Homemade Herbal Cough Drops

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Recipe for Homemade Herbal Cough Drops or Lozenges with Herbs and Honey
Wellness Mama » Blog » Natural Remedies » Homemade Herbal Cough Drops

It seems that the flu has hit many people pretty hard this year! So far, we’ve gotten by with only minor sniffles, but I’ve got some natural remedies on hand just in case!

One recipe I’ve finally perfected and am happy with is this one for homemade herbal cough drops! Most cough drops contain sugar and preservatives, and some even contain artificial colors, flavors or chemicals! Since we have one child still on the GAPS protocol, these aren’t even an option, and I wanted to find a homemade recipe anyway.

Herbal Cough Drops Recipe

After much, much experimentation and many batches of gooey messes that got thrown away (or were eaten by the kids as taffy…), I finally found a recipe I am happy with and can duplicate. I’ll also be posting recipes for herbal cough syrup and herbal tincture for cough, but these pack a powerful herbal punch and my kids love them!

Recipe for Homemade Herbal Cough Drops or Lozenges with Herbs and Honey
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4.32 from 22 votes

Herbal Cough Drops Recipe

These homemade herbal cough drops have a mixture of honey herbs to help alleviate symptoms and boost immune function for quick recovery.
Prep Time1 hour
Author: Katie Wells

Materials

Ingredients for herb infused water:

Ingredients for cough drops:

  • 1 cup herb infused water
  • cups honey

Instructions

To make herb infused water:

  • In a medium size saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil.
  • Place between 1 tablespoon and ¼ cup (for a really potent cough drop) of each herb into a medium size bowl. I put the herbs in a muslin bag to make straining easier.
  • Pour the boiling water over herbs and let steep for 20 minutes.
  • Strain out the herbs and use half of the infused water for the next part of the recipe. Refrigerate and save the rest for another batch or mix with equal parts raw honey for a simple cough syrup.

To make the cough drops:

  • Pour 1 cup of the herb infused water into a medium saucepan.
  • Add the honey and heat over medium-high heat until it reaches 300°F. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, this usually takes about 30 minutes and can be tested by dropping a drop of the mixture into ice water to see if it immediately hardens. It should harden to the point that the drop breaks if dropped on the counter. You can also tell because the mixture will start to foam and separate. At this point, it is important to remove it from the heat quickly so it does not burn.
  • Pour the mixture into candy molds, or pour onto a large baking sheet that has been greased with coconut oil or that has a silicon baking mat on it.
  • If you are not using molds, you will need to form the mixture into cough drops by hand. Let it cool until it is cool enough to touch without being burned and immediately and quickly form it into lozenges with your hands (you might need help to do this quickly enough).
  • Put the finished cough drops/lozenges on a silicon mat or piece of parchment paper to cool.
  • When completely cool, I toss the cough drops in a mixture of powdered slippery elm and stevia to prevent them from getting sticky in humidity.
  • Use as needed for coughing, congestion or sore throat.

Notes

Any herbs can be used. I picked the combination above to help sooth coughing, congestion and sore throat while boosting the immune system. I’ve only had these last about a week in my house because my kids eat them that quickly, so I don’t know their shelf life past a week.

This article was medically reviewed by Dr. Scott Soerries, MD, Family Physician and Medical Director of SteadyMD. As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor.

What natural remedies do you make at home? Has the flu hit your house this year? Share below!
These homemade herbal cough drops have a mixture of honey herbs to help alleviate symptoms and boost immune function for quick recovery.

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

125 responses to “Homemade Herbal Cough Drops”

  1. Carrie Avatar

    1 star
    I’m going to flat-out correct this crap right now.
    YOU NEED SUGAR TO MAKE HARD CANDY!
    The writer of this crap obviously has store-bought honey, which has been loaded with sugar, WHICH WILL WORK FOR HER, DON’T GET ME WRONG, BUT NATURAL CLOVER HONEY DOES NOT HAVE ACTUAL SUGAR IN IT UNLESS IT HAS BEGUN TO HARDEN!
    YOU NEED at least ONE TABLESPOON to ONE CUP OF SUGAR FOR THIS TO HARDEN!
    You’re making ROCK CANDY with this. I highly suggest getting yourself a half cup of strong tea, mixing it with one cup sugar, and 1/3 cup light corn syrup. Bring to about 290-300F and pour into your mold, your parchment paper, what have you.
    The author of this is horribly rude, does not answer questions, and should take this recipe down.
    HOW DARE YOU TELL PEOPLE THEY CAN MAKE THIS WHEN THEY OBVIOUSLY CAN’T!

