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How to Make Thyme-Infused Syrup & 5 Recipes That Use It

Written by Author Tracey Besemer Published on August 21, 2019 - Last Updated on November 27, 2019

How to Make Thyme-Infused Syrup & 5 Recipes That Use It

The thyme is taking over the herb garden.

There comes the point in every summer where my thyme plants reach critical mass.

The rare well-behaved potted English thyme.

They become a conquering force encroaching on bordering nations, creeping out of their window boxes and reaching out their fragrant tendrils into the unsuspecting lemon balm.

(Sometimes I think they are trying to hold hands.) 

If you have well-established thyme in your garden, then you know what I’m talking about.  

To save the neighboring plants, I have to go in and do a mass cutting. But there’s only so much thyme you can dry and save. 

What do you do with all of that thyme on your hands? 

Make thyme-infused syrup! 

Stop looking at me like that; it’s delicious. Some of the best sweet dishes are enhanced with the addition of just a touch of savory.

Trust me; you’re going to thank me after you eat your first strawberry thyme popsicle. 

Creating an infused herbal syrup is one of my favorite ways to use up a lot of herbage at once. Mixing those wonderful savory flavors with a sweet, simple syrup base opens up a world of new flavors and food pairings. 

Just three ingredients are needed to create this lovely bottle of magic.

Let’s cook up a batch of thyme syrup and take your desserts and cocktails to the next level. 

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of lightly packed thyme 
    • If you have more than one variety, go ahead and mix it up!
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1 cup of water

Directions: 

Wash and gently pat your thyme dry. (I know you’re just dumping it back into the water, but this makes stripping the leaves easier.) If your thyme is still young and the stems are green you don’t need to strip the leaves.

However, if you have a well-established patch of thyme and your stems are a bit on the woody side you’ll want to strip the leaves to avoid getting an off-flavor in your syrup.

This is easy to do, pinch the very top of the stem with one hand and then gently grasp the stem with two fingers of the other hand. Using a gentle pincher movement slide your fingers down the stem in the opposite direction of the leaf growth. This will remove the leaves and any fresh green stems. 

Some smaller, green stems are okay.

Add the water and sugar to a small saucepan and heat over medium. Stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves, and the syrup comes to a gentle boil.

You want your sugar dissolved and a gentle boil.

Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the burner. Add your thyme and gently stir the leaves into the syrup. Now cover with a lid and let the thyme leaves steep in the syrup for 20 minutes. 

Breathe deeply!

Doesn’t it smell amazing? 

Pour your syrup through a fine-mesh strainer into a jar with a tight-fitting lid or a flip-top bottle. 

A minor note: I used to store my syrups in jelly jars, but recently switched to using the Grolsch or flip-top style bottles. They are much easier to pour from this way.

Keep your thyme-infused syrup in the fridge, and it should last you around a month. 

How to Make Thyme-Infused Syrup & 5 Recipes That Use It

Thyme Infused Syrup

Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

When thyme is taking over your garden, it's time to make thyme syrup!

Ingredients

  • - 2 cups of thyme leaves
  • - 1 cup of sugar
  • - 1 cup of water

Instructions

    1. Wash and gently pat your thyme dry.

    2. If you have woody stalks, strip the leaves and discard the stalks. If your thyme is young and the stalks are green and soft, you don't need to strip the leaves.

    3. Add the water and sugar to a small saucepan and heat over medium. Stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves, and the syrup comes to a gentle boil.

    4. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the burner. Add your thyme and gently stir the leaves into the syrup. Now cover with a lid and let the thyme leaves steep in the syrup for 20 minutes. 

    5. Pour your syrup through a fine-mesh strainer into a jar with a tight-fitting lid or a flip-top bottle. 

    6. Keep your thyme-infused syrup in the fridge, and it should last you around a month. 

Notes

I used to store my syrups in jelly jars, but recently switched to using the Grolsch or flip-top style bottles. They are much easier to pour from this way.

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© Tracey Besemer

Now, what do you do with this little bottle of deliciousness? Put it on everything!

