Made with only four ingredients, these honey lemon homemade cough drops are a natural sore throat remedy. Honey-based and made with immune-boosting ingredients, these DIY throat lozenges are both healing and soothing.
Basically, 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.
And natural options like these honey lemon ginger cough drops are a key element!
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.
Sources used in this blog post: benefits of honey, benefits of ginger, health benefits of lemon.
Ingredients You'll Need
The honey lemon combination has been used for what seems like eons to soothe sore throats! Probably because it just works so damn well.
Raw honey: even though you'll be heating this honey I think it's always best to use raw, unpasteurized honey.
At the very least, just make sure to use pure honey so that you're not adding in any extra additives.
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.
Coconut oil: I typically opt for cold-pressed, extra virgin coconut oil because it will have the most healing properties.
However, know that the more unprocessed your oil is the more slight coconut flavor it will have.
Fresh lemon juice: ideally you want lemon juice squeezed right from the lemon for these cough drops! The fresher it is the more potent it will be.
Ginger: if you don't have fresh ginger on hand, dried will work. But like most things, know you're losing some of the benefits from it.
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!
How To Make Natural Homemade Cough Drops
Step 1: Combine all ingredients in a small pot. Heat the pot slightly over medium heat and melt the ingredients together.
Step 2. The honey mixture will start to bubble, remove from heat, and whisk until bubbles/foam recedes slightly. Replace on heat.
Step 3: 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.
Sep 4: After three minutes-ish, pour the mixture into silicone molds but do not fill them all the way. Let them cool on the counter before freezing.
Important Notes On The DIY Cough Drops
The trick to making homemade cough drops 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).
It's the bubbling that burns off the goopy aspect and makes the honey into something that resembles hard candy.
So follow the directions.
Note that many recipes will get you to use a candy thermometer when making DIY lozenges.
However, I prefer to go by the color of the honey instead. Mainly because a candy thermometer is just one more step.
Instead, keep an eye on the color: you want it to turn a darker shade.
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.
How To Store Them
Store the homemade cough drops in the freezer right in the silicone molds. If you want to store them in a container, you'll need to separate them between sheets of parchment so that they don't stick together.
To use them eat them right out of the freezer, the cold is soothing on a sore throat.
These homemade honey lemon cough drops taste amazing and sucking on them is moderately addictive.
Do not store the cough drops in the fridge as they lose their shape and become a sticky mess.
Crucial Products
You'll need a set of silicone molds for these natural homemade cough drops.
You can use any silicone molds you like but my advice is to keep the actual cough drops super thin.
Thus, you want medium-sized candy molds but you don't want to fill them the entire way.
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.
Homemade Cough Drops & Kids
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!)
Frequently Asked Questions About Honey, Lemon, Ginger Cough Drops
These cough drops are best stored in the freezer, and they're more soothing this way too! 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!
Honey is super soothing for a scratchy, dry throat which is normally the start of a cough. Use these homemade cough drops when you feel a scratchy throat coming on and before it gets too intense and turns into a cough.
If you find that the cough drops are still pretty sticky and you're having trouble getting them out of the mold, then two things went wrong. The first is that you didn't freeze them long enough to harden. If they're a bit melty and you froze them for 1-2 hours, then you didn't boil them down enough to make the honey tacky. They still work but if you really want to you can reboil them. Just scoop them all out from the mold, reheat and boil down further getting that deep golden brown before repeating the remaining steps.
Other Cold & Flu Remedies I Use
If you want to do everything in your power to survive cold and flu season, here are some staples you need!
- 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 honey garlic elixir to help kick a cold fast!
- Gut healing smoothie
These honey lemon cough drops will rival any halls to knock a sore throat. But if you want to keep your immune system high year-round, bone broth should be in your diet.
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.
Why is why bone broth powder is so awesome for busy moms.
Homemade Honey Lemon Cough Drops
Video
Ingredients
- 2.5 tablespoons Honey
- 1.5 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.
Notes
Disclaimer:
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data"
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!
Greta
This is what I need right now, and I am so glad I can do this by myself with these easy steps! Thanks for sharing.
fitasamamabear
Happy to help!
