Herb Infused Honey Recipe

We all know the great benefits of honey, both for medicinal purposes and its delicious culinary uses. Have you considered making your own infused honey using culinary and medicinal herbs? Let us show you how with this easy tutorial that takes less than 30 minutes of hands-on time!

We're avid tea drinkers in our house, which is why we've shared how to steep tea for medicinal purposes, how to make your own tea blend, and herbal tea remedies like this herbal cold and flu tea, this immune-boosting tea and this hop tea.

With all this tea drinking, you'd better believe we're also adding healthy scoops of raw honey for its medicinal benefits.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

What if we could make that incredible raw honey even better? We're doing just that with this herb-infused honey, and here's why you'll want to make your own:

• Easy to Make: As you'll see, this recipe is incredibly easy to make and takes less than 30 minutes of hands-on time.
• Simple Ingredients: If you're growing your own medicinal herbs, you'll have the ingredients needed right outside your door. All you need is a good raw honey source (or start beekeeping in your backyard).
• Medicinal Benefits: Depending on the herbs you choose, you can create a delicious flavored honey that can help with specific needs (better sleep, reduced stress, headache relief, etc.).

Using Fresh vs Dried Herbs

When steeping herbs in honey, you can use fresh or dried herbs. The process is similar to making an herbal vinegar or herbal oil recipe.

Though you may hear not to use fresh herbs when steeping in honey due to the risk of botulism, there are just a couple things you have to take note of:

• Fresh Herbs: Using fresh herbs in honey requires you to use gentle heat while steeping. Strain the herbs out immediately after the steeping process and store your honey in the refrigerator. Infused honey made with fresh herbs will be good for up to 4 weeks. Discard and make a fresh batch after the four weeks have passed.
• Dried Herbs: The benefit of using dried herbs (or freeze-dried herbs) when making infused honey is that they don't have any moisture, so you can store it at room temperature for up to a year. You can use the same heat method to infuse your honey with dried herbs. (Learn how to dry fresh herbs or how to freeze dry herbs here.)

So, to determine which method is best for you, consider how quickly you'll consume your infused honey. We always use up our infused honey within a month with all the tea we drink, so we don't bother drying the herbs first.

Ingredients Needed

To make infused honey, you'll just need two simple ingredients: honey and herbs. For exact measurements, check out the recipe card below.

• Honey: We love using locally-sourced raw honey, but any honey will work for this recipe. Raw honey is antibacterial, great for soothing sore throats and can help with seasonal allergies when sourced locally.
• Herbs: We're demonstrating with mint and thyme. However, many different herbs (and combinations) would be both delicious and good for medicinal purposes.
  • Mint: The medicinal benefits of mint are that it can help with digestion, settle an upset stomach and soothe nausea. Mint is also great for soothing tension-type headaches.
  • Thyme: The medicinal benefits of thyme include antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties. It's also great for respiratory health and calming a cough.
  • Lavender: The medicinal benefits of lavender include calming and stress-reducing properties. When used before bedtime, it can help promote a good night's sleep.
  • Rosemary: The medicinal benefits of rosemary include easing headaches and boosting circulation due to its anti-inflammatory properties.

How to Make Herb Infused Honey

Step 1: Set up a double-boiler and bring two cups of water to a gentle simmer (not a boil, so we don't ruin the medicinal benefits of the raw honey).

Homesteading Hack: Create your own double-boiler by using a small pot with two cups of water and a heat-proof bowl that fits over the top of the pot (as pictured above).

Step 2: Add the honey to a heat-proof bowl and set it over the pot of simmering water to gently warm for five minutes.

Step 3: Stir the fresh or dried herbs into the honey and let it sit over the simmering double boiler for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally to evenly distribute the heat.

Homesteading Hack: Check the water level of the double boiler a couple of times to make sure it doesn't run out of water!

Step 4: Using a wide canning funnel and a fine-mesh strainer, strain the herbs out of the honey while pouring the warm honey into a half-pint Mason jar.

Step 5: Add a lid and allow the honey to cool to room temperature. Label and date the jar so you know what flavor the infused honey is.

Storage: If you used fresh herbs, store your infused honey in the refrigerator for up to four weeks. If you used dried herbs, store your honey at room temperature for up to a year.

Tips & Tricks

• Learn how to dry fresh herbs and how to freeze dry herbs so you have medicinal and culinary herbs on hand throughout the year to make more batches of this herb-infused honey.
• Try mixing and matching different herbs (and herb combinations) until you find your favorite!
• When using herbs as a medicinal remedy, remember to take them "early, often and after" as Doc Jones would say! Enjoying a cup of tea every couple of hours is a great option for helping relieve symptoms. Learn more about how to use medicinal herbs here.

More Posts You May Enjoy

• Thinking About Bees? Here’s Where You Should Start
• How to Make an Oxymel at Home
• How to Use Herb Medicine Safely at Home
• Antiviral Herbs: How to Treat Common Viruses With Medicinal Herbs
• How To Use Herbs for Healing (3 Homemade Herbal Remedies)
• A Guide to Propagating Herbs (Never Buy Herbs Again)
• Herbal Tinctures – How to Make Your Own
• Herb Capsules – How to Make Your Own

Did you make this recipe? If so, please leave a star ⭐ rating and your comments in the recipe card below. Then, snap a photo of your infused honey and tag us on social media @homesteadingfamily so we can see!