Made with only four ingredients, these honey lemon homemade cough drops are a natural sore throat remedy. These DIY throat lozenges are both healing and soothing. Honey-based and made with immune-boosting ingredients these they're an easy way to relieve a sore throat (though this elderberry homemade cough syrup is a helpful option too!).
Cold season is no one's favorite. And being that I live in Canada, cold season pretty much encompasses half the year 😛
So it`s a bit of a no-brainer that as a Certified Nutrition Coach I have protocols and tricks in place to help us survive (read about how I help my girls sleep through winter nights!). And these tricks (like homemade cough syrup and gut-healing smoothies) definitely include a lot of natural options- like these homemade honey lemon cough drops!
Plus, there is nothing worse in the winter than that niggling feeling of having to cough every four minutes. I. Hate. Being. Sick.
Seriously.
Other Cold & Flu Remedies I Use
And as a mom, being sick is even worse! It's not like you can laze around and watch Netflix all day (or at least not the shows you want!) and if your throat hurts you can't exactly stop speaking with a toddler 😛
Which means I do everything in my power to keep myself healthy. I'm a huge supporter of:
- Gut-Boosting Homemade Gummy Bears
- fire cider tonic (my full fire cider recipe)
- Homemade elderberry cough syrup
- good old fashioned, super healthy eating
- Homemade honey and garlic elixir for coughs and colds
- this magic elixir to help kick a cold fast!
Kicking Up Your Immune System
I also use a lot of bone broth to both fight colds and prevent them! It's actually one of my most recommended foods for toddlers because it's so healing. However, making homemade broth takes TIME (a lot of it!) which I'm slightly limited on.
So while I do strive to make my own I also make use of two-time savers: I use bone broth powder from perfect supplements (use code mamabear10) normally whisked into something (or even snuck into a chocolate smoothie!) or I use Kettle & Fire pre-made bone broth (I like straight-up chicken or the turmeric one!) because their quality is so high (simmered for ten hours!).
But sometimes, I still get sick (you can't be perfect right??.
And when I feel that sore, scratchy throat coming on, these honey lemon homemade cough drops are my best friend.
The Honey Lemon Combo
The honey lemon combination has been used for what seems like eons to soothe sore throats! Probably because it just works so damn well.
Honey helps coat your throat to prevent the scratchy cough feeling and lemon helps prevent and eliminate bacteria and infection as well as keep the ph of your stomach in a healthy range.
In particular, I like to use raw local honey when I can. The reason I use local honey in the DIY cough drops is that I believe it helps adjust your immune system towards any pollen in the air thus reducing allergies.
As for raw honey- no processed billy bee sugar honey for me here! Especially when sick, I like to keep it as close to nature as possible.
And these DIY throat lozenges also have the benefit of added ginger and coconut oil! Ginger is an amazingly healing root and helps eliminate any nausea as well as boost your immune system.
And coconut oil aside from being almost a miracle oil is very anti-bacterial. So again, helping to reduce the cold from progressing further.
When I don't have these homemade cough drops on hand I usually just steep all of these ingredients into boiling water and sip on it throughout the day- seriously, they work well!
Important Notes On The DIY Cough Drops
They took me FOREVER to figure out. Truly, before I got the recipe to work I made about four others. We had lemon honey absolutely everywhere 😛 and so many of them didn't take shape that I just had goop. I made probably three dozen honey lemon-based muffins 😛
But finally, FINALLY, I figure out the trick (and ratios!).
The trick is that you have to keep the honey bubbling (seems like burning) on the stove. You also have to keep removing briefly, stirring and redoing this (read the directions).
I'm no chemist so I've no idea the technical reason but it's almost like it burns off the goopy aspect and makes the honey into something that resembles hard candy.
So follow the directions.
You can also check out DIY Elderberry cough drops in which I provide a step by step video of how to boil the honey without burning it.
You can use any silicone molds you like but my advice is to keep the actual drops super thin. These homemade cough drops have a hard candy/taffy-like consistency in your mouth (which means that you shouldn't chew them.. especially with dentures. Seriously, taffy-like).
Because of this consistency, having them super thick isn't fun, keep them ultra-thin. Like disks.
These homemade honey lemon cough drops taste amazing and sucking on them is moderately addictive.
Homemade Cough Drops & Kids
However, because they are taffy-like once they honey firms up and melts in your mouth, my advice would be to not give them to kids. I worry with kids, especially very little ones, that they would chew them and swallow and choke.
So these are adult-only DIY cough drops I'd say (though here's a great cough syrup recipe for kiddos if you need one!)
Lastly-keep the honey lemon drops in the freezer! You can pop them into your mouth straight from the freezer, the cold feels great on a sore throat, and this way you can make a bunch and always have some on hand!
