Add a splash of bright red, fruity goodness to all your favorite drinks and desserts with my super simple Cherry Syrup recipe. You only need 4 ingredients and about 15 minutes total to whip up a batch—perfect for making DIY sodas, fruity hot chocolates, flavored lemonades, and so much more!
The other day I suddenly got a hankering for a soda shop-style cherry coke that I just couldn’t shake. But, when you look at what goes into a can of the mass-produced stuff as an RDN, it becomes a little tough to swallow. (See what I did there? 😂) My go-to solution when that happens (which it often does) is to make the thing myself, and thus my cherry syrup was born.
This cheerful concoction isn’t just beautiful with its dark ruby hue—made with zero artificial colors, I might add. It’s also a potent punch of fresh cherry flavor because it’s made with real, honest-to-goodness cherries!
This coffee syrup is basically a homemade cherry-flavored replacement for grenadine, so you can use it in every kind of drink from cocktails to milkshakes, or use it to add fruity goodness to a bowl of oatmeal or yogurt. No matter how you use it, one thing is certain—whatever you make will taste cherr-ific! 🍒
Jump to:
- What is cherry simple syrup?
- What does it taste like?
- Why You’ll Love This Cherry Syrup Recipe
- Ingredients Needed
- Substitutions
- How To Make Cherry Syrup For Drinks & More
- Optional Variations & Dietary Adjustments
- Serving Suggestions
- Recipe Success Tips
- FAQs
- Homemade Cherry Drink Syrup Nutrition
- Other Homemade Syrup Recipes
- Homemade Cherry Syrup
What is cherry simple syrup?
If you’ve yet to enter the world of homemade drink syrups, you’re missing out. Also known as “infused simple syrups,” these delightful concoctions add big flavor to whatever they touch, all with very little fuss. While cherry flavored syrup is on the menu today, these practical potions run the gamut of flavors, from nutty to fruity, spicy to floral.
The concept is as the name suggests—simple. Equal parts of sugar and water are mixed to form a liquid sweetener, which is then infused with flavor using any number of edible goodies. Here, we use fruit, plus a dribble of almond extract—a classic addition for many stone fruit drinks and dishes.
What does it taste like?
Each drop of this homemade drink syrup tastes like biting into a fresh summer cherry—sweet, tart, and slightly tannic, with a hint of almond that gives it a little je ne sais quois that’ll keep you coming back for more!
Why You’ll Love This Cherry Syrup Recipe
- Just 4 Ingredients - All you need is water, sugar, cherries, and almond extract!
- Better For You - Unlike some store-bought drink syrups, my homemade version is free from any artificial weirdness—no preservatives, dyes, or chemically sounding anything here!
- Better For Your Budget - On top of being made with only real, pronounceable ingredients, DIY cherry simple syrup is cheaper than buying it in stores. Rather than spending $8-10 on a bottle of Torani, spend $3 on cherries—and then eat the leftovers!
Ingredients Needed
As promised, you only need a handful of ingredients to make this fruit-flavored syrup. Here’s what to grab:
- Granulated Sugar & Water - This is the heart and soul of any simple syrup recipe. Using neutrally sweet white sugar ensures whatever you infuse it with will shine brightly.
- Pitted Cherries - Feel free to use fresh or frozen, depending on what’s cheaper. Or, if you’re short on time, go for frozen—that way you don’t have to pit them yourself!
- Almond Extract - We’re adding barely a dribble—just ¼ teaspoon. If you don’t have it, don’t fret.
Substitutions
Need to make some changes? Here are easy subs to put in:
- Granulated Sugar & Water - Consider starting with real cherry juice for a more intense cherry flavor. You can also swap in pure cane sugar or the sugar-free substitute of your choice.
- Pitted Cherries - While you need cherries to make cherry-flavored syrup, this recipe can be tweaked to use any kind of berry or stone fruit you’d like.
- Almond Extract - Feel free to omit this, or swap in vanilla extract for a hint of warmth.
How To Make Cherry Syrup For Drinks & More
Your bar cart or barista station is about to get way yummier in just a few easy steps:
Step 1: Simmer. Add the sugar, water, and pitted cherries to a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until simmering.
Step 2: Steep. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and squishing the cherries with a spatula.
Step 3: Strain. After simmering for 15 minutes, remove from heat and stir in the almond extract. Strain the cherries from the syrup with a fine mesh strainer, reserving the liquid and discarding the cherry pulp.
Step 4: Cool & Store. Allow the cherry syrup to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. After cooling time, transfer the syrup to a syrup bottle or mason jar with a lid and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Optional Variations & Dietary Adjustments
- Sugar Free Cherry Syrup - Use the cup-for-cup sugar-free substitute of your choice to make diabetic-friendly flavor syrup.
- Nut-Free - Almond extract is made with real almonds, so it isn’t suitable with folks who have nut allergies. Instead, you can use artificial almond extract or vanilla extract, or just omit it altogether.
- Try Different Kinds of Cherries - I made black cherry syrup here, but you could also make Rainier cherry or sour cherry syrup if you like! I suppose you could also make maraschino cherry syrup, but if that’s what you want, just use the juice from the jar!
Serving Suggestions
Friends, there are SO MANY uses for flavored cherry syrup that it’d take me a year to write them all out. Here are just a few ideas to get me started and let me know your favorite uses in the comments below!
- DIY All-Natural Soda - Start with sparkling mineral water, seltzer, or club soda and add a splash of cherry syrup for a delightful cherry soda. You can also turn it into an Italian soda with a drizzle of heavy cream. 😋
- Iced Cherry Chai - An iced chai latte topped with delicious cherry cold foam.
- Scoop Shop Style - Make your own cherry milkshakes or cherry egg creams by swapping in this garnet-colored yumminess for traditional chocolate syrup.
- Cherry Mochas & Hot Chocolates - Add a drizzle of cherry syrup to your next mocha, or mix it with mocha syrup and hot milk for a stellar mug of cocoa.
- Dessert Dress-Up - Make cherry-flavored whipped cream or frosting by using it as your sweetener. You can also use it to soak chocolate or vanilla layer cakes before frosting them, drizzle it over ice cream, or use it to garnish a fruit pavlova.
- Cherry Cocktails - Swap in this fun flavored syrup in any cocktail that calls for regular simple syrup. Not sure where to start? If the cocktail gets garnished with a cherry, you’re probably on the right track!
Recipe Success Tips
- Invest in Equipment - If you’re making this cherry syrup from fresh whole cherries, make sure to get yourself a cherry pitter with multiple wells to speed up the process. (Yes, you can use a regular straw to do it, but who has time?) Also, I can’t overstate the importance of having a syrup container with a pour spout and a funnel. Your countertops and fridge shelves will thank you!
- Waste Not, Want Not - Once you strain out the cherries from the syrup, pop them in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. They’re great for making cherry fools, spooning over ice cream sundaes, adding sweetness to plain oats or plain yogurt, adding to smoothies, and more!
- Seasonal Smarts - If cherries are in season (mid-late summer), you can often get fresh ones for super cheap. If not, opt for frozen cherries which are generally cheaper, taste better than out of season versions shipped from afar, and have the benefit of being pre-pitted.
FAQs
Not quite! Grenadine is a flavoring syrup made with sugar and water as its base, but is flavored with pomegranate arils instead of cherries.
Nope! Although, some packaged juices are almost as sugary. Real cherry juice is made with just the juice from cherries, whereas this recipe uses cherries to infuse sugar water.
Adding bright cherry flavor to whatever you want! Use it in drinks, drizzle it over breakfast or dessert, make shaved ice, or use it in any other recipe that calls for simple syrup where you want to add fruity flavor.
If made as directed below, cherry simple syrup should keep for about a week in the fridge or about 6 months in the freezer. To extend the shelf-life, make a “rich syrup” using twice as much sugar as water. Rich cherry syrup will keep for up to 6 months in the fridge (sugar is a natural preservative) or up to a year in the freezer.
Homemade Cherry Drink Syrup Nutrition
Unsurprisingly, cherry simple syrup is basically just liquid sugar. Each serving is 87 calories, all of which come from the 22 grams of carbs (all 22 of which are sugar). There’s no fat, no protein, and just 1 milligram of sodium. When you use it, treat it as you would table sugar—with moderation! (You can also make it sugar-free, which will render it nearly calorie-free, if needed.)
That said, all that bright cherry color means you’re at least getting a little bit of the fruit’s benefits—antioxidants like anthocyanins and vitamin C, to name a couple. All in all, it’s an easy way to add a little sweetness to your day. Enjoy every drizzle!
Total nutritional content per serving is:
- Calories: 87 calories
- Total Fat: 0 grams
- Protein: 0 grams
- Sodium: 1 mg
- Carbohydrates: 22 grams
- Sugar: 22 grams
*This nutritional information is an estimate and calculated based on the ingredients used to create the recipe. The nutritional value of your ingredients may differ slightly. Furthermore, this food is not intended to prevent, diagnose, cure, or treat any disease.
Other Homemade Syrup Recipes
Homemade Cherry Syrup
Equipment
- 1 medium saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup pitted cherries (fresh or frozen)
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Add the sugar, water, and pitted cherries to a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until simmering. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and squishing the cherries with a spatula.
- After simmering for 15 minutes, remove from heat and stir in the almond extract. Strain the cherries from the syrup with a fine mesh strainer, reserving the liquid and discarding the cherry pulp.
- Allow the cherry syrup to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. After cooling time, transfer the syrup to a syrup bottle or mason jar with a lid and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
xoxo Megan
Velvet speiss says
This never thickened
Megan Byrd says
You can always heat it for longer to thicken it up! It should still be packed with cherry flavor, though.