    1. Katie - Wellness Mama Avatar

      Wow- so much anger over something that it doesn’t sound like you’ve even made. For one thing, you can make candy with honey. Not only have I done it first hand, but there are traditional recipes and articles supporting this: https://oureverydaylife.com/can-make-candy-using-honey-instead-sugar-20790.html.

      To clear things up- I did not use store bought honey. I used raw, organic honey that was incredibly thick to begin with. Honey does in fact, have sugar in it (the proportion varies based on your definition of “sugar” since the technical definition includes “any of the class of soluble, crystalline, typically sweet-tasting carbohydrates found in living tissues and exemplified by glucose and sucrose.”)

      Drinking herbal tea with raw honey is another great idea but I would never recommend someone using corn syrup in anything, especially something that was supposed to help during illness.

      I don’t really know how you think I’m horribly rude for sharing this recipe, but your comment definitely comes across as horribly rude. If something as simple as a recipe for cough drops gets you so upset, perhaps you should consider taking up meditation or some other form of relaxation.

      In the future, before you comment, I also recommend that you read through the comment policy.

      1. Sobela Avatar

        4 stars
        I think Carrie is a little bothered by how these cough drops never come out right and that you have not really answered anyone who has asked what they are doing wrong.
        Myself and some of your other readers have been leaving comments asking what we are all doing wrong because the cough drops never come out right.
        It could just be that the honey your using has more natural sugar in it than what other people are using.
        Maybe if you could suggest some brands that would help clear things up.
        I just gave up and started making my cough drop syrupy stuff into a jello cough drop seeing as that was easier me.

        Thank you so much for all the time and work you put into this website.
        Myself and many other readers understand that you have a family to care for and do not have to run such a helpful website.
        Where people can find great recipes for DIY home/family care things.

          1. Krystal-Amy Avatar
            Krystal-Amy

            ANYWAYS, how long do these keep? I am making these candies next week for class. No offense, I am starting to believe Carrie when she said that the person who runs this site is rude and doesn’t answer questions. Fans make this page.

  2. Ian Lindhartsen Avatar
    Ian Lindhartsen

    Great idea. however, as soon as my mixture reached 300 degrees, it burned. I’m not sure why. mabe some of the herbs i used or the honey. something didn’t want to reach 300 degrees

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      The longest they’ve ever lasted for me is several weeks, but that’s because the kids tend to finish them off that quickly, but because they’ve gone bad.

  3. terri seibech Avatar
    terri seibech

    I have known for many years that honey from bees within 20 miles from your home, benefit you the most. I have even compared one from “close to home” and one from a store, and the difference was that only the “close to home” honey worked. It may cost a little more, but it is worth the $$.

  4. Gwyn Dessert Avatar
    Gwyn Dessert

    5 stars
    I just made these and they came out great. One questions though. I have loads of maple syrup – If I substitute that for the honey should I still heat it to 300 degrees? I was also making fruit gummies and flu busting gummies at the same time so I coated my cough drops with powdered gelatin since I don’t have stevia. I haven’t tried them yet, but seemed like a bonus to get some extra nutrients and stop the drops from sticking together. Thanks for all the great info.

  5. Amy Avatar

    I tried these last night…well over an hour on the stove – I initially went double boiler because I didn’t want to use the pan that I have. Only got to 200 degrees, so I went ahead and poured the water out of the pan and dumped the mixture in.

    Didn’t take long for it to start foaming up regardless of how low I set the heat, but still never made it above 200. I finally gave up and poured it into the molds. This morning, it’s just a syrup. Guess I’ll just pour it into a bottle and use this batch as cough syrup, as I’m almost out of raw honey now.

  6. Sobela Avatar

    Ok I’ve tried making these 3 times already and every time I get not cough drops but this syrupy mess.
    No I don’t even own a candy thermometer I’ve never needed one until now.
    All 3 times I’ev tried the cold water test to see if it gets hard.
    The third try the cough drop mixture got somewhat hard but that was after 50 minutes of cooking on medium heat stirring constantly because it kept foaming up.
    The two other times I tried making these I took the mixture off the stove when it foamed up because the recipe said to remove from the heat or it would burn.
    I’m sure this is a very easy recipe but I don’t make hard candy at all so ja this is like rocket science for me lol. -_-‘
    Can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong please?

