Lychee Syrup (Easy Homemade Recipe from Scratch) (2024)

❤️Why you will love this recipe

• This homemade lychee syrup is very easy to make and tastes delicious. It only requires 3 ingredients.
• The syrup is a great way to enjoy the sweet taste for the lychee fruits and its floral notes fragrance.
• Using canned lychees is a great way to make the syrup. It is very convenient since you can buy them from most grocery stores. Plus they are available all year round.
• The syrup lasts well, for a good one week, so you can make it in advance for parties.
• It makes a fragrant fruit flavored syrup and is a lovely alternative to regular simple syrup recipe.
• You can use this syrup as a substitute for pure sugar syrup or flavoring syrup in any drinks or desserts. You can use it to make lychee flavored milk tea or fruit teas like lychee tea, lychee lemonade, lychee soda and lychee green tea.

Like this lychee syrup recipe? Here are my other recipes and posts you might want to check out:

• Butterfly Pea Syrup (Easy Homemade Simple Syrup)
• Pandan Syrup (How to Make)
• Gula Melaka Syrup (Palm Sugar Syrup)
• Lychee Jelly (An Easy Fruit Jelly Recipe)
• Lychee Tea (Refreshing Fruit Tea)
• Candied Lemon Slices (How to Make)
• Lychee Lemonade (Easy Lemon Lychee Iced Drink)
• Lychee Ice Cream Recipe (Creamy and Luscious)
• How to Make Lychee Jelly for Bubble Tea

📋Ingredients

• Lychees (canned) - these are available is most Asian grocery stores. They are sold in cans (in sugar syrup).
• Sugar - regular white sugar will work best for this recipe. Both coarse sugar and granulated sugar are fine.
• Syrup from the canned lychees - the syrup is well infused with lychee flavor and adds to the lychee taste in this syrup recipe.

🧾Substitution and variations

• White sugar can be replaced with brown sugar or cane sugar. Do note that the color of the syrup will be brownish if using brown sugar or any other sugar that is not white.
• Fresh lychees may be used in place of the canned lychees, and the syrup from the can can be replaced with water. If using fresh lychee fruit, process them with the water and strain into a measuring jug. Read the measurement in millimeters (ml) and adjust the amount sugar to match amount of liquid. For example, if the liquid measures 100ml, use 100g of sugar to make the syrup. If the liquid measures 150ml, use 150g of sugar. Cook both until the sugar is all dissolved and the syrup comes to a simmer.

Extracting the lychee juice

1. Drain the lychees and set the syrup aside.
2. Add the lychees into a food processor.
3. Measure the syrup into the food processor and process the fruits until fine.
4. Strain the lychee juice with a fine mesh sieve to remove all the fruit pulp. Squeeze out as much juice as possible. Discard the pulp after straining.

Making the syrup

1. In a small pot, pour in the lychee juice.
2. Add in the sugar.
3. Turn on the heat and cook the syrup on medium low fire.
4. Continue to cook (stir occasionally) until the sugar is all dissolved.
5. Turn of the heat and let the syrup cool down to room temperature before using or before storing it in the fridge.
6. The syrup is ready for use. Use it as indicated in your recipe.

🍽️Serving & storage

• The best way to store this syrup is in a bottle clean glass jar with lid and chilled in the refrigerator. Kept in this manner, the syrup can last for one week.

💡Expert tips

• Using canned lychees will give you consistent results as their taste is consistent. When using fresh lychees, you will need to choose well ripened and sweet fruits. The taste of the fruits will impact the overall sweetness of your syrup.
• Simple sugar syrups are made with water and sugar to a ratio of 1 to 1. To preserve this ratio, the syrup should not be cooked for too long. You only need to cook it until the sugar dissolves. Cooking for too long with alter the consistency of the simple syrup, unless you require the syrup to be in a thicker consistency.
• Blending or processing the lychees with liquid before adding to the syrup will result in stronger lychee flavor to the syrup, however, you will have to strain it with a fine mesh strainer to remove the pulp. You can also add the fruits as a whole when cooking the syrup, and press them with a spoon to release the extract and juices, but the flavor will not be as intense as when they are processed.

⭐What can you use this syrup for?

• As a sweetener and flavor enhancer in cocktails and mocktails. Add a splash of the lychee syrup to drinks like martinis, mojitos, or lemonades to infuse them with the unique taste of lychee.
• Drizzle over a fresh fruit salad to add a hint of sweetness and a delightful lychee aroma. The syrup pairs particularly well with tropical fruits like pineapple, mango, and kiwi.
• Use as a topping for lychee ice cream, yogurt, or panna cotta. Its sweet and floral notes can elevate the flavors of these creamy desserts.
• Stir into hot or iced lychee tea to add sweetness and a touch of lychee flavor. It can be a refreshing alternative to regular sugar syrup or other syrups and sweeteners.
• Pour a drizzle over pancakes or waffles to add a burst of sweetness and a distinctive lychee taste. It can be used as an alternative to maple syrup or alongside it for a unique flavor combination.

💭FAQs