In pursuit of a simple, fabulous, imperfect life at home.

Two Ingredient Homemade Cough Syrup


This is day 24 in a 31 day series about Savouring Autumn.  We've been talking about fun crafts, and yummy recipes and  all the fabulous things this cozy season brings.  But it seems to be that sick and germ-y time of year already, half my friends are tending to grumpy, congested children and husbands.  And that certainly makes it hard to savour this season!

This has been our go-to cough syrup for years.  It contains only two ingredients:
  • Honey - a natural decongestant
and
  • Apple Cider Vinegar - it cures, um... pretty much everything.  Doesn't it?

Mix the two in equal proportions in a small container and stir with a spoon until well mixed.  


Fill a small teaspoon with it the mixture and serve it to your poor sick patients.


Put the rest in the fridge for later.  I just mix up very small amounts at a time so that it always gets used up in a day or so.

It doesn't taste all that bad, although the vinegar certainly makes you make an involuntary sour face.  My kids take the stuff without any complaint, but I may just have particularly agreeable children.  If your kids can't handle the vinegar-y taste, you could increase the honey ratio a little bit to suit them.

Remember not to feed honey to a baby under about 1 year of age. 

 [This is day 24 in a 31 day series all about autumn. Click here for more fall ideas!]

28 comments

  1. Brilliant! Might try this for my hubby; he gets a cough a lot this time of year and is more prone to sickness than my daughter or me. Thank you for sharing!

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  2. I do this and add a little ground ginger and cayenne pepper. Works great a s a decongestant, though my daughter won't touch it with that stuff in it!!

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  3. I could have used this a couple weeks ago!! I will definitely try this!!!! Thank you so much!!

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  4. Right on time! (I have a cold.) Not sure we get apple cider vinegar over here, too sick to go to the store and look.
    But I've been drinking honey and lemon water (hot water, half a lemon juice, one big spoon of honey), and plan on making honey and onion paste today (raw onion plus honey). It's supposed to be very potent. And lovely breath too, I assume :)
    Get well soon everybody who has the sniffles!
    And thanks for the post!
    Ieva

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  5. I still like my grandma's 2 ingredient cough remedy--whiskey & sugar. Although these days that would get you in lots of trouble if you gave it to your kids--lol.

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  6. I've always done hot water w/lemon and honey. Love it for a sore throat but it doesn't always quiet my cough. I will have to try this next time.

    I think I will share this entry on facebook for all my friends and family who choose practice natural medicines.

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  7. My kids don't like the vinegar in it, so I had to find an alternative. What I found effective was a cup of warmed grape juice with honey added. It keeps my cough-er quiet most of the night.

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    1. Interesting!! Worth a try but it seems like it would be really sweet.

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  8. A cough syrup a pregnant lady can take? Love it!

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  9. Oh this is wonderful. I was pretty shocked when our youngest got his first bad cough and I discovered that there was no cough syrup for little ones any more. We prefer to use all natural products whenever we can, but to be honest, I never thought of looking into making our own cough syrup. I'm going to put this recipe in our medicine box for this coming cold season! Thanks so much for sharing.

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  10. I've gargled apple cider vinegar for sore throats for awhile now. .. which is always awful to do but it works.

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  11. We always make a disgusting cold tea with apple cider vinegar honey lemon and salt. . My family hates taking it but it kills the bacteria and the cough/cold really fast, my babies aren't really taking anything for colds aside from hot steams because of their age, bury it works great in my husband and sister.

    Stephie N
    SimplyBEEcause.blogspot.com

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  12. wonderful! i will try this at my next opportunity! another on i ve used with great success is 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp cream microwaved till warm and the butters melted. the kids love it and its warm and soothing on the throat, but i dont always have cream on hand. next time i m trying yours!

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  13. Oh, my hubby swears by that vinegar!! Love the honey idea, that I can handle!! Might be linking back soon ;)

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  14. I have had a bad cough for a week now. Just tried this. so far so good. I even tan some up to my 2 year old who's been coughing all night (in her sleep). Even though she was half asleep she said, "Mmmm, I like the cough medicine." Thanks for the tip!

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  15. Just tried this on my three year old. She was not pleased by the taste-- ha! She wanted to drink milk directly afterwards, does that affect the effectiveness? Thanks!

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    1. We don't let our kids drink milk when they are congested because it seems to irritate the congestion. We give them lots of watered down juice instead. (We don't normally keep juice in the house, so having it around when they are sick really encourages them to drink lots of fluids!)

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  16. I just had to write and say that I tried this last night for one of my younger children, and it worked! I called my mom and she said that her Grandmother always used honey as well. I was so impressed I sung your praises on my blog:http://chezouiz.blogspot.com/2012/11/unbelievable.html..... God bless!

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  17. I know this is an older post- but just had to comment because I wanted to say thank you!! My son had a horrible chat cold and I was tryin not to catch it and my normal concoctions worked to a point, but when my throat and ears started feeling scratchy, I remembered this post and immediately mixed this up and within 2 days the scratchiness was gone and I never caught his nasty cold! Which is a huge feat! So, thank you!! (and the taste is much more tolerable than conventional cough syrup!!)

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  18. I know this is an older post- but just had to comment because I wanted to say thank you!! My son had a horrible chat cold and I was tryin not to catch it and my normal concoctions worked to a point, but when my throat and ears started feeling scratchy, I remembered this post and immediately mixed this up and within 2 days the scratchiness was gone and I never caught his nasty cold! Which is a huge feat! So, thank you!! (and the taste is much more tolerable than conventional cough syrup!!)

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  19. I make this for my children, but I use 5 tablespoons organic honey to 5 teaspoons organic apple cider vinegar.

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  20. I've used this for years...I gag on the stuff from the store, and most of the time it doesn't work.

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  21. I mix in some cinnamon and it has a sort of apple-pie flavor. :-)

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  22. Thank you SO much for this suggestion! I stumbled onto it at 4 am while sitting up with my coughing 9 yr old. He actually liked the taste and about 20 minutes later was sleeping like an angel. It's 7 hours later n poo w and he still isn't coughing!!

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  23. I started getting sick yesterday and did this same ratio mixed last night with hot water and cinnamon as I have a conference today and needed to get in a good night sleep. Omgosh...totally works! I woke up to my husband still coughing after 5 days and told him to do this before work. Can't wait to hear how it works for him! How many times a day can you or should you take this?

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