Let’s start with a cocktail…

Raspberry Thyme Smash

Enjoy this crisp and refreshing cocktail using your thyme-infused syrup.
  • 2 oz. vodka or gin
  • 2 oz. raspberry shrub (here’s how to make shrub at home)
  • 1 oz of thyme-infused syrup
  • 1 oz of freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Club soda
  • Pick of raspberries or lemon twist

In a cocktail shaker with ice add the vodka or gin, raspberry shrub, thyme syrup, and lemon juice. Shake well and pour over fresh ice in a highball glass, top up with club soda and serve with a pick of raspberries or lemon twist for a garnish. Sip and enjoy!

Strawberry Thyme Popsicles

Strawberry Thyme Popsicles
  • 2 pints strawberries
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 3 tablespoons thyme syrup
  • 8-10 slot popsicle mold

Wash, de-stem, and slice strawberries into a bowl. Sprinkle the strawberries with sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Toss everything gently together and let sit for half an hour.

Pour the bowl of strawberries into a blender and add the thyme syrup. Blend until the fruit is smooth and lump-free. Pour the blended strawberries into the popsicle mold and freeze.

If your popsicle mold doesn’t have handles, add your wooden popsicle sticks an hour after you put your popsicles into the freezer. This stainless steel popsicle mold is perfect and can help you cut your plastic use.

Thyme Infused Whipped Cream (oh yeah!)

  • One cup of heavy whipping cream
  • One tablespoon of thyme syrup

Before beating your heavy whipping cream, put your bowl and beaters in the freezer for fifteen minutes. Pour heavy whipping cream and thyme syrup into the chilled bowl and beat just until soft peaks form when the beaters are pulled out of the cream. 

Or

Keep beating until you have sweet cream thyme butter. 

Add a dollop of this fabulous whipped cream to waffles, peach cobbler, or blueberry ice cream. It’s even delicious floating on top of a cup of English breakfast tea!

If you make it into butter, it’s extraordinary on hot blueberry muffins. Spread it on a halved blueberry muffin and grill until golden and perfect.

Refreshing Lemon-Thyme Sweet Tea

Thyme iced tea
  • One large pitcher of sad, plain iced tea (around 8 cups)
  • 1/2 cup of thyme syrup
  • Juice of two lemons

Stir the thyme syrup and lemon juice into the pitcher of iced tea. Pour the iced tea into a large glass filled with ice and enjoy!

I love having this stuff in the fridge; you end up putting it in everything just because you can. It makes your lemonade pop, and it’s even quite good in coffee with lots of cream. Yes, coffee! 

Make a batch and see what wonderful flavor profiles you come up with, all while enjoying a tamer patch of thyme in your garden. 

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Tracey Besemer

Hey there, my name is Tracey. I’m the editor-in-chief here at Rural Sprout.

Many of our readers already know me from our popular Sunday newsletters. (You are signed up for our newsletters, right?) Each Sunday, I send a friendly missive from my neck of the woods in Pennsylvania. It’s a bit like sitting on the front porch with a friend, discussing our gardens over a cup of tea.

Originally from upstate NY, I’m now an honorary Pennsylvanian, having lived here for the past 18 years.

I grew up spending weekends on my dad’s off-the-grid homestead, where I spent much of my childhood roaming the woods and getting my hands dirty.

I learned how to do things most little kids haven’t done in over a century.

Whether it was pressing apples in the fall for homemade cider, trudging through the early spring snows of upstate NY to tap trees for maple syrup, or canning everything that grew in the garden in the summer - there were always new adventures with each season.

As an adult, I continue to draw on the skills I learned as a kid. I love my Wi-Fi and knowing pizza is only a phone call away. And I’m okay with never revisiting the adventure that is using an outhouse in the middle of January.

These days, I tend to be almost a homesteader.

I take an eclectic approach to homesteading, utilizing modern convenience where I want and choosing the rustic ways of my childhood as they suit me.

I’m a firm believer in self-sufficiency, no matter where you live, and the power and pride that comes from doing something for yourself.

I’ve always had a garden, even when the only space available was the roof of my apartment building. I’ve been knitting since age seven, and I spin and dye my own wool as well. If you can ferment it, it’s probably in my pantry or on my kitchen counter. And I can’t go more than a few days without a trip into the woods looking for mushrooms, edible plants, or the sound of the wind in the trees.

You can follow my personal (crazy) homesteading adventures on Almost a Homesteader and Instagram as @aahomesteader.

Peace, love, and dirt under your nails,

Tracey
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