gorgeous dark brown cinnamon colour and taste like Christmas in a lozenge!
Honey Echinacea Herbal Cough Drops
1/4 Cup Raw Honey
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
20 Drops of Echinacea Tincture
Another great variation of this honey cough drop is this herbal immune-boosting recipe. To make these bring the honey and lemon juice to a gentle boil and simmer for about 5-10 minutes, or until your honey lemon mixture has bubbled and thickened.
Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly. Once cooled, add in your drops of echinacea tincture, stir to combine and pour into your silicone molds or drop onto parchment paper.
Allow to cool and dry. You can also put them in the fridge to help them set. Once ready, wrap them in some wax paper or dust in icing sugar to prevent excess stickiness.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many should I take?
These cough drops are made from all-natural ingredients so they are safe to consume more often. Use one cough drop every 3 hours or as needed for a sore throat or cough.
As with all natural remedies, if you have concerns or questions, it is best to speak with your doctor beforehand.
Are they really all-natural?
Yup! These DIY cough drops use only 2-3 ingredients that are all 100% natural, safe for your health and effective.
Can kids take these?
Yes, kids can take these natural honey cough drops! They are safe, natural, healthy and 100% non-toxic. No harmful ingredients, artificial dyes or flavours.
As with other candies, these cough drops may pose a choking risk. Only give to children who are old enough to consume safely.
Note: Honey and honey products should not be given to infants under 1 year of age.
Does it matter what type of honey I use for these natural cough drops?
Each type of honey is unique in its nutrients and medicinal properties depending on what type of flowering plant the nectar is collected from.
All varieties of honey possess antibacterial and other healing properties. Some types just have higher concentrations than others.
This honey cough drops recipe will work well with any type of honey such as wildflower, clover, buckwheat, manuka, alfalfa, eucalyptus – you name it! Just be sure that the honey you use is unpasteurized.
Some honey facts: Manuka honey has especially high concentrations of antibacterial ingredients and buckwheat has higher amounts of antioxidants as opposed to lighter honey varieties.
Eucalyptus honey, produced in Australia, may have a menthol-like quality, which is great for soothing sore throats, coughs, colds and upper respiratory infections.
But, any local honey variety that you can get your hands on will work great in this recipe!
My cough drops didn’t thicken – they’re really runny. What happened?
If your lemon honey ginger cough drops are too runny, it just means you need to boil them at a gentle simmer for a little bit longer. The honey didn’t have enough time to caramelize and thicken.
Try simmering for longer, until you notice the mixture thicken and coat your wooden spoon when stirring.
This should help!