Lemongrass Simple Syrup
Infuse the tropical flavors of fresh lemongrass into your spring and summer sips! This Lemongrass Simple Syrup is packed with vibrant citrus and exotic botanical flavors perfect for lemonade, tea, cocktails, mocktails and more!
The taste of fresh lemongrass doesn’t overpower the various flavors in a dish, but it does add the perfect pop of citrusy, lemony, and minty flavor to many Thai, Vitetnamese, and Indian recipes. This simple syrup recipe fuses those dynamic flavors with plenty of sugar to make lemongrass simple syrup, and it is DELICIOUS.
Lemongrass syrup is perfect drizzled over baked goods for moisture and subtle lemony flavor. It’s also a great way to brighten up mojitos, margaritas, or even a plain club soda with notes of unique citrus and herbal flavor.
To sum things up, you should make lemongrass simple syrup because:
- You’ll only need 3 ingredients to make this exiting simple syrup flavor!
- It adds refreshing lemon flavor to drinks (without any of the citric acid).
- Lemongrass syrup is ideal for iced tea, lemonades, seltzers, cocktails, frozen drinks, etc.
- It’s easy to customize with different flavors like ginger and blackberry.
Ready to learn how to make lemongrass infused simple syrup? Let’s do it!
💧Ingredients & tools
Here’s what you’ll need to make fresh lemongrass infused simple syrup from scratch:
- Water – As the water and sugar simmer, the liquid will thicken into a syrup. To avoid bacterial growth during storage, use filtered or distilled water.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar or caster sugar is best for syrups, as the sugar granules are tiny and dissolve quickly.
- Lemongrass Stems – Fresh lemongrass adds subtly sweet and citrusy flavor to anything you add it to. No substitutions here!
- Recommended tools – You’ll need a small to medium saucepan, and an airtight glass jar.
🥣 How to make (step-by-step photos)
Step One: Cut lemongrass stems
Rinse your lemongrass stems with cool water. Then, cut the stems into 1/2 inch pieces. Set the pieces aside.
Step Two: simmer lemongrass syrup
Combine the water, sugar, and cut lemongrass stems in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until water begins to boil. Then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the sugar dissolves and the syrup starts to thicken.
Step Three: Cool and store
Once the syrup thickens, remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool. Once cooled completely, pull out the lemongrass peels and pour the syrup into a glass storage container. Store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, OR pour your lemongrass simple syrup into ice cube trays and freeze for up to six months.
❔Questions + quick tips
- When shopping for fresh lemongrass, keep in mind the best tasting lemongrass stalks are pale green, sturdy and fragrant with fresh tops.
- To make a naturally sweetened sugar syrup, feel free to use honey instead of sugar.
- You may need to strain your syrup through a fine mesh sieve once it’s cooled to remove any stray lemongrass fibers and debris.
This simple syrup infusion is mostly sweet with notes of bright citrus and herbal flavor.
No! Lemongrass has a unique blend of citrus and botanical flavors. However, you can use lemon juice to make lemon ginger simple syrup.
Making homemade simple syrup is quick, easy, and so much better than store-bought, but yes, Monin lemongrass syrup is a suitable alternative.
🫐 Variations
Light and bright lemongrass pairs perfectly with a variety of flavors. Feel free to enhance your lemongrass syrup with another flavor. Try these modifications:
- Blackberry Lemongrass Syrup – Simmer water, lemongrass, and sugar with muddled blackberries. After cooling, strain through a fine mesh sieve.
- Ginger Lemongrass Syrup – Add 2-4 teaspoons of chopped ginger to the saucepan and remove before storing.
- Basil (or Cilantro) Lemongrass Syrup – Add another exciting herb to the saucepan. Thai basil would be great here.
🫖 How to serve
Looking for ways to use lemongrass syrup? It’s lovely drizzled over cakes, cupcakes, and pastries for a pop of vibrant citrus flavor and added moisture.
You can also stir 2 to 3 teaspoons into any of these beverages for next-level flavor:
- Iced Tea
- Hot Tea
- Lemonade
- Iced Matcha Lemonade
- Cucumber Mint Lemonade
- Sparkling Water
- Club Soda
- Frozen Matcha Latte
- Matcha Turmeric Latte
🍹Lemongrass simple syrup cocktails
Add this syrup to your favorite cocktails in place of lemon juice and simple syrup for a bit of a twist. Lemongrass syrup is great in:
- Margaritas
- Mojitos
- Lemon Drop Martinis
- Tom Collins
- Sours
🧊 How to store
Refrigerator storage: Let the syrup cool completely before pouring into a glass container and refrigerating for up to 2 weeks.
Freezer storage: You can also freeze the syrup in ice cube trays. Then, transfer the frozen cubes to a freezer-safe bag and keep frozen for 6 months.
🌿 More herb-infused simple syrup recipes
Looking for more herbal simple syrup recipes? Check these out.
- Cilantro Lime Simple Syrup
- Honey Lavender Simple Syrup
- Sage Infused Simple Syrup
- Earl Grey Simple Syrup
Lemongrass Simple Syrup
Equipment
- 1 Small Saucepan
- 1 glass jar or bottle
Ingredients
- ½ cup water distilled or filtered
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 pieces lemongrass stems cut into ½" pieces
Instructions
- Cut the lemongrass stems into 1/2 inch pieces and set them aside.
- Combine water, sugar, and cut lemongrass stems in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until the water begins to boil (about 5 minutes).
- Then, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the sugar dissolves and the syrup thickens (about 5 more minutes).
- Once the syrup has thickened, remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool.
- Once cool, remove the lemongrass peels and pour the syrup into a glass storage container. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
- OR pour the simple syrup into ice cube trays and freeze. Then, store the frozen cubes in a freezer-friendly bag for 6 months.
