If you’re a fan of lychees, you’ll love this homemade lychee syrup! It’s easy to make and requires just 3 ingredients. Try it for a delicious way to add sweet, fruity, and tropical flavors to your favorite bubble teas, desserts, and more.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Made with real fruit: This lychee syrup recipe is made from real lychees, giving it a refreshing and authentic flavor.
- Versatile: Use lychee simple syrup in a variety of drinks, from iced tea and bubble tea to craft cocktails and even coffee beverages.
- Long shelf life: You can make a batch of syrup and store it for up to a month. It’s great to keep on hand!
- Few ingredients required: You just need fresh (or canned) lychees, sugar, and water.
What is lychee syrup?
Lychee syrup is a delicious and versatile sweetener made from fresh lychees, a tropical fruit that’s native to Southeast Asia. In this recipe, the lychees are blended with water and strained to create a smooth juice.
After that, the juice is simmered with sugar, forming a thick consistency and fruit-forward flavor. The result is a perfectly sweet syrup with delicate lychee notes that works in so many drinks.
Try adding it to lychee bubble tea, plum juice, or even jasmine milk tea! It also goes well in breakfast or dessert recipes like flaxseed pudding and peach ice cream. The sky is the limit!
Is lychee syrup vegan?
In its most basic form, lychee syrup contains just lychees, sugar, and water, so it is technically vegan-friendly.
However, keep in mind that many white sugars are made by processing cane sugar with bone char, resulting in a non-vegan product. I recommend double-checking your sugar to confirm it’s certified vegan.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Lychees: Fresh lychees offer the best flavor, but you can also use canned lychees that have been peeled and pitted. Look for them in the international foods aisle next to cans like jackfruit, mangosteen, banana blossoms, and young coconut.
- Sugar: To sweeten the lychee syrup. Regular granulated sugar or cane sugar are my preferred choices.
- Water: You’ll need water to thin the lychee juice mixture. Make sure it’s filtered!
How to make lychee syrup
- Step 1: If you’ve found some fresh lychees, peel and remove the seeds. If you’re using canned lychees, drain them from the syrup and blend them with some water.
- Step 2: When the lychee mixture is smooth, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve. I suggest using a spoon to push through most of the pulp to prevent waste.
- Step 3: Simmer the lychee juice and sugar in a saucepan over low-medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble. Reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the syrup thickens and can lightly coat the back of a spoon.
- Step 4: Remove the lychee syrup from the heat and transfer it to a glass bottle or jar. Let it cool for 10 minutes before placing it in the fridge for storage.
How to use lychee simple syrup
After your lychee simple syrup has cooled, it’s time to incorporate it into your favorite drinks and treat recipes! Try some of these options:
- Lychee oat milk whipped cream or frosting
- Hot or iced coffee or tea lattes
- Cocktails like a lychee martini, lychee gimlet, or lavender and lychee Collins
- Lychee-infused iced teas, lemonades, and soda waters
- Tarts, cakes, muffins, and cookies
- Sorbet, ice cream, and shaved ice
Storage & Reheating
For any leftover lychee syrup, follow these quick and easy storage tips:
- Fridge: Keep homemade lychee syrup in the fridge for up to a month. Just make sure it’s in an airtight container, like a mason jar, for the best flavors.
- Freezer: I don’t recommend freezing simple syrup recipes like this. It doesn’t thaw well and the sugar tends to crystallize.
- Reheating: If the syrup is a bit too thick after chilling in the fridge for a few days, gently heat it in a pan over low heat until it reaches your desired consistency.
Top tips
- Source fresh lychees: For the best flavor, try to find fresh lychees. The best place to look is at an Asian food market. If you still can’t find them, canned lychees will work.
- Strain the juice: To reduce the amount of pulp in the final result, it’s essential to pass the blended lychee juice through a mesh sieve.
- Watch it closely: Keep an eye on your lychee simple syrup as it simmers to prevent it from boiling over or burning.
- Let it cool: Give the syrup some time to cool before transferring it to a glass bottle or jar.
- Intensify the flavor: For a more intense lychee flavor, use a higher ratio of fresh or canned lychees to sugar.
- Stir the syrup constantly: This will help prevent the sugar from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
FAQ
Yes, you can use a different sweetener in this lychee simple syrup recipe. Some options include agave, maple syrup, monk fruit, or stevia. Just keep in mind that each of these options will change the overall flavor and consistency of the syrup.
It is best to store lychee syrup in the refrigerator to help maintain its freshness. However, if you are making a small batch and plan to use it within a couple of days, you can keep it in an airtight container on the countertop.
If your lychee syrup is cloudy, there’s a good chance you didn’t strain all the pulp completely. This is why it's important to use a fine-mesh sieve or a cheesecloth. However, other than the appearance, cloudy syrup is completely fine to consume!
More syrup recipes
If you enjoyed this lychee simple syrup recipe, be sure to check out some more sweet sauces and syrups like these:
- Brown Sugar Syrup: Rich, complex flavors created with just 2 ingredients.
- Cardamom Syrup: A unique and fragrant way to sweeten your favorite drinks and baked goods.
- Lavender Simple Syrup: Sweet, aromatic, and floral flavor enhancer.
- Vegan Caramel: A simple caramel recipe made without dairy.
Lychee Syrup
DESCRIPTION
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup lychees peeled and pitted
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
METHOD
- If using fresh lychees - Peel and remove seeds from lychees.If using peeled and pitted, canned lychees - Then drain the lychees from the canned syrup.
- Blend lychees and water using a blender.
- Strain the lychee juice into a mesh sieve. Use a spoon to slowly push through mostly all the pulp. Note: It comes out to about ⅔ cup of lychee juice after straining.
- Heat the saucepan with lychee juice and sugar over low-medium heat. Once it starts to bubble, then turn down the heat to low simmer.
- Continuing stirring on a simmer to reduce and thicken the syrup until it can lightly coat the back of a spoon.
- Once the syrup has thickened transfer the syrup to a glass bottle or jar. Let the syrup cool off for 10 minutes before placing it in the refrigerator.
NOTES
- Source fresh lychees: For the best flavor, try to find fresh lychees. The best place to look is at an Asian food market. If you still can’t find them, canned lychees will work.
- Strain the juice: To reduce the amount of pulp in the final result, it’s essential to pass the blended lychee juice through a mesh sieve.
- Watch it closely: Keep an eye on your lychee simple syrup as it simmers to prevent it from boiling over or burning.
- Let it cool: Give the syrup some time to cool before transferring it to a glass bottle or jar.
- Intensify the flavor: For a more intense lychee flavor, use a higher ratio of fresh or canned lychees to sugar.
- Stir the syrup constantly: This will help prevent the sugar from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
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