  7. Rhonda Avatar

    Made my first batch. Tasted wonderful, worked well. I used a candy thermometer and took over an hour to get to 300deg. I let them cool, tossed with slippery elm powder. BUT, a week later they are still so tacky that I can’t put them together without getting just one solid mass
    , What am I doing wrong??

  8. Sandra Avatar

    After an hour and forty min. (Using a candy thermometer) and adding 3 tsp sugar they finally got to 300. Not something I’d want to make when sick and if I could buy I would, jist wY too much trouble & mess for me. I’ve never been a candy maker,

    1. Miki Avatar

      do NOT ingest essential oils! they can be very damaging to the bodies mucus membranes, as well as your liver.

  9. michelle Avatar

    2 stars
    okay, I made this twice, and doing research on other websites, I found that you MUST use some sugar, you can still use some honey, but you won’t get the same result as the store bought lozenges. Result: a hard herbal lozenge. So I’m going to go back and try this recipe again with my own herbal tea recipe, but adding more cane sugar than I would the honey this time.

  10. Monica Bucci Avatar
    Monica Bucci

    Hi. I was wanting to make these lollipops without losing the health benefits. Given that honey shouldn’t be boiled above approx. 30 degrees, your method of boiling honey at 300 degrees will well and truly dissolve most of the benefits of the honey. Are you aware of any other alternatives? thanks

  11. Marcus Ortiz Avatar
    Marcus Ortiz

    5 stars
    Hi, Wouldn’t heating up some herbs to that high of a temp destroy its medicinal properties? If so, how could I get around that? Thank you

    1. Krystal Avatar
      Krystal

      What I usually do, I would make the recipe and allow it to cool in mold. I would add a thin layer of honey to the lozenges and sprinkle the stevia, marshmallow root, etc on and wrap with parchment paper. I agree, warming up the raw honey, you will destroy a lot of the medicinal properties it has. Herbs however, it depends on the herb because with some herbs, the enzymes have to be activated with the addition of heat.

    2. Krystal Avatar
      Krystal

      Also, there are ways you can do this without heating up the honey too!

      1. Miki Avatar

        I am interested in making honey throat lozenges without heating the honey (causing the loss of its medicinal benefits, but I cannot find any recipe instructing how that is done. If you know this or can point me to a recipe, I appreciate your efforts.

        1. Krystal Avatar
          Krystal

          You can damage the properties to certai teas too when you heat them too high. I would look into that as well.

          Anyways, I would use powdered herbs and heat up some tea. Add the water (when cooled) and un-heated honey to the powders to make a dough. Cut then out in circles and let them dry. You can dust marshmallow root, stevia, or slippery elm in the finished product.

  12. Delia Avatar

    Hi 🙂
    I’m just wondering where I went wrong with this recipe……for some reason it has geled after the infusion and will not strain at all!!! Its been sitting g for hours and only a few drops have come out :/
    Than you for your to.e and direction.

  13. Whitney Avatar
    Whitney

    I am just curious if high temperatures destroy some of the beneficial properties that elderberry, slippery elm, etc etc have. Does anyone know?

  14. Jake Avatar

    Okay…what did I do wrong? They are not hardening at all. How long is this suppose to take?

    1. Carol Dunn Avatar
      Carol Dunn

      I also burned mine–after doing some research it seems like honey burns easily. I was using a candy thermometer. Any tips on how not to burn this would be great!

  15. Lois Macomber Avatar
    Lois Macomber

    Katie, thank you for such a great recipe! My cough drops keep flattening. Is this normal? Thanks!

  16. Jennifer Hughes Avatar
    Jennifer Hughes

    I’m sure I’m doing something wrong. First off, it would have been nice to know that the syrup was going to expand by about a million times. I had to keep stirring it to keep it from boiling over. (I had it on the lowest setting) So, that batch didn’t turn out. It was too soft. The next batch took a really long time to get to hard crack. I had it on medium low (different stove). I had to cook it so long to get it to hard crack stage (using the cold water test method; I don’t think my thermometer was working right), it burned. By the time I get this figured out, my flu will be gone. What am I doing wrong?

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