How to make your own delicious and nutritious rosehip syrup with just 3 ingredients. This rosehip syrup recipe can be used to sweeten a cup of tea, (my favorite!) drizzled on pancakes, or mixed in a cocktail. Learn a little bit about rosehips and why they are so healthy and scrumptious!
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One of the most wonderful ways to enjoy rosehips is to make it into a simple syrup to sweeten a cup of rosehip tea! They are packed with vitamin C and bring the best fruity and floral taste combination of flavors. Rosehip is sometimes spelled as two words, rose hips.
What are Rosehips?
I’m sure almost everyone can easily identify a rose in the garden and even a wild rose when walking in nature, but not many know about the wonderful fruit or seed pod of the rose. Beneath those beautiful petals, you can find the small round fruit. These small roundish pods are a bright reddish-orange when ripe and are filled with seeds.
Rosehips are found on all roses though some say the Rogusa rose produces the largest and most mouthwatering hips.
Fun fact, roses are related to the apple and are in the same family, Rosaceae.
Taste
Rosehips contain a pleasant flavor with a combination of sweet, fruity, and floral.
Rosehips Health Benefits
Rosehips contain a host of benefits to your health containing vitamins such as Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E, along with fiber and carbs. Rosehips contain more vitamin C than oranges and are great for boosting the immune system. As it is so full of vitamin C, many people use rosehip syrup made with honey (see recipe notes below) for medicinal reasons. Rosehip oil and rosehip powder are both popular ingredients in skin care products for their possible anti-aging effects.
More possible benefits may include:
- Anti-Aging
- May support heart health.
- May support weight loss.
- Relieve pain due to inflammation.
- Rich in Antioxidants.
- Boost the Immune system.
- Reduce inflammation.
How to Forage Rosehips
Rosehips are easily gathered at harvest time. They are usually ready after the first frost when the rose petals have fallen away revealing the bright reddish-orange hips. Many people recommend wearing gloves when harvesting so as to not get pricked by thorns. When gathering your own rose hips, be sure the roses are organic and not treated with any harmful pesticides.
Be cautious about eating rosehips raw. The inside of the fruit contains small hairs that can cause an itching reaction in some people. Rosehips should be properly prepared before consumption. You can read more about preparing and drying rosehips here and here.
Where to Purchase Rosehips?
If harvesting your own rosehips is not your cup of tea, I’ve had great success purchasing mine here.
Uses for Rosehip Syrup
Now that you’ve made rosehip syrup, it’s time to find ways to use it! My favorite use is to sweeten my tea! It is perfect for rosehip tea, (it just reinforces that flavor!) but also blends well with black and green teas alike. It is also a wonderful complement to citrus teas.
Although tea is my passion, you can also look beyond the tea cup and make a floral-inspired cocktail, top on waffles or ice cream, and even use it in baking.
Ingredients in Rosehip Syrup
- Dried Rosehips – In this recipe, I used dried rosehips.
- Sugar – Granulated white sugar is best, however you can use whatever type you like best. Keep in mind the flavoring so as to not overpower the rosehips.
- Water – Filtered water is best here. I use a Berkey water filter to filter my own water.
How to Make Rosehip Syrup
Making rosehip syrup is fairly simple and straightforward.
- Combine Ingredients Over low heat, start by measuring water, rosehips, and sugar in a small saucepan.
- Stir Give the mixture a little stir.
- Cook – Cook over low heat until sugar fully dissolves.
- Steep – Turn off the heat, put the lid on your pot, and steep covered for 10 minutes.
- Strain – Strain out rosehips.
- Store – Pour into a sterilized container to store.
- Enjoy!
Rosehip Syrup Recipe
Tools
- Small Saucepan
- Measuring Cups
- Sterilized Syrup Container with Lid
- Strainer
Ingredients
- Dried Rosehips
- Sugar
- Water
Instructions
- Combine water, rosehips, and sugar in a saucepan.
- Over low heat cook the mixture until sugar fully dissolves, stirring occasionally.
- Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and allowed the mixture to steep for 10 minutes.
- Strain our rosehips.
- Once the mixture is cool enough, transfer it to a container with a lid.
- The syrup is ready for immediate use, or refrigeration.
Recipe Notes
- Sugar Alternatives – If you want to avoid sugar or perhaps use it for medicinal reasons, you can substitute sugar with honey. If using honey, I like to prepare the syrup and stir in the honey after straining out the rosehips. This method avoids heating the honey and helps to preserve its nutrients.
- Use good water.
- Substitute water with Rosewater (this will create a strong rose flavor)
- Citrus fruits and rosehips complement each other. Add some lemon or orange zest when cooking the syrup and strain out with the rosehips.
FAQ
Storage – Store your rosehip syrup in a sterilized glass jar with an airtight lid in the refrigerator. I like using jars with clear glass so I can enjoy the beautiful color. Mason jars are also a good option.
Shelf Life – Most likely you will use up the syrup before it expires, but if not, use it for up to 2 months. However, if your syrup develops an off-color or smell, discard it immediately.
Serving Size – The amount of sweetener someone likes in their tea is so personal! In general, I suggest 2 Tablespoons per cup. This recipe makes about 16 Servings.
More Simple Syrup Recipes
- Blueberry Simple Syrup
- Butterfly Pea Flower Simple Syrup
- Lavender Honey Syrup
- Rose Syrup
- Lavender Simple Syrup
- Liquid Cane Sugar
- Cinnamon Dolce Simple Syrup
I hope you enjoy this simple syrup recipe. Leave a comment below and let’s connect!
Rosehip Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Dried Rosehips
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 Cup Water
Instructions
- Combine water, rosehips, and sugar in a saucepan.
- Over low heat cook mixture until sugar fully dissolves, stirring occasionally.
- Turn off heat, cover pot, and allow the mixture to steep for 10 minutes.
- Strain our rosehips.
- Once the mixture is cool enough, transfer to a container with a lid.
- The syrup is ready for immediate use, or refrigerate.
Notes
- Sugar Alternatives – If you want to avoid sugar or perhaps use it for medicinal reasons, you can substitute sugar with honey. If using honey, I like to prepare the syrup and stir in the honey after straining out the rosehips. This method avoids heating the honey and helps to preserve its nutrients.
- Use good water.
- Substitute water with Rosewater (this will create a strong rose flavor)
- Citrus fruits and rosehips complement each other. Add some lemon or orange zest when cooking the syrup and strain out with the rosehips.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only.
My mom has been looking for ways to use her rosehips, and I love the idea of using them in my tea, so I’ll have to bring this up as something to try!
Making tea with rosehips is a great use too! You can use the rosehip syrup to sweeten it! 🙂
I’m the mom. lol I chose the roses I planted specifically with rose hips in mind, but I’m nervous about using them because of what I’ve heard about the little hairs or whatever inside them. Is that an issue with this recipe? Is there a certain way I can process them to make sure that’s a non-issue?
I’m so glad you pointed this out! There are tiny hairs that protect the seeds and can be irritating to some people. I typically purchase my rosehips, but I found a good article addressing this and how to easily remove them. More information on drying whole rosehips can be found here.
Mmmm… Thank you!!
You’re welcome! Enjoy!
I would love to prepare this syrup one day. The idea of using rosewater to intensify the flavour sounds wonderful!
By the way, I had no idea roses and apples were in the same family. You learn a new thing every day.