Seriously, these honey lemon cough drops rival any halls you may want.
Don't forget to pin these homemade honey cough drops!
Homemade Honey Lemon Cough Drops
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons Honey
- 2 teaspoon Coconut Oil
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice fresh
- ¼ - ½ inch ginger peeled and finely grated.
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a small pot.
- Heat the pot slightly over medium heat and melt the ingredients together.
- The honey mixture will start to bubble, remove from heat and whisk until bubbles/foam recedes slightly. Replace on heat.
- Do this for 2.5-3 minutes, whisking every 15 seconds or so. You want the mixture to get HOT but not to outright burn.
- The mixture will start to change color (dark honey color).
- After three minutes-ish, pour the mixture into silicone molds but do not fill them all the way. You want the drops to be very small and thin.
- Let cool on the counter for twenty minutes then place in the freezer to set.
- Pop the disks out when you need them. They are chilled and soothing but they're also sticky once melted (almond-like a taffy) so try not to chew them too much!
- Makes 8 drops depending on mold.
Video
Nutrition
These homemade honey lemon cough drops are beautifully soothing for scratchy throats and annoying coughs. They're a quick, healthy recipe using old fashioned ingredients to help boost your immune system and soothe your throat.
Shelby aka Mama Bear
Christina Shoemaker
I absolutely love this idea! So creative and easy! And because they're homemade there's no chance of any ingredients I want to avoid!!!
fitasamamabear
Yes! They throw so much random crap into cough drops it's silly!
Renee D Kohley
I'm sure these are so soothing on a dry scratchy throat!
fitasamamabear
And they taste delicious!
jennifer
I seriously NEED one of these right now as I have one of those icky little tickle coughs! Going to try in the morning!
fitasamamabear
Oh I hate those! These definitely come in handy when you have some on hand!
Hope
These look like they would be so soothing - love all of the healthy ingredients!
fitasamamabear
Thanks! Might as well keep it simple 🙂
Jean
What a great idea! I'm honestly not a fan of all the preservatives and sugars in store bought cough drops but I love that this is actually good for you!
fitasamamabear
Right?! They stuff so much random stuff into the store bought kinds. It's silly.
ChihYu
Oh i love this recipe! Never thought I can make it myself. This will come in handy in colder months!
fitasamamabear
I love having some in stock! They taste great out of the freezer!
Tina
This recipe is amazing. I love it! I've never thought about my own cough drops, but looks like this is what I will be doing all winter long 🙂
fitasamamabear
They're soooo much better than store bought!
Carol Little R.H. @studiobotanica
Thanks for sharing your great project! I do make my own version ~ with horehound herb, which I grow at home.
Let me know if you ever want to 'kick' it up-- with the horehound..(you had mentioned you wanted to add a little herb in... here and there.. (I'll send you some!)
fitasamamabear
Woah... what is horehound?! I'm so intrigued by your knowledge!!!
Lindsey Dietz
So creative and I love that mold you have! These are really special and could probably suffice as "candy" for a little one, too!
fitasamamabear
Thank you! I love them- oh they are definitely candy like tasting 😀
STACEY CRAWFORD
I never thought of making my own cough drops. Such a good idea! 🙂
fitasamamabear
Thank you! I just got really sick of all the random ingredients in store bought lol
Lexi
Tastes delish, but mine never “set” so I can’t really suck on them. What could I have done wrong? They have been in the freezer over night.
fitasamamabear
I had this problem on my first batch too. What I learned was that I wasn't heating the honey properly! I have a video on my elderberry cough drops that shows it a bit better but you want to heat until it bubbles excessively, remove and store and do that for about six minutes. The honey needs to change color. If it doesn't bubble off, in my experience, it was because I didn't do it long enough (only 203 minutes) or with high enough heat. I hope that helps but let me know and we can troubleshoot together!
https://fitasamamabear.com/homemade-elderberry-sore-throat-lozenges/
Catherine Baez Sholl
Great recipe! I want to make this the next time we need them at home.
fitasamamabear
Do it! Keep them in the freezer- so perfect when chilled 🙂
sunrita
Love this recipe. Wondering if could replace coconut oil with anything else maybe ghee or ollive oil? not a great fan of coconut.
fitasamamabear
Hrm, I would try avocado oil because it has a higher heat point! I'm not entirely sure how they would firm up though (fyi) but think it would be okay because the honey gets sticky and hard 🙂
Daniela
I’m pinning these as I dislike most conventional cough drops! These sounds amazing!
fitasamamabear
Yay! I also dislike the the conventional ones too 🙁 I could suck on these all day haha
Raia Todd
So glad I found these! My kids are currently all hacking like crazy. 🙁
durgawati
Very useful Article in Lemon Cough Drops Good Sharing Information . Thanks .
fitasamamabear
Thanks bunches! Glad you enjoyed it!
