Jasmine Simple Syrup

Name: Jasmine Simple Syrup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 140 min
Ingredients: 1½ cups sugar; 1½ cup water; 1½ cup fresh jasmine flowers

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This fragrant jasmine flower simple syrup recipe is perfect for enhancing desserts and beverages like empress gin cocktails, teas, lemonade, and more!

Spring is by far my least favorite season, but the one thing I look forward to every year is the sweet smell (and taste!) of fresh jasmine. As the weather starts to warm up I keep cool by living off of jasmine iced tea, and my favorite no-churn jasmine tea ice cream.

This jasmine simple syrup makes a great addition to both of those, as well as a wide variety of sweet treats like bubble teas, cocktails and mocktails, smoothies, and any dessert you want to enhance with natural jasmine flavor. You can cook with it or drizzle it over desserts like this jasmine green tea cake.

Table of Contents

What Is Jasmine?

Jasmine flowers grow on nearly 200 different species of shrubs and vines and come in many varieties. Jasminum officinale, or common jasmine, is native to the Caucasus and parts of Asia and features small white flowers that grow in clusters and emerge from pink buds. Star jasmine, or conferderate jasmine, is another common variety native to eastern and southeastern Asia. While star jasmine technically isn’t a true jasmine, it works just as well for this recipe!

The great thing about making recipes with jasmine is that there are so many fun ways to utilize any leftover flowers like making tea, simmer pots, or desserts. You can also preserve jasmine’s beautiful fragrance by making incense, jasmine essential oil, and even natural perfumes!

If you’re foraging jasmine, keep in mind that there are many varieties. Common jasmine and star jasmine are both edible, but you can use an app like PictureThis to identify the variety if you’re unsure if it’s safe for human consumption.

🥄 Why This Recipe Works

This jasmine syrup recipe is so versatile and can enhance many drinks and treats.
Jasmine syrup makes a great gift!
You can make this jasmine flower syrup in advance and store it for up to 2 months in the fridge.

🛒 What You Need To Make Jasmine Syrup

📝 Recipe Modifications And Substitutions

Jasmine: I use 1 1/12 cup of fresh jasmine blossoms, but you can opt for dried food-grade jasmine, in which case you only need 3/4 cup.
Sugar: You’ll need 1 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, or you can use brown sugar for a richer, more caramel-like syrup.
Optional Ingredients: If you want to make a syrup with a more complex flavor you can add up to 1 Tbsp of lemon juice or a few slices of your favorite citrus fruit. You could also add 3-5 cardamom pods or a 1″ cinnamon stick, although I would remove them after simmering so they don’t overpower the jasmine.

If you want to make a honey jasmine syrup you can easily do so by omitting the sugar and instead using 2 parts honey and 1 part water.

🥣 What Equipment Do I Need?

If you don’t have access to fresh jasmine, you can use dried food-grade jasmine. I recommend storing your syrup in a flip-top bottle, but you can also use mason jars.

🌸 How To Make This Recipe

Step 1: Pick 1 1/2 cup of fresh jasmine flowers.

Pro Tip: When picking flowers, make sure you choose blossoms that have opened and avoid picking flowers that have started drying out.

Step 2: Rinse the jasmine flowers and add to a small saucepan along with sugar and water.

Step 3: Bring the syrup to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the saucepan and allow it to steep for a minimum of 2 hours, or overnight.

Pro Tip: The longer the flowers steep, the more flavorful the syrup will be. You can let it steep anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours.

Step 4: Strain the syrup using a fine mesh strainer, pressing the flowers with a spatula or spoon to extract as much of the jasmine flavor as possible.

jasmine flowers being pressed with spatula

Step 5: Pour the jasmine syrup into a sterilized bottle or jar and refrigerate until needed.

🤷🏻‍♀️ Recipe FAQs

What can you do with jasmine flowers?

Jasmine flower petals can be used to make a variety of recipes and crafts including:

– Jasmine syrup
– Infused water
– Jasmine tea
– Simmer pots
– Jasmine ice cream
– Jasmine jelly
– Potpourri
– Jasmine oil
– Candles
– Beauty products like soap and lip balm

Are all jasmine flowers edible?

While most common jasmine varieties such as common jasmine and star jasmine are edible, there are over 200 varieties of jasmine, some of which are not safe for human consumption. You should be wary of false jasmine such as Gelsemium sempervirens, which is toxic. If you’re unsure if a specific variety is edible you can use an app like PictureThis to get more information.

👩🏻‍🍳 Pro Tips

To make a thicker syrup, add twice as much sugar or cook longer to reduce.
When stored in the fridge, this syrup should last up to 2 months, although you can freeze for longer storage.
If you notice that the syrup at the bottom of the jar starts looking cloudy, this is a good indication that the syrup has started to go bad and should be discarded.

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