Homemade Cough Drops

February 5, 2015 By Elise New 111 Comments This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for more info.

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I’ve been seriously enjoying making my own home remedies. It’s amazing how much you can do with a few simple ingredients, and after I made my first batch of homemade cough syrup, I knew that I had to follow it up with homemade cough drops. I’m a huge believer in the power of cough drops on those nights when I can’t sleep because of coughing so much. Bleh.

Photo shows several brown homemade cough drops taken very close up with text that reads "Herbal Cough Drops"

Some of my favorite natural cough drops are these peppermint cough drops made with raw honey and coconut oil and full of antioxidants. They’re fantastic at soothing a sore throat and very easy to make.

This recipe is a more traditional herbal throat lozenge, and honestly, there’s really no substitute for the real thing during flu season.

Probably the biggest drawback with making home remedies, however, is that it can get expensive really fast.

I tend to fight that tendency by using the most common ingredients I can.

Would it be better to use coltsfoot and elderberry flowers? Theoretically, yes. But most of us don’t have those things sitting around in our pantries, nor can we pick them up at a local grocery store. And ordering specialty herbs gets expensive fast.

The Best Herbs to Use in Homemade Cough Drops

Peppermint

Aside from the fact that peppermint tea tastes awesome, it’s a common cold and flu remedy. Studies have shown that it kills bacteria and viruses. It also has a numbing effect. It also dulls the pain of an aching body. The menthol in peppermint effectively thins mucus and breaks up phlegm. It provides relief from coughs and congestion. You will find menthol as a common ingredient in decongestants.

Chamomile

Chamomile contains immune-boosting and antibacterial properties.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon contains anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties.

Ginger

Ginger has been shown to be a powerful natural painkiller and contains anti-inflammatory properties.

Photo shows a close up of a small white bowl with about ten brown homemade cough drops sitting in it

What Is Important About That List?

All of those herbs have powerful healing properties, and every single one of them is available at almost any grocery store and are inexpensive to boot. Who says high-quality herbal remedies have to be expensive?

There are many different ways you can make your hard syrup into cough drops, you could even make them into lollipops with lollipop sticks and molds.

How to Make Homemade Cough Drops (without making a mess)

One common way is to let the syrup cool until it’s just barely cool enough to handle and then roll it into lozenges with your hands.

I found doing that to be awfully sticky, though and decided to do things the easy way and drop the hot syrup onto parchment paper.

Maybe they’re not as pretty, but I ended up with zero mess, and yes, the cough drops pop right off the parchment paper. Nothing sticks to that stuff. 🙂

Image shows a close up photo of six brown homemade cough drop stacked on one another

Recipe for Homemade Cough Drops

To make these, you’ll need simple, common ingredients: peppermint tea leaves, chamomile tea, cinnamon, ginger, honey, and water.

Optionally, you can add essential oils at the end when the syrup has cooled down some but is still hot enough to stir them in. It’s hard to know how much of the oils get cooked off since the syrup is still hot, but it may be worth a shot to add some. I do like to add peppermint for flavor and thieves for its antimicrobial properties.

Start off by making a strong tea with the herbs, then add honey and cook until it reaches the hard candy stage. This can take a few minutes, as the mixture needs to evaporate a certain amount of water before it can get there.

Here’s the full recipe below: