Name: Strawberry Basil Syrup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 1
Ingredients: 1 cup water; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen strawberries; 1 teaspoon lemon juice; 7-8 large fresh basil leaves

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This homemade strawberry basil syrup is sweet and flavorful. It makes a delicious strawberry basil cocktail (or mocktails, like strawberry basil lemonade.)

Perfect for celebrating the summer months.

A simple syrup is exactly what it sounds like – Simple, and it’s a syrup. It’s made of a mixture of water and sugar and, in this case, the addition of fruit and fresh herbs. Hints of basil are the perfect addition to strawberries.

Basil leaves have a sweet, earthy flavor that enhances the sweet strawberry flavor.

Ingredients

Find the simple ingredients for this strawberry basil simple syrup in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is a rundown of what you will need.

Fresh strawberries or frozen. The great taste of strawberries is what makes this syrup so summery. If you don’t have fresh berries, use frozen! Frozen ripe strawberries work just as well.
White sugar. Granulated cane sugar. You could use raw sugar, or pure cane sugar but avoid light brown sugar, which will change the flavor. The amount of sugar is large but remember, it’s syrup and meant to be sweet.
Water
Lemon juice. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice enhances the strawberry flavor and helps balance the sweetness. You could use lime juice too.
Sweet basil leaves – Fresh basil plants give delicious flavor. This doesn’t work with dried basil.

See the recipe card for quantities.

A simple syrup

The sugar-to-water ratio in simple syrup equals water and sugar.

This is often measured in volume – 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup water. Volume is less consistent than measuring in weight (there is 40g more water than sugar in a cup), but it doesn’t make much difference in a recipe like this.

Instructions

Roughly chop the strawberries.

In a small saucepan, combine the strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, and water.

water poured over sugar and strawberries.

Place the saucepan over medium heat. Once the first bubbles appear and the mixture starts simmering, lower the heat right down.

Let the mixture simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove it from the heat. Pull the leaves from sprigs of basil and roughly tear them by hand.

Stir them in and let the syrup cool down to room temperature. This will infuse the basil flavor.

strawberry syrup being poured through a cloth

Once it has cooled, balance a fine-mesh strainer and cloth over a bowl and tip in the strawberry mixture.

A cloth will remove all the strawberry seeds to make an extra clear syrup. Let it drain completely. Avoid pressing down on the berries if you want a transparent liquid.

Pour the strawberry syrup into a clean glass jar or another airtight container.

Leftover syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Pro tip – Pour it into ice cube trays and freeze it, so you have individual servings!

Variations

Flavored simple syrup can be made with various fruits, spices, and herbs!

Ways to this homemade syrup

In a summer cocktail or mixed drinks: Strawberry basil simple syrup can be used to sweeten and flavor the perfect cocktail or mocktail. Use it to make strawberry lemonade, strawberry margarita (with plenty of ice), or a strawberry daiquiri. It makes a delicious martini too.
In smoothies: Add a bit of basil strawberry simple syrup to your favorite smoothie for a sweet fresh flavor.
It’s a bit runny to add to ice cream, but it’s excellent in a snow cone!
Simple syrup can also brush on cake layers to keep them moist.
The leftover strawberry chunks from the syrup are exceptionally sweet, but they could be served over french toast or on top of pancakes.

Storage

Fresh fruit syrup like this can be stored in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.

The syrup can be frozen for up to 3 months for long-term storage.

Yield: 1 1/4 cups