Homemade Throat Lozenges (Elderberry Sore Throat Remedy) 3 Ingredients
Ease a sore throat and prevent a cough with these homemade throat lozenges! These DIY cough drops are made with elderberries and honey to help soothe and reduce cough and cold symptoms (similar to these honey and lemon homemade cough drops). Don’t buy cough drops, make your own! They’re easy to whip up and great to have on hand during cold season!
It’s always ideal to prevent a cough or a cold (with recipes like gut-healing smoothies and homemade fire cider). However, it doesn’t always happen.
This is why having some soothing throat lozenges on hand is a winter-time staple.
Made from just three, immune-boosting ingredients, these DIY throat drops are sweet to suck on and a natural way to ease a sore throat.
Don’t want to read? JUMP to the recipe.
Why You’ll Love Them
- All-natural
- Minimal ingredients
- Immune boosting
- Helps to relieve cold symptoms like scratchy throats.
- May reduce the duration of colds
- Delicious
Immune Boosting Ingredient
Elderberries have been a staple for cold and flu season for years and have been said to have some wonderful healing properties.
Benefits like that they’re antibacterial, anti-infectious, and help to boost your overall immune system.
Plus, elderberries have been shown to help ease respiratory colds, reduce cold symptoms, and lessen the duration of colds.
They’re used most in homemade cough syrup or elderberry gummy bears. However, make sure to use them cooked (in this recipe they’re heated in boiling water and discarded) as elderberries by themselves can have toxic effects.
How Do You Use The Lozenges
Just like any other cough drop you simply pop them into your mouth and suck away. However, unlike mass-produced varieties, this one will melt slightly.
Meaning, it is almost taffy-like in nature as it melts which is why they’re not recommended for kids. instead, opt for elderberry kids cough syrup.
The last thing you want to do with these throat lozenges is to chew them. Just suck on them until it fully melts and the honey gloriously coats your throat.
Notes & Tips On Making Them
These homemade throat lozenges require that you heat the honey until boiling while whisking it constantly. This lets the moisture come out of the honey but does not allow it to burn.
In other words, it’s delicate.
While many people use a candy thermometer, you don’t need one. Instead, set the timer for 6 minutes after the honey is bubbling and alternate between whisking and removing it from heat to settle (watch the video to get a good idea of how to do this). You want the mixture to turn darker and after six minutes it should be much stickier.
You want to keep these sore throat lozenges in the freezer until you pop them in your mouth. They do melt slightly.
Other Cough & Cold Remedies
If you want to keep your immune system high and prevent a cough or cold, below are the best steps to take:
- Fire cider tonic (my full fire cider recipe)
- Homemade elderberry cough syrup
- good old fashioned, super healthy eating
- staying hydrated
- Homemade honey and garlic elixir for coughs and colds
Using Bone Broth For Your Immune System
Another way to both fight colds as well as prevent them is to use bone broth! It’s actually one of my most recommended foods for toddlers because it’s so healing. However, making homemade broth takes a lot of time.
However, there is a solution: bone broth powder from perfect supplements (use code mamabear10). This powder works just like any other broth and all you need to do is whisk it into boiling water (or make a crazy, gut-healing chocolate smoothie)
Perfect Supplements uses only the highest quality products and this bone broth powder is free from additives and spices. Plus, it uses grass-fed, organic chickens.
Silicone Molds
You need candy molds for these throat drops.
However, stay away from the super small gummy bear molds with an eyedropper. They’re cute but horrendous and you won’t be able to make anything. They end up too small and your throat lozenges won’t come out of them.
Instead, get candy molds and keep the cough drops small in size.
Ingredients
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Only four ingredients in this potent homemade cough drop recipe! These throat lozenges help soothe a scratchy throat, boost the immune system and prevent a cold getting worse. In a small bowl, pour the boiling water over the elderberries, and cover. Let sit 10 minutes to steep. Strain the elderberries, and press out all the juice. In a small pot, combine the elderberry juice, honey, and coconut oil and heat over medium to high heat. Bring the mixture to a bubbling boil (it will foam), remove from heat, and whisk until the bubbles go down. Place back on the heat. Repeat this for 6 minutes or until the mixture sits at 300 degrees. The mixture should darken slightly and become a bit more sticky as the honey thickens up. Pour the mixture into individual candy molds, keep them fairly small. Please in the freezer to set (and store there).
Homemade Throat Lozenges
Ingredients
Instructions
Recipe Notes
Keep your cough and cold symptoms at bay and rock these sore throat lozenges. They’re a natural sore throat remedy perfect to have on hand. Plus, the combination of elderberries & honey is a tasty one!
Oh that’s a good trick about letting the honey bubble for 6 minutes. I will definitely need to try that because I’ve also had some struggles with the candy thermometer and getting everything just right. This recipe looks great! Thank you for sharing!
Yes! It took a lot of batches of burned honey with a candy thermometer to quit haha I cannot for the life of me get it to work. I find it SO much easier to just stay on top of it and remove it from heat back and forth.