Discover the secret to soothing coughs naturally with homemade cough drops. Try our irresistible homemade cough drop recipe with lemon and honey today!
With cold and flu season approaching, chances are you’re going to get a cough or sore throat at some point. Or, if you’re like me, your allergies keep you coughing pretty well year round.
I would go broke if I was always buying cough drops, but making my own cough drops is a much cheaper way to keep myself stocked up and honestly is just as easy as going to the store and buying them.
In fact, they’re one of the easier natural remedies you’ll ever make. If you can turn a stove on and watch a candy thermometer, you can make these cough drops with honey and lemon! By combining these two powerhouse ingredients with some other herbs for coughs, you can create a natural and effective remedy for your cough.
With that said, I do want to put this disclaimer here just for my own piece of mind.
I am not nor have I ever been a doctor. This post, recipe and the paragraphs within should not be construed as medical advice and are for entertainment purposes only. Neither myself personally or Six Dollar Family will be held responsible for any issues arising from your homemade cough drops.
How Does Honey and Lemon Help a Cough?
Honey has been used for centuries as a cough suppressant for good reason. It coats your throat, soothes irritation and reduces coughing. It also has antimicrobial properties that can help fight off infections by giving your immune system a boost.
Lemon is packed with vitamin C, which boosts the immune system and helps fight off infections, while honey has soothing properties that can calm irritation in the throat. It also boosts your immune system and helps fight off the virus causing your cough while the antibacterial properties of lemon help kill the bacteria in your throat and reduce inflammation.
For these homemade cough drops, you will want to use only raw honey. Raw honey retains more of its natural healing properties and if you’re buying raw honey, you know you’re getting real honey. There are too many counterfeits out there to risk getting an impure product when it comes to home remedies.
The recipe also calls for fresh lemon juice instead of essential oils. If you would rather use lemon essential oil, you can, however, be absolutely certain you get the dilution correct so you don’t add too much.
Herbs for Coughs
In addition to honey and lemon, you’ll be adding ground cinnamon and ground ginger to your homemade cough drops. Cinnamon is heavy on antioxidants which can have an analgesic effect to soothe sore throats.
In addition to the ones that you’ll add to this honey cough drops mixture, you can also help boost the cough drops by drinking Echinacea tea, Elderberry tea – I LOVE the recipe HERE – and other immune boosting herbs.
If you have congestion, you may want to look at adding Mullein tea or Mullein drops as they can help your lungs get rid of some of the congestion.
How Do You Make Cough Drops for Kids?
This recipe for homemade lemon honey cough drops is 100% kid safe as written. It has nothing in it aside from normal ingredients that are used in the kitchen. However, I do not under any circumstances advise changing the recipes or using essential oils in a kid safe recipe that will be ingested. There is too much that can go wrong.
Before allowing your kids to eat these though, you’ll want to ensure they are not allergic to any of the ingredients.
Also, do not give honey or any foods/drinks that include honey to babies under 1 year of age. The risk of botulism is too high and it is unsafe to do. As these are small candy sized drops, I assume you would not be anyhow, but I felt it needed mentioning.
How Do You Make Your Own Cough Syrup?
If you would rather make homemade honey lemon cough syrup instead of drops, you can do that with this recipe as well!
To do so, simmer the liquid only until it reaches 220°F instead of 300°F as the recipe calls for. Remove it from the stove and pour the homemade cough syrup into a jar. Allow it to cool on the counter. It should thicken a bit as it cools.
Homemade Cough Drops With Lemon and Honey
Ingredients
- 1 C. Distilled Water
- 1 Lemon Ginger Tea Bag
- 1 Peppermint Tea Bag
- ½ C Raw Honey
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Ground Ginger
- ¼ C. Powdered Sugar optional
Instructions
- In a heavy bottom Dutch oven, heat water until steaming. Add both tea bags and steep for 10-minutes. Remove 1/2 cup of tea and set the rest aside for future batches or for drinking.1 C. Distilled Water, 1 Lemon Ginger Tea Bag, 1 Peppermint Tea Bag
- Add the 1/2 cup tea, honey, lemon juice, cinnamon and ginger to the medium saucepan. Stir to combine well and until all ingredients are fully dissolved.1/2 C Raw Honey, 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice, 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
- Heat the saucepan mixture to 300°F using a candy thermometer to monitor it. Remove from heat at around 290°F as it should continue to heat itself. Do not allow the mixture to boil over as doing so will cause it to scorch.
- Once 300°F is reached, allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes until it begins to thicken.
- Spoon the mixture onto wax paper in drop form. 1/3 tsp per drop is a good amount to start with.
- Allow the drops to harden completely. Dip and roll in powdered sugar if you would like a sweeter cough drop or use as is. Store in an air-tight container until needed.1/4 C. Powdered Sugar
Notes
- Nutrition facts are auto-calculated. Please use discretion if you have a special diet.
