Simple Syrup is an ingredient in many cocktails and cold drinks, blending sweetness effortlessly into any liquid. If you put granulated or caster sugar into a cold drink, it can take ages to dissolve and sometimes you end up with a gritty texture. With simple syrup, that does not happen.
To be fair, simple syrup isn’t all that difficult to make the traditional way, but it involves a saucepan, the stove and quite a lot of stirring. It’s not something you rally want to be doing in the hot weather. This hack makes simple syrup easy and takes much less time.
I found this great shortcut while going through my late Mom and Dad’s notes and recipes doing research for the cookbook I am writing. Dad had tucked a handwritten note with this recipe written on it in one of their recipe folders.
All you need is a kettle, 1 cup of water, a measuring jug, 1 cup of sugar, a whisk and a clean jar with a lid. You can watch me make Simple Syrup the easy way in the video below.
Updated February 2026 – I made the video several years ago and quite a lot has changed since then! I have a whole new kitchen to start. What hasn’t changed is this simple recipe and how often I use it.
An Easy Hack for Making Simple Syrup
I use simple syrup in iced tea, old fashioned lemonade, and cocktails. I find about 3 tablespoons per litre of ice tea and about 4 to 5 tablespoons in a litre of old fashioned lemonade works well. (A litre is just over 4 cups.) Most cocktails only need a teaspoon or so. You can also use it in hot drinks like coffee or hot cocoa.
Simple Syrup – Printable Recipe
An Easier Way to Make Simple Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 cup granulated or caster sugar
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil and carefully pour it into a measuring jug.
- Add the sugar and whisk together.
- Continue whisking for 2 to 3 minutes or until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Pour the simple syrup into a clean jar with a lid.
- Seal and allow to cool at room temperature.
- Store in the fridge for up to 7 days.
did you make this recipe?
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Comments & Reviews
You made this easy to follow. This is a good ingredient to use for so many different recipes.
Thank you so much, Peter 🙂
So easy to follow recipe..!
Thank you 🙂
Such a great recipe and so useful. I know this will come in handy for me 🙂
Thank you, Safira 🙂
Haha this is great! I cheat to make boiling water with my kettle all the time- mostly for pasta water (I did have a glass pitcher explode all over me while pouring boiling water into it- so I’d make sure you’re only pouring water into tempered glass ? It was kind of a nasty burn!!!)
Thank you, Sarah 🙂 Traditionally simple syrup is made by slowly warming the water and sugar together in a saucepan on the stove until the sugar dissolves so the water never boils. It is important to use tempered glass – the container you can see me using is a Pyrex measuring jug so it’s very safe for boiling liquids.
There are so many different uses for this syrup. I love a simple recipe.
There really are Peter, thank you 🙂
Thank you for such a lovely share. Will try this out soon with my lemonades.
I’m so glad you like it Kushi. Simple syrup is lovely in lemonades 🙂
That is a much easier method! Nice. Thanks, April!
Shirley
Thank you, Shirley! I am glad you like it. It really is so much quicker and easier!
Hi April,
Perfect syrup for our summertime sweet tea! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday and hope you are having a great week.
Miz Helen
Thank you, Miz Helen! I hope your week is going well too!
I usually just boil a cup of water in the microwave and stir in a nice sugar at equal amount and a clove or two and get the same results, and after it reaches room temp put it in a small bottle and it keeps for a few weeks until I need another batch.
Absolutely, Peter, it doesn’t matter how you boil the water, although I prefer to use a kettle as I’m British and we love our kettles!! (Also, I don’t own a microwave as I prefer not to cook with them.)
I’m not sure if you mean you store the syrup at room temperature or in the fridge – I do prefer to keep the syrup in the fridge as it is possible for bacteria to grow in sugar and water at room temperature. I have to be very careful with food safety recommendations on the blog 🙂 This was also why I put a shorter amount of time to use the product up. I have kept it for up to a week in the fridge, but I prefer to recommend less time in case readers’ storage situation isn’t the same as mine.
Thank you for your comment. Take care.
I’ve wondered if simple syrup could be made this way. Most other recipes I’m seeing say that it can last for up to a month in the fridge.
Whoops…I hadn’t seen the previous comment and reply regarding storage before posting about refrigerated shelf life.
No worries at all, Mary. I always like to hear from readers, and I never mind answering a question more than once 🙂
Best wishes,
April