Kenzy
I have a question, I tried it but it never turned hard when I froze it.. can you tell me why that would be?
fitasamamabear
This one is honestly a tricky one and took me forever. It's in the way you boil it and remove from the heat that makes the honey "taffy" like. I may try to make a video for this soon. You need to bring it to a bubble, remove it from the heat until the bubble starts to recede and then make it bubble again. You do it about 8 times and when it changes to super dark is when it will freeze. The other thing to note is how much you pour in the molds. You need them SUPER THIN. If they're thick they won't freeze as well.
I hope that helps (keep me posted!) I'll try to do a video in a few weeks to hopefully give a better visual 🙂
durgawati
Thanks for sharing information .keep up the good work
Wendy
What can I use instead of coconut oil because I don't have any?
fitasamamabear
Unfortunately, the coconut oil is needed for the recipe as it's what helps it melt. I don't think any other oil will work as coconut oil not onlyhas a high heat point (which you need for this) but also starts to soften when warm.
Shelley
It takes 21 hours and 51 minutes to make? LoL
fitasamamabear
Fak haha. Some of the older ones don't have updated recipe cards. I'm on it. Thanks millions for pointing it out! And how specific... 21 hours.. haha thanks!
Julie
Where could I find small molds?
fitasamamabear
I use candy molds like this (affiliate!) but don't fill them all the way as I prefer mine super thin 🙂
https://amzn.to/3J66LLB
Nihal Elgendy
Thanks for sharing this lovable recipes, will give it a try with my picky son ?
fitasamamabear
Haha good luck! Just note that the recipe isn't great for super little kids (toddlers) as it gets the consistency of hard candy/toffee after sucking on it a bit so be careful! It's tasty though 😉
Nihal Elgendy
That's even better, he is three and a half, loves hard candies, and we always argue about that, at least yours is healthy! ?
Eva
I thought that boiling honey kills the good properties in it.
fitasamamabear
I assume it'll kill any good bacteria in it if using raw but it'll still be soothing to the throat.
Amy
So I’m not much of a cook so I bought ginger already peeled and ready to go. So how much would half a inch be in terms of table spoons.
fitasamamabear
I'm trying to picture it haha I want to say around 1 tablespoon! I hope that helps!
Bron
Such an amazing recipe! Works every time. Really is a must try.
fitasamamabear
Right?! It's a super soothing one! Glad you enjoy it 🙂
Shelbie
Fantastic recipe it’s my go to for cough drops.
fitasamamabear
Aw yay! So happy you love it!
Trina Welch
Is there a substitute for the ginger? I am allergic. I would love to try these.
fitasamamabear
There's not but you can just leave it out- the honey-lemon combo is still insanely soothing! I'm currently whipping up an elderberry one to get ready to post too!
And boo, sorry to hear you're allergic to ginger, I devour so much curry I'd be devastated haha
Nart at Cooking with Nart
I tried this recipe and the drops actually work!!!! Thank you so much for this 🙂
fitasamamabear
So happy you enjoyed them! They're life-savers to me!
Godiva Mahoney
Thanks so much for the easy and yummy recipe! I am lucky enough to know a local beekeeper so I have fantastic local, organic honey. I added ground osha root (also known as bear root, or min'wiik in Cree) which is for lung health.
I will be making a bunch of these lozenges so I can give them away for the holidays and I know they will be very popular at pow wows.
kinana'skomitina'wa'w.
fitasamamabear
Making them for friends for the Holidays is SO sweet! What a great idea. I'm so jealous you have a local beekeeper haha we go through so much honey! I'm saving that tip for Osha root by the way- thank you! can you boil the root into say a tea or a salve?
Tonya Watson
These sound awesome. Have you tried adding them to a cup of hot tea? Wondering how will they will dissolve.
fitasamamabear
Ohh I haven't but that's a WONDERFUL idea! I suspect that unless you poured the boiling water directly over it, it wouldn't fully melt as they do become quite hard. But if poured directly on it might make a great cup. I have a few in the freezer I may try...
Ashley
I was a little intimidated as i've never made any sort of "candy" before, but this recipe kept it super easy and simple. They turned out amazing (also delicious) and have been great for my sore throat. Thank you!!
fitasamamabear
SO happy to hear this! Way to dive in and give them a go! It can be finicky to get the honey to harden so nicely done. And I'm glad you like them- they're wonderful for a scratchy throat. Thanks for giving them go!