Renee D Kohley
I'm sure these are so soothing on a dry scratchy throat!
fitasamamabear
And they taste delicious!
Holley Ewell Augello
Just made these for hubby and I was super eager to taste them- tried still warm, and they are delicious!! Nevermind having a sore throat- I could eat these as straight up candy!! Thank you for sharing!
fitasamamabear
Haha I totally use them as candy too lol so yummy!
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?
Brenna
So excited to try this recipe!!!
Are these cough drops shelf stable by chance?? And if so how long?
Thank you!
fitasamamabear
So I find that they store best in the freezer and in their molds. I did store them in a container once but they freeze together so molds is best. I also tried in the fridge but they softened just enough to make a mess lol
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!
Allyssa
Thanks a lot for this! It's really helpful and very easy to make! Will use this again, highly recommended!
Natalie
My kids love your cough drops. It really soothes them and keeps the caugh from flaring up, thanks!
fitasamamabear
Yay! They're so helpful during cold season.
nancy
I never tried making cough drops before . what a great idea. Store bought ones always tastes gross
fitasamamabear
Store bought ones DO taste funky! Lol Honey ones are waaay better 🙂
Roxie
This is so much better than the one in store. Thank you so much.
fitasamamabear
Yay!
Shilpa
These lozenges are really good for dry cough. Must have, especially during season changes.
fitasamamabear
Yes! Everything gets so funky as the weather shifts, they're good to have on hand.
Wendy
These were just what we needed. Thank you!
fitasamamabear
Glad to help!
Gen
I love this idea! I will definitely be continuing to stock these in our home, especially in those cute heart shapes.
fitasamamabear
Hehe the hearts just make them more fun!
Jennifer
These are amazing - way better than store bought, and they work like a charm!
fitasamamabear
Yay!
Emily
My dad has honey bees and I get raw honey from him. I tried this recipe since we like to use honey for our throats. It was perfect. the ginger and honey were so soothing. It's definitely something I will do again when needed!
fitasamamabear
Omg I need to come to you haha fresh raw honey would be heaven! Definitely jealous. Glad you like them!
Claire
My best friend keeps bees so we always have a healthy stock of natural honey.
So when I saw this I thought I would give them a go. The bubbling honey scared me a bit, but once I got into it, it was really quite therapeutic and not scary at all.
They taste so good and I am so happy to have them ready for cold season.
fitasamamabear
I am so jealous of this fresh honey! Haha yes, at first you assume the honey will burn and become glue on the pot but somehow it ends up working. Glad you love them!
Katie
These are the most perfect natural remedy! I swear I feel better instantly!
fitasamamabear
They're definitely great to have on hand!
Janessa
I have never thought to make my own lozenges- genius! Definitely bookmarking this for cold and flu season!
fitasamamabear
You'll love them!
Donny
I love these! Bought a cute little silicone pan just to make them because store bought cough drops are nothing but pure corn syrup. These taste great too!
fitasamamabear
They do taste great! Like candy but helpful lol
jennifer
what a great idea! Love the ginger in there!
fitasamamabear
It's not sued as much as it should be!
Shruthi
As someone who is super prone to sore throats, this recipe has been a lifesaver! I really love how simple it is, and so glad I am able to just make some at home vs. venturing out when sick!
fitasamamabear
Ohh happy I could help! I keep a stash in the freezer "just in case". Plus.. they're yummy lol
Addison
These homemade cough drops are so much better than store bought! Love that they aren't loaded with sugar.
fitasamamabear
Right?! And they're SO yummy!
Amanda Dixon
I'm so glad you shared this recipe! I had a bit of a scratchy throat from some allergies, and they soothed my throat perfectly. They were really tasty too.
fitasamamabear
They're really tasty, glad they helped the throat!
Bella B
These turned out great and we will be making again! I need to get better sized moulds for next round. 🙂
fitasamamabear
Haha molds are important!
Suzanne
This looks so good! What a great natural remedy to have on hand!
fitasamamabear
Omg yes!! I have a stash in the freezer and it's so helpful.
Anonymous
My family loved this!
Jennifer
How long do these keep in the freezer?
fitasamamabear
I've had them in the freezer for up to 3 months and they've been fine!